From MLBTR: What will the Angels do with Adell?

[Stradling]

8 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Then Thaiss is toast. Walsh is the starting first basemen. If he's not then Minasian would've brought in a legit first basemen this off season. Thaiss is not in any realistic plans for first base this year.

I think we will see a steady helping of Urshela at first base. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 hour ago, Stradling said:

I think we will see a steady helping of Urshela at first base. 

Against lefties

[Rico]

Adell will be our starting DH once we lose our current DH.

[Stradling]

If there’s one thing Angel fans hate it’s the Angels. 

[Pancake Bear]

2 hours ago, Stradling said:

I think we will see a steady helping of Urshela at first base. 

Drury maybe a bit also. Defense isn't great, but Drury is a more natural platoon partner for Walsh due to his lefty splits. Both Drury and Rengifo crushed lefties in 2022.

[TempeAngel]

2 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Against lefties

You should look at Urshela's numbers versus RHP's and then look at what RHP's did to Walsh last year.

I think the league has figured Walsh out - adjust or perish.

[Warfarin]

39 minutes ago, TempeAngel said:

You should look at Urshela's numbers versus RHP's and then look at what RHP's did to Walsh last year.

I think the league has figured Walsh out - adjust or perish.

I've seen that sentiment a few times - but is that really the case?

In 2021, his wRC+ per month:  154, 147, 124, 41, 119, 148.  Essentially, significantly above average for all but one month.

In 2022, his wRC+ per month:  85, 135, 110, 2 (!), 28.  Obviously, those last two months were terrible - but given that he had his thoracic outlet procedure, it would at least seem fair to consider that his injury likely impacted his offensive performance.

I don't really agree that the league has "figured him out."  He was a significantly above average hitter in most of 2021, and he was rather good in 2022 until he nosedived mid-year, and again, given his track record, it would seem fair to assume some correlation between his injury and his performance.

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 hour ago, TempeAngel said:

You should look at Urshela's numbers versus RHP's and then look at what RHP's did to Walsh last year.

I think the league has figured Walsh out - adjust or perish.

I mean sure, if Walsh craps the bed then he is going to losing playing time for sure. That said, I think this team is clearly designed with the expectation that he is going to be back to 100%. Urshela is largely an insurance policy for 3B, with the ability to grant the team some platoon advantage at first. If Minasian expected Walsh to repeat his 2022 season then he would've signed a dedicated first basemen.

[Pancake Bear]

The whole "the league adjusted to Walsh and he just isn't good now" is a lazy narrative. 

@Trendon had some good facts on that one:

Could Walsh be bad in 2023? Sure, but using 2021 or 2022 as evidence of that is dumb since there's a more obvious reason why he suddenly turned into a pumpkin weeks before getting TOS.

[Warfarin]

17 minutes ago, TempeAngel said:

I hope you are right. The thing that concerns me is Walsh's splits versus RHP's. He actually hit a little better vs. lefty's. I saw somewhere that it had to do with adjustments the pitchers made.

I hope he kills it but there is a reason Minasian talked about Urshela's natural ability to play 1B in his news conference. Urshela very well could see more time at 1B than Walsh.

?

Since 2020, his wRC+ has been higher against RHP than LHP every year, particularly in 2021, in which it was more than 100 points higher (!).

I think he is very likely platooned this upcoming year.

[TempeAngel]

The thing that concerns me is Walsh's splits versus RHP's last year, 31% K rate and .660 OPS. In spite of the injury he hit better versus lefty's last year than in 2021. Apparently his injury only affected him against pitchers who throw with their right hand. I saw somewhere that his struggles versus RHP's had to do with adjustments the pitchers made, fastballs high and away. This should be considered as a plausible cause of his troubles. If so, can he adjust? He needs to crush RHP's to be relevant. The new rule banning the shift will help him. Walsh had a shift in 72.2% of his PA's and is a pull hitter.

