Since Logan O'Hoppe went on the IL

[Chuck]

 

[arch stanton]

Thaiss was drafted for his bat so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that with regular at bats he’s hit well in his age 27 season 

[TroutField]

I was going to post yesterday when Neto made that incredible play to end it that it’s too bad O’Hoppe got hurt otherwise the future would seem super bright. 
 

but then I remembered the production we have gotten out of the catcher position since he went down and we really haven’t been hurting for a catcher. Very impressive for Thaiss and Wallach to step up the way they did 
 

 

[Swordsman78]

9 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

 

Making lemonade out of lemons for sure.   Very few were expecting this type of back fill production, especially how very bad the offensive out put from the C position was last season.

[Taylor]

Thaiss had a couple disastrous games offensively and defensively right before O'Hoppe's injury, so this has been a pleasant surprise.

[Chuck]

3 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Thaiss had a couple disastrous games offensively and defensively right before O'Hoppe's injury, so this has been a pleasant surprise.

Yeah he's grown since those catcher interference calls and he's gotten much better at pitch framing over the past couple weeks. 

[Angelsjunky]

Thaiss has always had good on-base skills. His triple-slash is just fun: .300/.379/.444.

That said, his BABIP is .414, which is unsustainable. I suspect he'll end up more like .270/.350/.420, which is plenty good for catcher.

[totdprods]

Kind of wild that Matt Thaiss still doesn’t have an entire full season’s worth of at-bats yet at the MLB level, despite this being his fifth year to play in the bigs. And it’s not even really close. He’s still under 400 MLB at-bats.

The defense still leaves a lot to be desired, but his catching re-conversion is quite early on. Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise to get him the necessary playing time at the big league level to get both defense and offense up to snuff. He really has needed reps more than anything.

Edited May 30, 2023 by totdprods

[Second Base]

With teams falling over themselves to get Gary Sanchez, I guarantee Matt Thaiss has created some excess value for himself. This job obviously still belongs to Logan O'Hoppe given his overall game, but Matt Thaiss is clearly playing himself into a major league job. 

Even if Stassi comes back, I think he's done with the Angels. O'Hoppe-Thaiss is a potent combination. 

The only concerns I have (which are good concerns to have) are...

1. Can Matt Thaiss hit in a part time role? He seems like the sort that needs consistent at bats. 

2. What do they do when Edgar Quero arrives toward the end of next season? I don't envision them carrying three catchers, particularly when one (O'Hoppe) will command an everyday spot with his across the board talent. Do Thaiss or Quero move off the position (certainly possible) or will they deal one? 

[aznhockeyguy]

22 minutes ago, Second Base said:

With teams falling over themselves to get Gary Sanchez, I guarantee Matt Thaiss has created some excess value for himself. This job obviously still belongs to Logan O'Hoppe given his overall game, but Matt Thaiss is clearly playing himself into a major league job. 

Even if Stassi comes back, I think he's done with the Angels. O'Hoppe-Thaiss is a potent combination. 

The only concerns I have (which are good concerns to have) are...

1. Can Matt Thaiss hit in a part time role? He seems like the sort that needs consistent at bats. 

2. What do they do when Edgar Quero arrives toward the end of next season? I don't envision them carrying three catchers, particularly when one (O'Hoppe) will command an everyday spot with his across the board talent. Do Thaiss or Quero move off the position (certainly possible) or will they deal one? 

1) I agree with you.  Ever since he's getting regular at-bats he looks super confident at the plate. 

2) I think Quero is a season and a half away from joining the big club when rosters expand next season on September.  He seems to be doing pretty solid at AA right now, and he might jump the timeline depending how well he does. 

It really depends on Ohtani.  If he leaves, Perry might use the DH spot as a rotational rest day spot for the position players.  It might be Thaiss as the primary DH and being the backup catcher with O'Hoppe and when O'Hoppe / other position players need a day off, use the DH spot to keep their bat in the lineup. 

[Second Base]

29 minutes ago, aznhockeyguy said:

1) I agree with you.  Ever since he's getting regular at-bats he looks super confident at the plate. 

2) I think Quero is a season and a half away from joining the big club when rosters expand next season on September.  He seems to be doing pretty solid at AA right now, and he might jump the timeline depending how well he does. 

It really depends on Ohtani.  If he leaves, Perry might use the DH spot as a rotational rest day spot for the position players.  It might be Thaiss as the primary DH and being the backup catcher with O'Hoppe and when O'Hoppe / other position players need a day off, use the DH spot to keep their bat in the lineup. 

Obviously, I don't want to lose Shohei, but I just admit, I'm intrigued by the plan with DH if Shohei leaves. Rotating Rendon, Trout, Adell and That's through that spot could keep them healthy and offer more AB's for Thaiss. 

[REDneck]

Thaiss and Wallach have both stepped up in a big way.

After O'hoppe was injured, we could of signed a journeymen type (Sanchez) who would be batting .190 now.

[Justin]

20 minutes ago, Second Base said:

Obviously, I don't want to lose Shohei, but I just admit, I'm intrigued by the plan with DH if Shohei leaves. Rotating Rendon, Trout, Adell and That's through that spot could keep them healthy and offer more AB's for Thaiss. 

