OC Register: Angels open second half looking to fix offensive woes by hitting the fastball

[AngelsWin.com]

ATLANTA — Taylor Ward was at the plate in the eighth inning of a tie game against the Houston Astros earlier this month, with runners at first and second and two outs. A single against Astros righty Rafael Montero would give the Angels the lead and bring them just three outs away from winning the series against the best team in the division.

Ward had seen two sliders from Montero, and the count was 1-and-1. Montero then poured a 95 mph fastball over the heart of the plate.

Ward let it go.

He ended up striking out a few pitches later, taking a pitch that Montero had painted on the corner. After the Angels lost the game, Ward lamented his failure to swing at that fastball over the middle.

“I definitely let a pitch go by that I was looking for,” Ward said. “I should have swung at that.”

Pitches like that one have been one of the Angels’ major problems throughout the six-week offensive malaise that has sunk their season. As they start the second half needing a miracle hot streak to get back into the postseason chase, one of the issues they’ve been discussing is the way they’ve handled fastballs.

“We need to pull the trigger on the fastball earlier in the count, team-wide,” Jared Walsh said. “We’ve all spoken about that.”

Ward added: “Being on the heater would help with the aggressiveness, but I’m not the hitting coach. I think being more aggressive in the zone would help. … We need to get to fastballs. When we get them, we need to get them.”

Manager Phil Nevin said before the All-Star break that he would like to emphasize that his hitters concentrate more on doing damage when they get a fastball in the zone.

“I think the dialogue in some of our meetings has changed a little bit, focusing on hitting off the fastball,” Nevin said. “That’s something I prefer to talk about, really. Breaking balls, offspeed pitches, the ones you hit are mistakes. But if you’re not ready to hit a fastball, you’re not going to hit any of those pitches, and we haven’t. The focus is becoming more strong on hitting off the fastball.”

Since May 25, when the Angels were 27-17, they have hit .212 with a .620 OPS, both figures rank 29th in the majors over that span. Only the Oakland A’s are worse.

Obviously, statistics like those are the result of poor performances against all pitches, in all situations, but their issues with the fastball have been particularly evident.

FanGraphs assigns run values to every situation, compared with the average. The Angels rank dead last in production against fastballs since May 25. They are 27th against sliders, 28th against curveballs and 24th against changeups.

Over that span, the Angels have swung at and missed on 23.1% of their cuts against fastballs, the fourth-worst mark in the majors.

Their passiveness against the fastball, which several players identified as an issue, has not been as egregious. Since May 25, the Angels have taken called strikes on 17.5% of the fastballs they’ve seen, which is the 10th lowest percentage in the majors.

Walsh believes the Angels are going to the plate with too specific of a plan for what pitch they are expecting, rather than simply reacting to the ball.

“I’m looking for this pitch right here and they might throw something different, but it’s right over the plate and if you were just reacting you probably would have pulled the trigger on it,” Walsh said. “For myself personally, be as reactionary as possible, because if you get a little too clouded up there, then sometimes the ball becomes secondary.”

Catcher Max Stassi, whose offensive performance has been well below his standard from the past two seasons, said he is clearly a victim of that issue.

“I think I need to be more aggressive in the zone, get after more fastballs,” Stassi said. “This year my performance on the fastball is not nearly what it was the last two years. I’ve got to be better about attacking and catching stuff out front, getting the ball in the air more. I haven’t been doing that this year.”

Stassi hit .264 with an .811 OPS on fastballs in 2021, and he’s hit .219 with a .689 OPS this season.

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The most obvious surface-level issue for the Angels’ offense has been strikeouts. They lead the majors in that department. Walsh, though, believes that the strikeouts are not a function of their two-strike approach, but the result of getting into too many two-strike counts by missing too many fastballs early in the count.

“We’re not going out there trying to hit home runs (with two strikes),” Walsh said. “It’s just that we’ve been behind the fastball, so it’s more how do we get locked in mechanically. Whatever it may be, person to person, how do we get on time for that fastball?”

However the Angels fix their fastball problems – and the other issues that have dragged down their offense – they will need to do something if they are to save this season.

“I expect it to change,” Nevin said. “Once we get into the second half and get going, it becomes contagious. And we all hit.”

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP Shohei Ohtani, 9-4, 2.38) at Braves (TBD), Friday, 4:20 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

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[Angel Oracle]

Where is Jeremy Reed with all of this going on?

[T.G.]

6 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Where is Jeremy Reed with all of this going on?

Under the bus. 

Clearly this is an indictment of Reed's coaching, IMO.

[Mark PT]

1 hour ago, T.G. said:

Under the bus. 

Clearly this is an indictment of Reed's coaching, IMO.

