Gameday Thread: Angels @ Orioles (Season Opener - March 28th, 2024 3pm EST)

[Inside Pitch]

17 minutes ago, Tank said:

he's our only hope to hear the truth!

That's exactly how most of X/Twitter sees him. People on this board like to point out fans here don't care for him but the cult of personality he has going on X is kind of funny.  I actually think it's less about Blum and more the overwhelming hate for Moreno which to be fair is understandable.

26 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Sam is much more interested in being the guy who asks the question versus being the guy who gets the answer. Which is why I believe that while he’s great at in depth articles he’s awful at being a beat reporter. 

I think he understands where to get clicks and what his target audience wants to see/hear. It's also possible he grew up reading or listening to East coast sports coverage where a certain shtick is much more common. He seems young too and may still be learning the finer points of diplomacy that will eventually help him along if he stays in sports.  But IMO he understands the TMZ nature of the internet so, I get it.

I like that he asks questions, I get tired of him trying to ask the same question multiple ways to try to get the answer he wants or rather, the answer he thinks his audience wants to hear.  We will have a clearer picture of who he is or what his style truly is if ever the Angels don't suck and there aren't as many negative things to ask about/point out.

[EDinTUSTIN]

2 minutes ago, Slegnaac said:

Canning (the real #1) gets to face-off against Baltimore's #2.

Edge: Wash

Getting back to 500 via the second game against a 101-win team could certainly provide some impetus for an improved season. Getting a quality start from Canning is going to be huge here. Being the second game, it is pretty much the only opportunity to 'restart' the new season at square one.

[Inside Pitch]

7 minutes ago, EDinTUSTIN said:

Yeah, that's right. Oh, well, it wasn't Canning either.

I thought Sandoval was an odd choice as well. Given Walsh's tendency to build guys up, get them to believe in themselves, it's possible the choice was made to try to get him to step up.  It's whatever for me.  they couldnt hit the other team's number 1.

Hopefully he reaches FA and a certain owner was watching.

[EDinTUSTIN]

6 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

I thought Sandoval was an odd choice as well. Given Walsh's tendency to build guys up, get them to believe in themselves, it's possible the choice was made to try to get him to step up.  It's whatever for me.  they couldnt hit the other team's number 1.

Hopefully he reaches FA and a certain owner was watching.

Good points. Sandoval is just not cut out to be the head of any rotation. In my opinion, he just isn't that talented nor does he possess the intangibles or leadership qualities for that role.

[Chuck]

8 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

I thought Sandoval was an odd choice as well. Given Walsh's tendency to build guys up, get them to believe in themselves, it's possible the choice was made to try to get him to step up.  It's whatever for me.  they couldnt hit the other team's number 1.

Hopefully he reaches FA and a certain owner was watching.

Yep, we discussed that on our podcast. I'm with you that he was an odd choice. He had by far the worst spring of all the guys in the rotation and is coming off an awful 2023 season. 

 

[Make Angels Great Again]

9 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

That's exactly how most of X/Twitter sees him. People on this board like to point out fans here don't care for him but the cult of personality he has going on X is kind of funny.  I actually think it's less about Blum and more the overwhelming hate for Moreno which to be fair is understandable.

I think he understands where to get clicks and what his target audience wants to see/hear. It's also possible he grew up reading or listening to East coast sports coverage where a certain shtick is much more common. He seems young too and may still be learning the finer points of diplomacy that will eventually help him along if he stays in sports.  But IMO he understands the TMZ nature of the internet so, I get it.

I like that he asks questions, I get tired of him trying to ask the same question multiple ways to try to get the answer he wants or rather, the answer he thinks his audience wants to hear.  We will have a clearer picture of who he is or what his style truly is if ever the Angels don't suck and there aren't as many negative things to ask about/point out.

 

One thing i'll say, Sam Blum is certainly more interesting than someone like company man Lyle Spencer.

[Blarg]

As the schedule plays out Canning is the home opener starter. 

[Inside Pitch]

5 minutes ago, Chuck said:

Yep, we discussed that on our podcast. I'm with you that he was an odd choice. He had by far the worst spring of all the guys in the rotation and is coming off an awful 2023 season. 

 

His 2023 was bad but people are overstating how bad it was and they are glossing over how bad the team was behind him.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/custom?year=2023&type=pitcher&filter=&min=q&selections=p_unearned_run&chart=false&x=p_unearned_run&y=p_unearned_run&r=no&chartType=beeswarm&sort=p_unearned_run&sortDir=desc

Those unearned runs may not have dinged his ERA but they massively impacted his performance. He isn't full of piss and vinegar like Lackey but sort of reminds me of him before his nuts dropped and he stopped losing his crap over every little thing.

