The Kids Are Alright

[totdprods]

ZACH NETO: 

• Currently on pace for 24 doubles, 20 HR, 20 SB, 40 BB over 161 G
• Out of 176 plate appearances on the year, his last 100 of them are looking pretty good: .309/.350/.575/.925 with a reasonable .354 BABip. This is cherry-picking, yes, but I also don't think anyone expected a .900+ OPS from him. 
• Starting to look a little like the Trea Turner-lite I hoped for. A 20/20 season is in reach. The power and contact have been a little better than expected and will probably come back to earth some. He's striking out a lot (on pace for 160 K) but not unexpected for a 23-year old that almost went straight to bigs. 

NOLAN SCHANUEL:

• First 54 plate appearances: .093/.259/.163/.422
• Last 118 plate appearances: .287/.328/.426/.754 and a .303 BABip, so not luck-driven.
• If those last 30 games are a sign of what his actual 2024 output may be, I don't think anyone would complain. Sure, the bat speed, baserunning and fielding have been underwhelming, but the discipline has been well above-average, even if it's not culminating in a ton of walks. Eventually that should change. Maybe the approach to coax more power threw off the mechanics.

LOGAN O'HOPPE:

• Despite a tough cold snap over the last month, still above-average offensive slash: .264/.321/.403/.723, 104 OPS+
• Baseball Savant still has him well above-average as a hitter, with 75th Percentile or better in Sweet-Spot %, Hard-Hit %, Exit Velocity, and 65th Percentile or better for xwOBA, xBA, and xSLG
• I'd sacrifice some offense so long as he keeps growing defensively and building a rapport with the pitching staff, and even then seems like he'll be a slightly above-average catcher at that. Maybe has some streakiness in him.

JO ADELL: (A picture is worth a thousand words)

[totdprods]

Also worth noting...

Taylor Ward's Baseball Savant is all kinds of red...

 

And while Luis Rengifo's is not, he's still hitting a very pleasant .312/.364/.450/.814 while emerging as a pretty solid SB threat (12 for 14).

It'll be nice when Sano and hopefully an improved Drury return.

[totdprods]

And as bad as the pitching has been overall, if you look up and down the FIP it seems bad defense/luck have stung them quite a bit too. All of the SP have a FPI under 5.00 now (Canning is right there at 4.99) and of all the active relievers, the only ones standing out as really poor are Moore (5.97) and Suarez (4.73). The rest are sub-4.00 or sub-3.00 even (Strickland, Garcia). 

It seems like they are starting to stabilize a little bit and while I don't think this is a good team, it is starting to look more like a league average team and all things considered, that's a pretty great outcome and bodes well for 2025.

[Chuck]

Good stuff, @totdprods!!!

I mentioned on the podcast a couple days ago that it's this young that keeps me interested in this club despite some overall bad baseball which has resulted poorly in the standings. 

Last night's game should excite every Angels fan as it provided a glimpse into what the future could hold for this club. 

We lost Jose Soriano in the Rule-5 draft to the Pirates and thankfully due to the TJ surgery he required we got him back. He's now the future ace of this staff, who clearly has the best stuff in the starting rotation. 

Luis Rengifo and Taylor Ward are two others I'm equally excited about. 

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, totdprods said:

And as bad as the pitching has been overall, if you look up and down the FIP it seems bad defense/luck have stung them quite a bit too. All of the SP have a FPI under 5.00 now (Canning is right there at 4.99) and of all the active relievers, the only ones standing out as really poor are Moore (5.97) and Suarez (4.73). The rest are sub-4.00 or sub-3.00 even (Strickland, Garcia). 

It seems like they are starting to stabilize a little bit and while I don't think this is a good team, it is starting to look more like a league average team and all things considered, that's a pretty great outcome and bodes well for 2025.

Team FIP 4.29

Team ERA 4.61

[totdprods]

22 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Team FIP 4.29

Team ERA 4.61

They’re really being hurt by the lack of depth offensively (having a certified big bat would go a long way), Detmers, and the back of the bullpen. And some bad luck and not great defense/baserunning. In the grand scheme of things, those aren’t the worst problems to have, and really not many total black holes. 

This is about what I expected though. I don’t think this team is going to be ‘good’ this year, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they turned into a really strong team halfway through 2025. A lot will hinge on who they sell and who they get this winter though.

[Duren, Duren]

Not sure if this was posted, but history was made last night! 

Actually a positive peek at future long term potential. 

https://www.mlb.com/news/angels-hit-4-homers-vs-astros-score-7-runs-in-fifth-inning

And the Astro broadcasters were rudely jolted out of their cozy 6 - 1 comfort zone.

[samwum]

Really awesome to see the young kids doing well.

Also really frustrating how bad the team is despite all this young talent. You could take the Stephenson and Evan White (formerly Fletcher and Stassi) salaries and you're just $5mm off from having Cody Bellinger hitting 4th instead of Willie Calhoun and Kevin Pillar. Or Sonny Gray as the ace. What a different type of team we would be looking at if Perry had used better judgement and discipline with the budget.

Hopefully Arte can find a GM this offseason who can wisely add veteran talent and build a complete roster while we still have all these young kids contributing on cheap deals. 

[ScottM]

It will be a very successful season if 3 out of these 4 put up seasons of 100+ OPS+. If all 4 hit it, I will be excited for next year.

[totdprods]

50 minutes ago, ScottM said:

It will be a very successful season if 3 out of these 4 put up seasons of 100+ OPS+. If all 4 hit it, I will be excited for next year.

I think there is a very strong chance they do that.

I actually could see the entire “starting lineup” ending the year with an OPS+ of 100+. O’Hoppe, Schanuel, Rengifo, Neto, Rendon, Ward, Trout, Adell, and Sano. Obviously some of those guys won’t have played the full season but all of those guys finishing at 100+ OPS+ seems doable, and would be a pretty great starting point for next year.

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

Computing. ...  .... 

[Chuck]

The Kids are Alright tonight!! 

Schanuel HR (6), Neto, (7) and O'Hoppe with the only hits against Cease. 

[totdprods]

There’s gonna be growing pains. They will slump. But they haven’t totally cratered like we’re used to seeing in the past when we brought up top prospects.

[Blarg]

Paris is no where near MLB ready. He is not alright. More like, all wrong. 

[Stax]

The Angels have had the hardest or next to hardest schedule so far. So as bad as the Angels record looks. it is expected. The remainder if the season the Angels have one of the of the easiest schedules. So things are looking good.  The kids will get better from this experience. Maybe even a wild card slot.

[totdprods]

On 6/5/2024 at 10:27 PM, Blarg said:

Paris is no where near MLB ready. He is not alright. More like, all wrong. 

No one brought up Paris

[Blarg]

41 minutes ago, totdprods said:

No one brought up Paris

He is part of the youth movement but moved into MLB too soon.