As a fan, I hope he kills it this year but there is a reason Minasian talked about Urshela's ability to play 1B in his news conference. Urshela could easily see more time at 1B than Walsh.

[BTH]

1 hour ago, TempeAngel said:

The thing that concerns me is Walsh's splits versus RHP's last year, 31% K rate and .660 OPS. In spite of the injury he hit better versus lefty's last year than in 2021. Apparently his injury only affected him against pitchers who throw with their right hand.

He had a 120 wRC+ vs. RHP last season when he was healthy.

It should be encouraging that he hit lefties better in 2022 than he did in 2021, despite his injuries, and not discouraging— which you seem to think it is.

[BTH]

1 hour ago, TempeAngel said:

I saw somewhere that his struggles versus RHP's had to do with adjustments the pitchers made, fastballs high and away. This should be considered as a plausible cause of his troubles. If so, can he adjust?

Walsh had a .904 OPS last season on fastballs high and away.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_search?hfPT=FF|FT|FC|SI|&hfAB=&hfGT=R|&hfPR=&hfZ=1|11|&hfStadium=&hfBBL=&hfNewZones=&hfPull=&hfC=&hfSea=2022|&hfSit=&player_type=batter&hfOuts=&hfOpponent=&pitcher_throws=&batter_stands=&hfSA=&game_date_gt=&game_date_lt=&hfMo=&hfTeam=&home_road=&hfRO=&position=&hfInfield=&hfOutfield=&hfInn=&hfBBT=&batters_lookup[]=665120&hfFlag=&metric_1=&group_by=name&min_pitches=0&min_results=0&min_pas=0&sort_col=pitches&player_event_sort=api_p_release_speed&sort_order=desc&chk_stats_obp=on&chk_stats_slg=on&chk_stats_woba=on&chk_stats_xwoba=on#results

[TempeAngel]

Angels (First Base, -1.0 bWAR  The top-heavy Angels are known for superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, but the club also had sub-replacement production at a whopping five positions.  First base was the lowest of the bunch, as Jared Walsh struggled through a rough season that was cut short by thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.  While Walsh is expected to be ready for Spring Training, the Halos picked up some depth and insurance by acquiring Gio Urshela from the Twins and signing Brandon Drury, either of whom could see action at first base when not playing elsewhere around the diamond.

 

[Revad]

35 minutes ago, Trendon said:

He had a 120 wRC+ vs. RHP last season when he was healthy.

It should be encouraging that he hit lefties better in 2022 than he did in 2021, despite his injuries, and not discouraging— which you seem to think it is.

His development when healthy should be as a regular period.  The defense.  He’s going to hit if healthy.  Walsh and Ward have turned out better than Marsh and Adell.

[Docwaukee]

2 hours ago, TempeAngel said:

The thing that concerns me is Walsh's splits versus RHP's last year, 31% K rate and .660 OPS. In spite of the injury he hit better versus lefty's last year than in 2021. Apparently his injury only affected him against pitchers who throw with their right hand. I saw somewhere that his struggles versus RHP's had to do with adjustments the pitchers made, fastballs high and away. This should be considered as a plausible cause of his troubles. If so, can he adjust? He needs to crush RHP's to be relevant. The new rule banning the shift will help him. Walsh had a shift in 72.2% of his PA's and is a pull hitter.

As a fan, I hope he kills it this year but there is a reason Minasian talked about Urshela's ability to play 1B in his news conference. Urshela could easily see more time at 1B than Walsh.

he had a 130 wRC+ vs. RHers in april, may and june.  His wRC+ vs. LHers during that time was 99.  

Then his injury affect him. 
Then he struggled because of the injury
Then he tanked because the TOS caused the problem
Then he had problems because he was hurt
Here, I'll try it with a british accent - The 'ol chap was knackered and went to Hospital. 

Everything points to him being fine and then not being fine.  And then he had surgery.    

 

[Stradling]

10 minutes ago, Docwaukee said:

he had a 130 wRC+ vs. RHers in april, may and june.  His wRC+ vs. LHers during that time was 99.  

