OC Register: Mike Ford likes a change suggested by Angels’ Triple-A hitting coach

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM — Mike Ford has not only had to adjust to plenty of different teams this season but plenty of coaches.

The Angels are the fourth big league team for the first baseman this season, plus the Triple-A teams of all four of those organizations.

Of course, at each stop, the coaches have tried to help him figure out why his performance has been inconsistent in limited playing time.

Aside from the sporadic playing time itself being the cause, Ford said he’s tried to pick up whatever he could at each stop.

“You definitely get pulled in different directions,” said Ford, who has been with the San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves and Angels this season. “Everyone’s good at certain things, and you just try to pick people’s brains and take what you can use for your swing, with your philosophy of hitting. Take little pieces from everywhere. At some point, you do have to get back to being yourself.”

Ford, 30, spent some time with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake earlier this month, and he is optimistic that something he picked up there might be a significant help.

Ford said Triple-A hitting coach Brian Betancourth had one video session with him and they discovered something.

“He showed me one thing in my setup, and I was like ‘Man, I had been worried about so many other things, from so many other teams, I kind of overlooked that,’” Ford said. “It feels real comfortable.”

In his first five games with the Angels after making the change, Ford had six hits in 19 at-bats, with a home run and two walks.

Perhaps the best thing the Angels can do for Ford, though, is simply pencil him into the lineup each day. With Jared Walsh now out for the season, Ford will have an opportunity to be the Angels’ everyday first baseman if he can perform.

Ford said he’s never gotten consistent playing time in the majors. Ford has 390 plate appearances in the majors over parts of four seasons. He has a career .199 batting average with a .704 OPS

He was with the New York Yankees from 2019 to 2021. The Yankees traded him to the Tampa Bay Rays in June 2021. The Washington Nationals claimed him on waivers in August.

That makes seven teams in 15 months.

“With all the movements, I’ve had to learn how to just say ‘Let’s go and not be passive,’” Ford said. “A big part of my game is seeing pitches and different things like that, but kind of when you’re in these spots, you just kind of have to go in to perform. I’ve been in more of a swing mode, I guess we could say.”

PITCHING PLANS

Shohei Ohtani will start on the mound on Saturday, the middle game of the three-game series against the Houston Astros. It’s a slight change from the Angels’ previous plan of having Ohtani start every sixth day, regardless of off days.

In Ohtani’s previous two starts, he flipped spots in the rotation with José Suarez and Tucker Davidson in order to stay on five days of rest.

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Ohtani last pitched on Saturday in Toronto, so five days’ rest would have him pitching on Friday against the Astros, but that would push Reid Detmers back to have him working on seven days’ rest, so they’re keeping everyone on six.

Detmers will start on Friday against the Astros, and Davidson will start on Sunday. Manager Phil Nevin said Ohtani will do the same thing the following week, pitching on six days’ rest on Sept. 10 at Houston.

ONE MORE FOR LORENZEN

Michael Lorenzen, who is coming back from a shoulder strain, will have at least one more rehab outing before rejoining the Angels’ rotation, Nevin said.

Lorenzen threw 70 pitches in his second rehab outing on Saturday at Salt Lake, allowing six runs in 3-2/3 innings. Nevin said the decision to have him start again was based purely on the pitch-count, and not the results. They would like to see Lorenzen get to 90 pitches before bringing him back.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 4-9, 3.05) vs. Yankees (RHP Gerrit Cole, 10-6, 3.31), Wednesday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

View the full article

[BTH]

15 minutes ago, AngelsWin.com said:

Ford said Triple-A hitting coach Brian Betancourth had one video session with him and they discovered something.

Do the Angels major league coaches not have access to video? (I ask half jokingly)

Guys in AAA are discovering things in a single video session. First Detmers on the pitching side, now Ford on the hitting side.

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, Trendon said:

Do the Angels major league coaches not have access to video? (I ask half jokingly)

Guys in AAA are discovering things in a single video session. First Detmers on the pitching side, now Ford on the hitting side.

That would mean something if Ford was failing at the major league level then went down to the minors.  So are the Angels minor league coaches better than the Braves major league coaches?  