And the manager. If he becomes aware of a problem, its his job to get his coaches in line. 

[ThisismineScios]

Finally. 

Finally the players address what has seemed so obvious. This isn’t just a Perry problem, or a “bad players” issue. Guys have regressed in the last 8 weeks in a way that doesn’t even make sense. But I think this article sheds a lot of light on the hitting philosophy issue. Guys are clearly frustrated with what they’re being told to do—something like waiting for the perfect pitch at the expense of fastballs in the zone. Stassi, Ward, Marsh, Walsh, and Trout all swing at a below league avg rate of zone pitches. And when they come out and say they don’t like that, it’s clear they are being told to wait for their pitch. Wait for their pitch. Walsh said way too many 2 strike counts and I am conducting that train. Unlike you level headed logical humans, I watch nearly every game. And I watch at least these 5 guys stare at zone pitches, get into 2 strike counts, and as a result strike out way more than they were early in the year. It has ruined Marsh, asking him to constantly work in 2 strike counts. 

This feels vindicating for me. I knew Reed was doing something to mess with these guys’ approach, and these guys all but confirmed it. 

[BTH]

1 minute ago, ThisismineScios said:

This feels vindicating for me. I knew Reed was doing something to mess with these guys’ approach, and these guys all but confirmed it. 

It’ll be interesting to see if something changes post ASB.

If the Angels were gonna make a change at hitting coach, they would’ve already done it. I’d assume the players know that too, so I wonder if we see them start to deviate from Reed’s philosophy and go in their own direction.

[T.G.]

I suppose it’s possible that this approach was based on their analytics.

[79CAAman]

They are professional baseball players getting paid millions of dollars to go out and play... baseball.  They need to show some pride, most of them should been embarrassed at various points during the first half (especially their highest paid players).  Again, they are professionals.  I know their effing agents sure the hell portray them as such.  It costs several hundreds of dollars to take the family to watch them 'play'.  All I ask is put the freaking ball in play and stop looking like a bunch of drunk dudes at a softball game.  Like many on this board, I'm beyond frustrated.  Here's hoping they come out at least competitive in the second half. 

[Angel Oracle]

Reed is to the hitters as Doug White was to the pitchers in 2019.

[Halo in Chicago]

So they’re just now realizing they should be swinging at fastballs in the middle of the plate? Yikes. 

[tdawg87]

Angels: "We should start hitting baseballs."

Everyone else: 

[BTH]

On 7/21/2022 at 8:30 AM, AngelsWin.com said:

“We’re not going out there trying to hit home runs (with two strikes),” Walsh said. “It’s just that we’ve been behind the fastball, so it’s more how do we get locked in mechanically. Whatever it may be, person to person, how do we get on time for that fastball?”

Walsh just whiffed on 3 straight fastballs. 2-0, 2-1, and 2-2.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Clint Eastwood is going to make a movie about the Angels called Trouble with the every pitch.

 

[eligrba]

Please tell me that a billion dollar baseball franchise has a better conclusion than hitting the fastball. I’m becoming less and less convinced that Minasian knows what he is doing.

[Angel Oracle]

Annnd, it continues.

3 runs in 2 games

[Jason]

25 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Annnd, it continues.

3 runs in 2 games

So the update is same old shit?

[Angel Oracle]

I feel like those Indians fans at the beginning of Major League 1.

[Docwaukee]

Great.  Now all the other teams are gonna know their strategy.  

[Mark PT]

On 7/21/2022 at 9:10 PM, ThisismineScios said:

Finally. 

Finally the players address what has seemed so obvious. This isn’t just a Perry problem, or a “bad players” issue. Guys have regressed in the last 8 weeks in a way that doesn’t even make sense. But I think this article sheds a lot of light on the hitting philosophy issue. Guys are clearly frustrated with what they’re being told to do—something like waiting for the perfect pitch at the expense of fastballs in the zone. Stassi, Ward, Marsh, Walsh, and Trout all swing at a below league avg rate of zone pitches. And when they come out and say they don’t like that, it’s clear they are being told to wait for their pitch. Wait for their pitch. Walsh said way too many 2 strike counts and I am conducting that train. Unlike you level headed logical humans, I watch nearly every game. And I watch at least these 5 guys stare at zone pitches, get into 2 strike counts, and as a result strike out way more than they were early in the year. It has ruined Marsh, asking him to constantly work in 2 strike counts. 

This feels vindicating for me. I knew Reed was doing something to mess with these guys’ approach, and these guys all but confirmed it. 

Exactly, it would take a fool not to recognize that their approach has definitely changed since even last year. You cant let pitches go by that you can hit hard. This is especially true when you are in a position where a runner needs to advance. Advancing runner is almost non-existant with this team.