Then his injury affect him. 
Then he struggled because of the injury
Then he tanked because the TOS caused the problem
Then he had problems because he was hurt
Here, I'll try it with a british accent - The 'ol chap was knackered and went to Hospital. 

Everything points to him being fine and then not being fine.  And then he had surgery.    

 

For whatever reason he hates Walsh. He shits on Walsh like Canadians shit on the Angels. 

[Docwaukee]

44 minutes ago, Stradling said:

For whatever reason he hates Walsh. He shits on Walsh like Canadians shit on the Angels. 

I don't have a problem with being concerned about Walsh's recovery from injury.  But trying to state that he was anything but normal before the TOS really affected him is just not true.  

[TempeAngel]

22 minutes ago, Docwaukee said:

I don't have a problem with being concerned about Walsh's recovery from injury.  But trying to state that he was anything but normal before the TOS really affected him is just not true.  

Walsh on May 3rd:

.213/.276/.313/.588

To think a 30 year old Walsh will return to the numbers of his one good season is sophomoric. He may, he may not.  

We don't know what he is and neither does Minasian!!!!

That is why he brought in proven guys like Urshela and Drury. The team is better prepared for a collapse/injury to guys like Walsh or Rendon.

Baseball is a game of continuous adjustments. The guys who can adjust have long careers. I don't know if Walsh is that guy yet.

[Stradling]

6 minutes ago, TempeAngel said:

Walsh on May 3rd:

.213/.276/.313/.588

To think a 30 year old Walsh will return to the numbers of his one good season is sophomoric. He may, he may not.  

We don't know what he is and neither does Minasian!!!!

That is why he brought in proven guys like Urshela and Drury. The team is better prepared for a collapse/injury to guys like Walsh or Rendon.

Baseball is a game of continuous adjustments. The guys who can adjust have long careers. I don't know if Walsh is that guy yet.

You have a thing for Walsh. Did he not sign your hat or something?  

[Docwaukee]

1 minute ago, TempeAngel said:

Walsh on May 3rd:

.213/.276/.313/.588

his first 87 PA of the season.  You're grasping at straws.  Pathetically.  

His next 179 PA - .290/.330/.568/.898 to give him a .798 ops through june 22nd.  

We don't know what he is because of the injury.  He had a 128 wRC+ in his 959 plate appearances going back to 2020 PRIOR TO HIS INJURY.

You are absolutely entitled to have concerns about him.  I have concerns about him as well and whether he can recover and I'm glad we have backup but you trying to make up shit about who he was before the injury by throwing out an 80 PA stretch is just laughable.  

 

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, Docwaukee said:

his first 87 PA of the season.  You're grasping at straws.  Pathetically.  

His next 179 PA - .290/.330/.568/.898 to give him a .798 ops through june 22nd.  

We don't know what he is because of the injury.  He had a 128 wRC+ in his 959 plate appearances going back to 2020 PRIOR TO HIS INJURY.

You are absolutely entitled to have concerns about him.  I have concerns about him as well and whether he can recover and I'm glad we have backup but you trying to make up shit about who he was before the injury by throwing out an 80 PA stretch is just laughable.  

 

Holy shit is this true?  So he cherry picked a slow start of which he recovered from?  Then he facepalmed you.  Teenagers are awesome. 

[Docwaukee]

1 minute ago, Stradling said:

Holy shit is this true?  So he cherry picked a slow start of which he recovered from?  Then he facepalmed you.  Teenagers are awesome. 

It's true.  I waiting for him to accumulate a bunch of stats in individual games where he didn't do well while skipping over ones he did.  

[TempeAngel]

23 hours ago, Stradling said:

I think we will see a steady helping of Urshela at first base. 

I concur.

[Stradling]

Just now, TempeAngel said:

I concur.

I do think that. But you see what I didn’t do Junior?  I didn’t say ridiculous things about Walsh to make him look worse than he was.