[BTH]

8 minutes ago, Stradling said:

That would mean something if Ford was failing at the major league level then went down to the minors.  So are the Angels minor league coaches better than the Braves major league coaches?  

My point there was mainly that the Angels coaches in the minors seem to be good at delivering small tweaks illustrated via video, as we’ve now heard about two such instances.

Whereas we haven’t heard about Angels coaches in the majors delivering any small tweaks illustrated via video.

[Jeff Fletcher]

José Suárez said his new changeup came from Matt Wise. Everyone chooses to ignore that. 

[BTH]

10 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

José Suárez said his new changeup came from Matt Wise. Everyone chooses to ignore that. 

I don’t know who you’re saying is choosing to ignore that, but I’ve given credit to Wise for his work with Suarez and Davidson:

 

Anyways, Matt Wise has had the opportunity to work with virtually every pitcher that has appeared in the majors for the Angels. Meanwhile, during the season, the AAA/Minors staff only works with the guys who have been in the minors at some point throughout the season.

So while there may be more Angels players giving credit to the majors staff than there are players giving credit to the minors staff, that should be expected.

The bigger issue in Wise’s case is that although he’s helped some pitchers, he’s also been oblivious to issues like Detmers’ slider and Peguero’s pitch tipping. A lot of times, it’s easier to see what a coach isn’t doing than what he is doing.

[Dtwncbad]

I think this “Angels have bad coaching” narrative is suspect.

Some teams have better coaches than others, but the difference is not the difference between major league players succeeding or failing across a whole roster.

Angels fans are rightfully frustrated and therefore looking for things to blame.

You should always be looking for the best possible coaches.  That’s a never ending process.

I am just not convinced the quality of the major league coaching staff is really the problem with this team.

Lets put it this way:

If the Angels had the best coaching on the planet, I bet this roster would still be struggling.

If they had the best roster on the planet, they would win with below average coaching.

Fix the roster.

[jsnpritchett]

1 hour ago, Dtwncbad said:

I think this “Angels have bad coaching” narrative is suspect.

Some teams have better coaches than others, but the difference is not the difference between major league players succeeding or failing across a whole roster.

Angels fans are rightfully frustrated and therefore looking for things to blame.

You should always be looking for the best possible coaches.  That’s a never ending process.

I am just not convinced the quality of the major league coaching staff is really the problem with this team.

Lets put it this way:

If the Angels had the best coaching on the planet, I bet this roster would still be struggling.

If they had the best roster on the planet, they would win with below average coaching.

Fix the roster.

Correct.

[Stradling]

9 hours ago, Trendon said:

A lot of times, it’s easier to see what a coach isn’t doing than what he is doing.

Especially if that’s what you want to see. 

[Hubs]

I think Wise is doing a fine job, counter to the narrative. He needs help though. Just like the lineup, the bottom half of the coaching staff is suspect, there are guys making blatant in game mistakes and people missing obvious things like the pitch tipping, or what not. Which ultimately all falls back on Nevin.

Nevin, though, I think hasn't earned the job. I think he's doing terrible, but the narrative that just give him another shot bc of injuries and the ownership change, is also terrible. You have to explore your options in the offseason and see if there is a manager who is a better fit. Maybe Nevin is the guy, but like Ausmus, I just don't see it.

A new manager is going to want to bring in his own coaches. And while it's possible Montgomery, Wise and Reed have jobs next year with this team, we'll see in what capacity.

One manager candidate that never gets talked about that I would like to see get a shot is Dino Ebel. 

[Angels 1961]

I like Nevin, think he relates to players. When new ownership coming why change manager? Won 5 out of last 6 against playoff teams. Let's see how halos finish. I think he stays.

[Jeff Fletcher]

On 8/31/2022 at 9:37 AM, Trendon said:

I don’t know who you’re saying is choosing to ignore that, but I’ve given credit to Wise for his work with Suarez and Davidson:

Then I guess by everybody I mean "everybody except @Trendon"

I am fascinated by how quickly people want to blame the coaches for everything. A few weeks ago when Jo Adell forgot how many outs there were, my twitter feed was filled with people saying it's the coach's fault.

