Help me write a story!

[BTH]

7 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

Team SLG outside of Trout/Ohtani.

All of the real SLG danger is concentrated in those two players.  Opponents can manage to pitch through a lineup with just those two land mines and win, even if Trout or Ohtani has a good offensive game.

Other than Trout and Ohtani, the lineup really can’t hurt the opponent unless they string together a whole mess of consecutive hits. . . Which isn’t likely in todays game of .220-.230 hitters.

Those historically bad batting averages are only passable in todays game when they are offset by a higher SLG (or OBP).

The Angels have a lineup that simply has too many low BA, low SLG hitters.

 

100%
 

That issue is so clear, even to the eye test.

When you watch an Angels game, more than half of the lineup offers little threat of an XBH.

Suzuki, Stassi, Duffy, Wade, Rengifo, Velazquez, and Lagares are the primary culprits.

[Stradling]

Dear Penthouse Forum….

[Make Angels Great Again]

2 hours ago, Stradling said:

I’ll be honest, I kinda think Fletcher should write his own story. 

 

I think Jeff getting fans perspective for a story is cool.

That's just me.

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

 

I think Jeff getting fans perspective for a story is cool.

That's just me.

So do I. 

[ettin]

8 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Poor pitch recognition?

Actually they appear to hit offspeed pitches well enough. It really seems to be a fastball issue specifically.

[Don]

I'm sure it's been said earlier in the thread, but it seems to primarily be a depth issue to me. We're good to very good on the front end of just about everything, but very sub-par on the back end of just about everything. Lineup, bench (not great all around), rotation, bullpen, etc... The really good teams seem to put together rosters that are above average at the front end, tapering to average or just slightly below at the very back end. It's just hard to consistently win games if guys like Velazquez, Wade, and Rengifo are getting regular plate appearances. With the bullpen I'll admit that it's as much a function of guys underperforming reasonable expectations as it is depth. At least the FO really tried there this last offseason. It just hasn't worked out. As for the rotation, we just haven't gotten much out of the 4-6 slots this year, which I think everyone understood was a gamble going into the season anyway. 

[70runner]

Crunching the numbers will identify symptoms of the "Stars and other players" management strategy.  Invest hundreds of millions for stars, leaving less to invest in the other players and player development.  Some stars investment is unavoidable, Trout and, soon, Ohtani.  Others were completely avoidable.  Quantifying the performance deficiencies of the other players will explain why the Angels are losing, but not address the systemic cause.

[Angel Oracle]

Is it easier for teams to hit against bullpens that are more soft tossers than power arms?

[Stradling]

11 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Is it easier for teams to hit against bullpens that are more soft tossers than power arms?

You do realize they aren’t really soft tossers right?  I mean maybe Herget is.  These guys are still 92-94 MPH.  It isn’t like it is Claudio and Cishek.  

[Lou]

31 minutes ago, Stradling said:

You do realize they aren’t really soft tossers right?  I mean maybe Herget is.  These guys are still 92-94 MPH.  It isn’t like it is Claudio and Cishek.  

The dog found a new bone. 

He finished the bad scouting bone a couple of days ago.

[oldguy]

33 minutes ago, Stradling said:

You do realize they aren’t really soft tossers right?  I mean maybe Herget is.  These guys are still 92-94 MPH.  It isn’t like it is Claudio and Cishek.  

Yeah, but its awfully frustrating to watch guys like Suarez anItd Barria unable to put hitters away.  

[Lou]

1 minute ago, oldguy said:

Yeah, but its awfully frustrating to watch guys like Suarez anItd Barria unable to put hitters away.  

Barria has a whip of 0.952 

[ten ocho recon scout]

23 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

Team SLG outside of Trout/Ohtani.

All of the real SLG danger is concentrated in those two players.  Opponents can manage to pitch through a lineup with just those two land mines and win, even if Trout or Ohtani has a good offensive game.

Other than Trout and Ohtani, the lineup really can’t hurt the opponent unless they string together a whole mess of consecutive hits. . . Which isn’t likely in todays game of .220-.230 hitters.

Those historically bad batting averages are only passable in todays game when they are offset by a higher SLG (or OBP).

The Angels have a lineup that simply has too many low BA, low SLG hitters.

 

I havent watched enough to say. But from what little I have, the team seems to reliant on Trout (surprise) and Ohtani being MVP every night. When theyre normal, its crickets.