I don't want to lose Shohei... but I don't want the Angels to pay him the ungodly amount it will take to keep him. Especially after seeing Neto, Moniak, O'Hoppe, etc.

I would enjoy seeing what prospects Minasian could get for Shohei.

[Hubs]

After a hot start with the bat, Wallach is hitting .118/.250/.118/.368 OPS in his last two weeks.

Season average down to .250/.304/.442/.746.

 

On the Angels Locked On Podcast, their guest (I think Erik Kratz) from Foul Territory Pod, said the Angels don't have a playoff catcher and I agree. Suggested taking Salvador Perez from the Royals, but the only way that works is if they take Stassi Back.

With Thaiss though and O'Hoppe potentially returning in Sept, I don't know if I agree with the need. The DH spot is always occupied by Ohtani, so Perez isn't necessarily a fit, going forward. He like Stassi is under contract through 2025....at 20M per, which is a bit higher than Stassi. I'd take him if they took only took Fletcher back too, but that isn't likely to happen.

[Second Base]

16 minutes ago, Hubs said:

After a hot start with the bat, Wallach is hitting .118/.250/.118/.368 OPS in his last two weeks.

Season average down to .250/.304/.442/.746.

 

On the Angels Locked On Podcast, their guest (I think Erik Kratz) from Foul Territory Pod, said the Angels don't have a playoff catcher and I agree. Suggested taking Salvador Perez from the Royals, but the only way that works is if they take Stassi Back.

With Thaiss though and O'Hoppe potentially returning in Sept, I don't know if I agree with the need. The DH spot is always occupied by Ohtani, so Perez isn't necessarily a fit, going forward. He like Stassi is under contract through 2025....at 20M per, which is a bit higher than Stassi. I'd take him if they took only took Fletcher back too, but that isn't likely to happen.

I don't recall a single playoff series where whoever the catcher was, ended up being the difference in the series. Starting pitchers? Every series. Bullpen? Every series. Timely hitting, every series. 

I'm skeptical there is such thing as a "playoff catcher."

[Hubs]

1 minute ago, Second Base said:

I don't recall a single playoff series where whoever the catcher was, ended up being the difference in the series. Starting pitchers? Every series. Bullpen? Every series. Timely hitting, every series. 

I'm skeptical there is such thing as a "playoff catcher."

Wasn't that impressive of a podcast to be honest.

[BTH]

21 minutes ago, Hubs said:

On the Angels Locked On Podcast, their guest (I think Erik Kratz) from Foul Territory Pod, said the Angels don't have a playoff catcher and I agree.

If the Angels make the playoffs, I’d be surprised if O’Hoppe wasn’t healthy by then.

Edited May 30, 2023 by Trendon

[BTH]

I thought this was gonna be about the pitching.

Before O’Hoppe’s injury:

3.83 ERA, 4.23 FIP

After O’Hoppe’s injury:

 4.32 ERA, 4.35 FIP

[Chuck]

re: Max Stassi. I had a guy on Twitter who will go unnamed DM me to spill the beans on Max Stassi as he's a neighbor apparently. 

I just couldn't respond. I don't want to know to be honest. What's private and personal should stay private IMO. 

 

[Hubs]

2 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

re: Max Stassi. I had a guy on Twitter who will go unnamed DM me to spill the beans on Max Stassi as he's a neighbor apparently. 

I just couldn't respond. I don't want to know to be honest. What's private and personal should stay private IMO. 

 

It just has to be bad. It's normal to speculate, but when the media knows and won't say anything, then it's likely because it's serious and it involves someone who doesn't have a public persona. If it was a problem with Max himself, it would have come out. And they want to keep it private, so it is staying private.

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 hours ago, Hubs said:

After a hot start with the bat, Wallach is hitting .118/.250/.118/.368 OPS in his last two weeks.

Season average down to .250/.304/.442/.746.

 

On the Angels Locked On Podcast, their guest (I think Erik Kratz) from Foul Territory Pod, said the Angels don't have a playoff catcher and I agree. Suggested taking Salvador Perez from the Royals, but the only way that works is if they take Stassi Back.

With Thaiss though and O'Hoppe potentially returning in Sept, I don't know if I agree with the need. The DH spot is always occupied by Ohtani, so Perez isn't necessarily a fit, going forward. He like Stassi is under contract through 2025....at 20M per, which is a bit higher than Stassi. I'd take him if they took only took Fletcher back too, but that isn't likely to happen.

Well, the Angels don’t have a playoff team so I don’t see how not having a playoff catcher matters.

[Fish Oil]

2 hours ago, Second Base said:

I don't recall a single playoff series where whoever the catcher was, ended up being the difference in the series. Starting pitchers? Every series. Bullpen? Every series. Timely hitting, every series. 

I'm skeptical there is such thing as a "playoff catcher."

The names of Munson, Bench, and Dempsey come to mind, but that was a long time ago.

[T.G.]

I don't have any desire to know what uis keeping Stassi from playing baseball. I'm fine not knowing. It's none of my business 

 

[Slegnaac]

3 hours ago, Second Base said:

I don't recall a single playoff series where whoever the catcher was, ended up being the difference in the series. Starting pitchers? Every series. Bullpen? Every series. Timely hitting, every series. 

I'm skeptical there is such thing as a "playoff catcher."

How about A.J. Pierzynski

[Lou]

Gene Tenace