How is this team worse than last year?

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I'm not sure they expected Ward to do what he's done, though.

Which makes the offensive woes all the more ridiculous.

They could have expected slight improvement from his 108 OPS+ from last year 

[Inside Pitch]

When you put greater effort into building culture than upping your floor.... Well, the losing ends up wrecking the culture.

[Inside Pitch]

43 minutes ago, Blarg said:

The Angels didn't make the playoffs in 1985. So...

But they did win 90 games.

[Swordsman78]

Part of the offensive problem is they don't try to manufacture runs and put pressure on the defense by Hit and run, bunts, steals etc.   They are sitting back and relying on home runs, hence the HR swing with two strikes and inevitable multiple "K's".

They have pretty good team speed, although not as fast as the Royals.

The starters need to get into the 7th inning.

The Angels just need to put more balls in play and when a guy gets on base, move him into scoring position.

On another note, the 1964 Phillies lost a 6.5 game lead with 12 games left to lose the pennant, so there is still plenty of time to make the playoffs.   Alot can happen between now and Sept.   So. Don't. panic

[WeaverFever]

17 minutes ago, Swordsman78 said:

Part of the offensive problem is they don't try to manufacture runs and put pressure on the defense by Hit and run, bunts, steals etc.   They are sitting back and relying on home runs, hence the HR swing with two strikes and inevitable multiple "K's".

They have pretty good team speed, although not as fast as the Royals.

The starters need to get into the 7th inning.

The Angels just need to put more balls in play and when a guy gets on base, move him into scoring position.

On another note, the 1964 Phillies lost a 6.5 game lead with 12 games left to lose the pennant, so there is still plenty of time to make the playoffs.   Alot can happen between now and Sept.   So. Don't. panic

Amen. I miss the old Angels…. Good defence, quality AB’s, small ball. 
 

you know good old fashioned baseball. I’m tired of this home run or nothin stuff. 

[Swordsman78]

48 minutes ago, Stradling said:

The offense was built on having six above average hitters in Ward, Rendon, Trout, Ohtani, Walsh and Stassi.  Five of those guys were better than average in 2021 and the other is Rendon. Sure two are stars but the rest are solid offensive producers. 

Trout barely played in 2021 and Ohtani had a phenominal 2021.    Trout is back full time this year, but is slumping and Ohtani is down from last years numbers.  

[Stradling]

53 minutes ago, TroutField said:

I thought choosing this as the off-season to spend on the bullpen was an odd decision. I didn’t like what was available and didn’t have a lot of faith in Tepera, Bradley, and Loup. 
It screamed of desperation to stay competitive. Kind of what the Angels have been doing since the Gary Mathews Jr, Vernon Wells, Albert Pujols, etc. fiascos. It’s kind of been the trademark of Arte Moreno’s ownership of the Angels.  

Ok educate us.  What specifically did you not like about Loup or Tepera based on their performance going into this past off season. 

[HaloBronco]

2 hours ago, Duren, Duren said:

Lots of good observations on the big picture and the organizational problems. 

Pitching has been average at best, not good enough to get on long winning streaks. Rarely do the starters and bullpen combine for a strong game. And even when they do like yesterday, the hitters failed. 

Defense and base running are below average and at times pathetic. That seems to reflect lack of confidence, poor communication and preparation. There is some quality defensive skill in certain players, but there is lack of concentration at times and poor teamwork. 

On a game by game basis, there is too much dependence on Trout and Ohtani, hoping they could compensate for a mostly minor league batting order around them. Four spots for sure. Two others respectable.

Ward is  a positive story on a limited basis, and to be determined longer term. And Walsh maybe just reverting to his normal 'ok' form rather than all star consistency. Not as clutch as last year with runners in scoring position. And again reverting to difficulty against lefties.

But the mix of the others is bad, no matter how they mix and match.

Rendon did make a difference overall when he actually was playing.  But that has been infrequently. And he  still was nowhere near what was expected when signed. 

Even with those five in the lineup that still leaves four minor league hitters following them. Five now that Rendon will be out all year.

Yesterday in the ninth typifies things. They walked Trout and Ohtani. Miami felt more comfortable with the bases loaded than giving the two stars a chance. Ward at least produced a run, but didn't have the key hit. A moment later the game is over and another loss. 

Another factor with this wretched losing spell is that Trout and Ohtani (as a hitter) are not having MVP type seasons. All star probably, but below their best. If one of them doesn't have an awesome game, winning is seriously problematic.

If they had elite (or even above average) pitching/defense they possibly could finesse enough wins to be around  .500 on the fringe of contention. But they don't and the results speak for themselves. 

A great take, broke it down perfectly!