Ward cooled off... Rendon out, Walsh is good but hit or miss (no pun intended).

The rest is ugly as hell.

 

[T.G.]

On 6/9/2022 at 2:51 PM, True Grich said:

the bottom half of the lineup has been suspect from the beginning... when the top of the lineup isn't producing - the bottom of the lineups short comings are magnified... it was only a matter of time.

Also - the starting pitching wasn't able to sustain their effectiveness.  The league adapted... they did not. Same goes for the bullpen. 

 

 

[instant karma]

The problem is more offense versus pitching or defense related.   Interestingly, at the start of the season, the Angels had an offensive lineup which was strong typically from 1 to 7 or 1-8.  They were getting production up and down their lineup.  The lineup featured Rendon and Adell.  The lineup didn't feature players like Velasquez and Legares.  They have gone from a strong overall batting order to one in which too much is being asked of hitters 1 to 4 because the lower half of the order cannot produce over a .200 batting average. That's an unrealistic expectation for any club that wants to compete for a playoff spot.  I don't understand the choices the angles have made with their roster.

Yes, Andrew Velasquez is an outstanding defensive shortstop.  Yes, you can afford to have a limited offensive player start every day in return for defensive expertise.  That's said, you cannot start four players (Velasquez, Marsh, our 3rd baseman, and Stassi/Suzuki) with limited offensive ability (i.e. hitting .250 or less) on a game to game basis. That's what we are dong currently and that's a primary cause of our struggles.

Given the loss of Redon, I would move Ward to third.  Presto, you have a decent hitting third baseman.  Rather than Legares, I would use Adell in right despite his defensive shortcomings.  Adell brings an energy to the lineup (and power).   I'd play Duffey at 2nd until Fletcher returns.  By moving Ward to third and placing Adell in right you stregthen our overall lineup.  I'd rather have Mayfield at short than Velasquez.  Mayfield can typically hit at the .250 level which is a lot more than we are getting out Velazquez.

Unless you're then 69 Mets, you can't have as many poor hitters playing every day unless you have Seaver, Koosman, Ryan and Gentry as your starting rotation.

 

 

[instant karma]

The Angels pitching has been decent to good for most of this season.  The offense, which was explosive in the first 5 weeks has tanked due to poor roster decisions.  Although the batting order is strong from 1 to 5, you can’t have success with hitters from 6 to 9 with batting orders near the Mendoza line.  It puts too much pressure on Trout, Ward and Ohtani to always produce.  The Angels are getting zero offense from Velasquez at shortstop.  You can’t give a guy 4 to 5 bats a game who is hitting below.200.  Velasquez should be, at best, a late game defensive replacement.  They’re getting little offense from their catchers.  I recognize catching is more of a defensive than offensive position, but when you have little to offense at short, third and in left, again it makes your offense as a whole problematic.  I know Ward “enjoys” right, but if the Angels want to contend this year, they need to move Ward to third and have Adell playing right field.  I get that Adell has defensive limitations but I don’t understand how they thought they could win with Legares who again is at best a .200 hitter, along with limited offense at third, catcher and left and short.  Adell in right, Ward at third lengthens their overall offensive capabilities.  To recap, the changes need to be done to compensate for the loss of Rendon.  I don’t understand the roster choices of Velasquez, Legares (who I know was demoted today), keeping Ward in right and not utilizing Adell.

One more thing.  The run differential after 6 weeks was plus 45 or greater.  As of today, it’s at plus 9, another example of how the offense has decreased in performance.
 

[katie]

They’re not scoring more points than the other team. 

[Chuck]

1 hour ago, katie said:

They’re not scoring more points than the other team. 

[tdawg87]

1 hour ago, katie said:

They’re not scoring more points than the other team. 

[Stradling]

Help me run a fleet of trucks.

[Kotchman]

Our issues are likely do to organizational structure and culture. From the Owner to lead janitor , successful organizations establish an expectation of excellence and have the leadership in place to achieve their goals. 

[Lou]

Points?

[HanfordGuy]

The MLB Cabal that only wants teams from the North East to win the World Series.

[Erstad Grit]

1. Angels stopped playing small ball and moving runners. 

2. Most of the pen fell apart.

3. Lorenzen fell off a cliff. 

4. Ward came back to reality. 

[Blarg]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

Points?