The reason behind Jared Walsh’s struggles?

[BTH]

The reason for Jared Walsh’s struggles could simply be due to his injury. The hypothesis here is that Walsh’s injury started bothering him in July, leading to his offensive downturn.

 

Look at Walsh’s stats by month:

 

He completely fell off in July. And more interestingly, his Average Exit Velocity (-5 mph) and Hard Hit % (-19%) also fell off a cliff in July.

 

Edit: Here’s a quote from Walsh in the OC Register: “The last six-plus weeks have been a struggle for me; it flared up a little bit on me.” That’s basically since the middle of July, so the timeline seems to match up well.

[stormngt]

Could be the case 

[eligrba]

If this is the case, Why did it take so long to address the injury?

[BTH]

4 minutes ago, eligrba said:

If this is the case, Why did it take so long to address the injury?

 

[Duren, Duren]

Players adjust and compensate when playing injured. Thereby developing bad habits. If healthy he'll need a good off season of rehab and spring training trying to regain his groove,

[Halo in Chicago]

Hopefully that is the issue

[Taylor]

He wasn't very good before July though.

[Blarg]

June is where his power was trailing off, which makes sense. The nerve damage was slowly getting worse but not at a level that he was conscious of. He was still making contact and drawing walks. 

Then he cratered quickly after that and it should have been a red flag to the trainers that it was physical and not a slump. It's like ignoring a pitcher that loses 6 mph off his fastball velocity, there is something physically wrong. 

[DMVol]

I hope this explains his struggles but I also don't think we can go in to spring training without a back up plan at 1b.....

[Blarg]

I think they may be looking at Thaiss for both catching and 1st base backup. You have to think lame duck owner, like Disney was in 2003, there isn't going to be much investing in players for the new owners to be saddled with. 

[Revad]

2 hours ago, DMVol said:

I hope this explains his struggles but I also don't think we can go in to spring training without a back up plan at 1b.....

Rendon’s health also factors in.  I guess Ward could play 1st or Thaiss assuming he’s on the team but definitely need someone from outside to add to that mix.  

[Angelsjunky]

Yes, I think so - at least as far as his total collapse. I think the "real" Walsh is probably something like .250/.300/.470 - which is about what he hit after his hot start in 2021 and until about July this year - not as good as his overall line last year. For a first baseman, that's pretty mediocre but at least not a huge hole in the lineup like he's been the last couple months.

[BTH]

3 hours ago, Taylor said:

He wasn't very good before July though.

He had a .765 OPS and 113 wRC+ through June, which are both above average.

[BTH]

3 hours ago, DMVol said:

I hope this explains his struggles but I also don't think we can go in to spring training without a back up plan at 1b.....

Yeah, I agree with this point.

If I were the Angels, I'd bring in a quality starting 1B and keep Walsh as a bench bat who can play 1B/LF/RF and also can be optioned to AAA if necessary.

[Hubs]

41 minutes ago, Blarg said:

I think they may be looking at Thaiss for both catching and 1st base backup. You have to think lame duck owner, like Disney was in 2003, there isn't going to be much investing in players for the new owners to be saddled with. 

The problem is that Thaiss, who I think they want to be the backup C, also hits left handed, so it's not a good platoon for the left handed Walsh.

DiChara will most likely be at AAA, with Neto, and O'Hoppe joining them there either right out of ST.

I think they will bring in a veteran 1B/OF or 1B/3B. My preference, as I've stated in other threads, is Trey Mancini. But Houston may have a 10M option, or it may be a mutual option. I've seen it listed both ways. 

Mancini can start against lefties and play the OF. With Houston he's been the DH the majority of the time, which is weird, but he also DH'd for Baltimore a lot in 2022 as well as 2021. But in 2019, before his Cancer Diagnosis, he played 87 games in RF. He's a good defensive 1B, and a solid corner OF. He also shouldn't be too expensive. 

This team will have offensive depth at SLC, for the first time in a while, at multiple positions. Still I think they are going to try to win, so guys like Mancini, Segura, and Syndergaard still make sense. And none will be very expensive.

[Angelsjunky]

Mancini has a mutual option. Hard to imagine him not wanting to stay in Houston, and the Astros are probably happy to pay him $7.75M. Mancini is a solid player and would be a nice addition, but I'm not sure he's any better than Walsh or Ward. 2019 was really good but three years ago and an outlier to the rest of his career.

I think the Angels go after a couple infielders--one more of a starter, one more of a bench guy--and an outfielder. Depending upon who they get, there could be a three-way platoon at 2B/SS, with one guy being more of a utility player and back-up third baseman. Both Fletcher and Rengifo have multi-positional versatility, so can both be hybrid starters/utility players. But they'll also want someone with more pop, I would think. If they sign someone like Swanson, then Fletcher/Rengifo are 2B/UT/back-up at 3B.

I think Thaiss backs up Stassi until O'Hoppe is ready, then he can slide over to being a C/1B/DH bench guy, if he hits well enough and/or Walsh struggles. 1B will be a hopefully healthy Walsh, with Thaiss and maybe DiChiara as back-up options.

As for the outfield, it was a real blow losing Moniak because the Angels don't have enough to go on. Hopefully he can come back and play a few games, but as of this moment, neither he nor Adell can comfortably be slated into a starting gig. More likely the Angels sign an outfielder, either someone to platoon with Moniak or Adell, or a starter with Moniak and Adell in AAA waiting for the inevitable injury. If Moniak comes back and crushes it for a couple weeks, they might go with him and sign a 4th outfielder.

[Revad]

Two of three positions (SS, LF, 1b) need to be above average offensively and one should really be a middle of the order bat since there’s a good chance Ohtani gets traded.

[Dtwncbad]

I think it’s natural to pull for homegrown players.  I certainly wanted Walsh to be the answer at 1B for the immediate future.

But you can’t just stick with hope.  This is a tough business and performance matters.

Can the Angels win with Walsh at first?  If the rest of the lineup is good enough any team can carry some baggage.

The team needs to be looking for securing upgrades and, given what we have seen, the team should be considering a bold move at first base to get better.

They don’t have to fix 100% of every “problem” so maybe they keep Walsh and see what happens (if they find improvements elsewhere in the lineup).

But I am not going to try to protect Walsh’s job just because I pull for him as a homegrown player.  Getting better is more important.

His job for 2023 needs to be on the table.

[BTH]

35 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

His job for 2023 needs to be on the table.

Yeah, I totally agree with that and everything you said.

I’d still like to see them get a more proven upgrade at 1B, but after looking into how Walsh’s injury may have impacted his struggles, it at least gives me a little more hope in the event that the Angels run Walsh back out there at 1B next season.

[Revad]

6 minutes ago, Trendon said:

Yeah, I totally agree with that and everything you said.

I’d still like to see them get a more proven upgrade at 1B, but after looking into how Walsh’s injury may have impacted his struggles, it at least gives me a little more hope in the event that the Angels run Walsh back out there at 1B next season.

Also, changes to the shift may help Walsh and other left handed batters, so there’s a bit more hope!