Thanks

[HaloBronco]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

How we’re you dumbfounded on the bullpen pieces they added?  They basically gave the best free agent closer a 4 year deal.  They gave the best left handed reliever (Coming off two great years)  a two year deal and a guy who’s had a few really good years a two year deal.  Who else would you have given contracts to based on their previous performance?  

Have to say going into the season (on paper) these moves and additions looked good. 
 

[Jay]

This thread made me yawn.

 

Twice.

[Stradling]

22 minutes ago, Jay said:

This thread made me yawn.

 

Twice.

It could just be Idaho. 

[Jay]

5 minutes ago, Stradling said:

It could just be Idaho. 

Yep.

Or it could be this thread.

Boooring.

[Docwaukee]

2 hours ago, Stradling said:

The offense was built on having six above average hitters in Ward, Rendon, Trout, Ohtani, Walsh and Stassi.  Five of those guys were better than average in 2021 and the other is Rendon. Sure two are stars but the rest are solid offensive producers. 

thanks for proving my point.  

about 1/3rd of last year's plate appearances came from those 6.  so let's give the benefit of the doubt and say they'd take half with days off and injuries etc.  

Then they left half on replacement players.  It's exactly why we're talking about this.  The good players go 1/3 with a walk or 1/4.  Then the rest go 1/5 at best.  I guess I'm getting tired of convincing people that this concept was ill conceived.  

[notherhalo]

You have to wonder how close to the bottom they are, or if they will be even worse in the Trout=Pujols years

[fan_since79]

7 hours ago, Lou said:

Stupid cowboy hat.

It's bad mojo. Skaggs was parading around in the hat the night he died in Texas.

Burn the hat and bury it.

[Angelsjunky]

6 hours ago, Lou said:

One cannot be betrayed if one has no people.

This sounds like a line from Last of the Mohicans.

[TroutField]

5 hours ago, Stradling said:

Ok educate us.  What specifically did you not like about Loup or Tepera based on their performance going into this past off season. 

Bullpen was horrid from the start, we have one hard throwing guy in the entire pen and he’s our closer. 
Loup was okay in ‘20 (small amount of games) and pretty good in ‘21 but nothing screamed back end of the bullpen guy. 
Tepera has been super mediocre his entire career except for ‘21. They would have been good additions had we already had a decent bullpen in place. 

[Angelsjunky]

Doc is right. Minasian did a crappy patch job, then crossed his fingers. But then the boat began popping leaks: poor depth in the lineup and smoke and mirrors relievers not being able to fool anyone. 

It is weird, though, to go from feeling like things were finally together and the Angels were going to contend to, just a month or so later, being one of the worst teams in baseball. I'm finding it difficult to not be completely disheartened by this team, especially given ownership and that clearly the front office is inept. 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Angelsjunky

[Stradling]

On 6/28/2022 at 3:54 PM, Stradling said:

 

 

46 minutes ago, TroutField said:

Bullpen was horrid from the start, we have one hard throwing guy in the entire pen and he’s our closer. 
Loup was okay in ‘20 (small amount of games) and pretty good in ‘21 but nothing screamed back end of the bullpen guy. 
Tepera has been super mediocre his entire career except for ‘21. They would have been good additions had we already had a decent bullpen in place. 

 

[greginpsca]

14 minutes ago, Stradling said:

 

 

The gas is great only if they can throw it over the plate. The control of about half of those guys is shakey at best.

[TroutField]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

 

 

You’re asking my opinion and trying to prove me wrong. Idk what you want lol the bullpen is ass, what are we even arguing? 

[T.G.]

Is throwing gas better than throwing heat or cheese?

[full circle]

2 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

Doc is right. Minasian did a crappy patch job, then crossed his fingers. But then the boat began popping leaks: poor depth in the lineup and smoke and mirrors relievers not being able to fool anyone. 

It is weird, though, to go from feeling like things were finally together and the Angels were going to contend to, just a month or so later, being one of the worst teams in baseball. I'm finding it difficult to not be completely disheartened by this team, especially given ownership and that clearly the front office is inept. 

Of course it was a crappy patch job, there wasn’t enough money to both fill position player holes and bullpen holes.  Again it all goes back to the owner.  The strategy of blowing big money on superstars but still having a budget only works if you have a semblance of a draft and develop system, which is non existent in this org.  

[full circle]

7 minutes ago, True Grich said:

Is throwing gas better than throwing heat or cheese?

With gas prices this high, hell yes. 

[TempeAngel]

This team is better than the 2021 team. They were 27-17 on May 24 and 11-28 since. Which has been rough.

But this team has time to turn it around and they have a favorable August/September/October schedule.