Also his FB is hittable AF.

[Inside Pitch]

1 minute ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

 

One thing i'll say, Sam Blum is certainly more interesting than someone like company man Lyle Spencer.

They guy was far and away the worst.

[Chuck]

13 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

His 2023 was bad but people are overstating how bad it was and they are glossing over how bad the team was behind him.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/custom?year=2023&type=pitcher&filter=&min=q&selections=p_unearned_run&chart=false&x=p_unearned_run&y=p_unearned_run&r=no&chartType=beeswarm&sort=p_unearned_run&sortDir=desc

Those unearned runs may not have dinged his ERA but they massively impacted his performance. He isn't full of piss and vinegar like Lackey but sort of reminds me of him before his nuts dropped and he stopped losing his crap over every little thing.

Also his FB is hittable AF.

I'm not referring to his ERA, but more his command. 74 walks and a 1.51 WHIP is really bad. He kept nibbling all season and his emotions were visibly running wild on the mound in almost every inning. 

When a hitter sees that dude can't throw strikes and that he's in his own head, he's just waiting on that get me over garbage fastball or breaking ball to crush it. 

[Angels 1961]

Angels need to make some moves

[Angel Oracle]

14 hours ago, Ochocinco! said:

Would love to be a fly on the wall of Artes suite today watching the game and seeing his reaction to todays game and him going “damn maybe I should have signed Cody Bellinger Corbin Burnes next off-season”

FIFY

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

Saturday and Sunday games look light probable rain outs...

[Docwaukee]

If they're going to make Sandoval use his fastball more, he's gonna struggle.  

They've got to stop making him something he's not.  He's never going to be at his best if they are trying to make him more efficient.  Let him nibble.  Let him focus on his secondary pitches.  His fastball just isn't very good. 

Do you want him averaging 5.1 innings per start with an era of 3.5 or 6 innings per start with and era of 4.5? 

He's a good pitcher that's never going to be a great pitcher.  Let him be good and stop trying to make him great.    

[Chuck]

15 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

 

While I don't mind Blum asking tough questions, this might be one of the dumbest takes on the internet.

 

[Mark68]

3 hours ago, Angels 1961 said:

Angels needed to make some moves

FIFY

[Lhalo]

4 hours ago, Angels 1961 said:

Angels need to make some moves

Only 123 more days until the trade deadline. LFG Perry!

[Lazorko Saves]

Hmm, Ump Scorecard really missing a lot of missed calls here.  This doesn't have that curveball above the zone that Taylor Ward ducked away from and was called a strike.  It doesn't have all those pitches Sandoval got squeezed on at the bottom of the zone.

[jsnpritchett]

15 minutes ago, Lazorko Saves said:

Hmm, Ump Scorecard really missing a lot of missed calls here.  This doesn't have that curveball above the zone that Taylor Ward ducked away from and was called a strike.  It doesn't have all those pitches Sandoval got squeezed on at the bottom of the zone.

Cool, so the Angels really should have lost 10.75 to 3.  Very close.

[Inside Pitch]

6 hours ago, Chuck said:

I'm not referring to his ERA, but more his command. 74 walks and a 1.51 WHIP is really bad. He kept nibbling all season and his emotions were visibly running wild on the mound in almost every inning. 

When a hitter sees that dude can't throw strikes and that he's in his own head, he's just waiting on that get me over garbage fastball or breaking ball to crush it. 

I mentioned ERA because that's what people would typically talk about when someone references unearned runs.  His walk rate was up a bit last year but he's always had that problem and we know for a fact the team was having the pitchers chase Ks which may have lead to him throwing more pitchers for balls to try to get hitters to bite.  I think the biggest issue he has is the same issue's he's always had and WHY he will always need to work in and out of the zone -- his FB/sinker isn't good.  It's not a velocity thing so much as it's just a rope.  There was essentially no change in his velocity between 22 and 23 but the value of his FB which wasn't great to begin with cratered to 15% last year despite him actually seeing some of the best vertical movement of his career.

Yesterday was interesting in that his FB velocity was up and he showed better vertical and horizontal movement than normal but his sinker got completely wrecked.

Dude needs to pitch backwards and hitters know it.

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, Chuck said:

While I don't mind Blum asking tough questions, this might be one of the dumbest takes on the internet.

 

Didn't that guy get into some hot water at some point with some comment he made?   Angels twitter is a shit-show.

[Stradling]

16 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Didn't that guy get into some hot water at some point with some comment he made?   Angels twitter is a shit-show.

It certainly isn’t great. Even the educated fans on Twitter have the emotional make up of a teenage girl on her period.