I think many fans just want to believe they can replace a couple coaches and make the whole team better, because that sounds better than simply accepting the reality that the players aren't good enough.

[Hubs]

1 hour ago, Angels 1961 said:

I like Nevin, think he relates to players. When new ownership coming why change manager? Won 5 out of last 6 against playoff teams. Let's see how halos finish. I think he stays.

Because he lost 9 of 10 before that and he sucks in game decisions, player adjustments, and strategy. We need an experienced manager for this group. Or a long time baseball guy like Ebel. Nevin is just not good.

[Angels 1961]

1 hour ago, Hubs said:

Because he lost 9 of 10 before that and he sucks in game decisions, player adjustments, and strategy. We need an experienced manager for this group. Or a long time baseball guy like Ebel. Nevin is just not good.

Like I said new ownership will decide.

[Angels 1961]

1 hour ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Then I guess by everybody I mean "everybody except @Trendon"

I am fascinated by how quickly people want to blame the coaches for everything. A few weeks ago when Jo Adell forgot how many outs there were, my twitter feed was filled with people saying it's the coach's fault.

I think many fans just want to believe they can replace a couple coaches and make the whole team better, because that sounds better than simply accepting the reality that the players aren't good enough.

Is Phil Nevin manager until new ownership takes over? I like Phil, I think him and Wise have helped pitchers on this staff. Especially young staters.

[Jeff Fletcher]

1 hour ago, Angels 1961 said:

Is Phil Nevin manager until new ownership takes over? I like Phil, I think him and Wise have helped pitchers on this staff. Especially young staters.

My guess would be no. I don’t think the owner cares much about the manager (usually). But I could be wrong. 

Edited September 1, 2022 by Jeff Fletcher

[BTH]

4 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

My guess would be no. I don’t think the owner cares much about the manager (usually). But I could be wrong. 

But does the manager care about the owner?

I wonder whether it'd be difficult for the Angels to attract an experienced manager or a popular managerial candidate when the ownership situation (and thus the front office situation) is in flux.

[Rollinghard]

Brandon Marsh is hitting .286 with 107 ops+. Small sample, but just saying coaching matters. If he finishes the season with these types of numbers, then we can say the Angels hitting coaches and "philosophy" suck. 

[Lou]

13 minutes ago, Rollinghard said:

Brandon Marsh is hitting .286 with 107 ops+. Small sample, but just saying coaching matters. If he finishes the season with these types of numbers, then we can say the Angels hitting coaches and "philosophy" suck. 

That's only because he's gone 5-9 in the last 2 games. In his first 14 with Philly he hit .225

[Stradling]

35 minutes ago, Rollinghard said:

Brandon Marsh has had back to back good games.   

Fixed it for you

[Jeff Fletcher]

5 hours ago, Rollinghard said:

Brandon Marsh is hitting .286 with 107 ops+. Small sample, but just saying coaching matters. If he finishes the season with these types of numbers, then we can say the Angels hitting coaches and "philosophy" suck. 

Then what are you going to say if Mickey Moniak does better with the Angels than Phillies?

[Ron Mexico]

57 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Then what are you going to say if Mickey Moniak does better with the Angels than Phillies?

And I obviously believe Mickey Will do better than Marsh 

[Rollinghard]

2 hours ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

Then what are you going to say if Mickey Moniak does better with the Angels than Phillies?

Well, we will have to see how it works out. Moniak sample size is even smaller.   

[Slegnaac]

20 hours ago, Trendon said:

But does the manager care about the owner?

I wonder whether it'd be difficult for the Angels to attract an experienced manager or a popular managerial candidate when the ownership situation (and thus the front office situation) is in flux.

With the limited number of MLB Manager jobs, I just don't see anyone turning down an offer to manage the Angels in 2023 just because there maybe a new owner in the near future. 

[BTH]

48 minutes ago, Slegnaac said:

With the limited number of MLB Manager jobs, I just don't see anyone turning down an offer to manage the Angels in 2023 just because there maybe a new owner in the near future. 

Unless said managerial candidate is deciding between two offers.