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Gameday Thread: A's @ Angels (5/21/22 6pm): Lorenzen on the mound, Wade in for Ward in RF

Gameday Thread: A's @ Angels (5/20/22): Silseth on the mound, still no Stassi/Suzuki

Gameday Thread: Angels @ Rangers (5/17/22 5pm start): Detmers on the mound, Rengifo back at 2B, Duffy at 1B

Gameday Thread: Angels @ Rangers (5/16/22 5pm start): Syndergaard on the mound, standard lineup

Gameday Thread: Angels @ A's (5/14/22 Game Two 6:40pm start): Lorenzen on the mound, Wade in LF, Trout, Ward, Rendon back

Thread title changed because @failos can't read.

In the Gameday thread, I mentioned that I haven't felt this confident in the Angels closer since 2008, Francisco Rodriguez's last year. @AngelsLakersFan suggested that Iglesias might be the best closer we've ever had, to which I said for a single season, I'd probably take Bryan Harvey in 1991. @Slegnaac brought up F-Rod's 62 save season, although I mentioned his 34 walks in 68.1 IP.

So I thought I'd do a bit of research. WAR is obviously problematic, especially for pitchers - but I actually like it for relievers, because it--or the Fangraphs version--is based on FIP, which means it mostly weighs strikeouts, walks, and HR.

Anyhow, here are the top 15 relief seasons by Angels pitchers:


Frankie is on top - but notice that was his first full year, when Percival was still the closer (similarly, Percy's best season was also his first, when he was setting up for Lee Smith).

Harvey in 1991 is actually the best Angels closer season (at least according to fWAR), and then you have Frankie in 2006, Donnie Moore (RIP) in '85, and Percival in '96. Again, these are full seasons as a closer.

Iggy's 2021 is 15th, and hopefully this year will rise up the ranks. 

By the way, the top two closer seasons by fWAR are both from Bruce Sutter, in 1977 (5.2) and '79 (4.8). But that was back when relievers often pitched over 100 IP - He was just over that both times. The best modern day closer season was, unsurprisingly, Eric Gagne in 2003, when he had 4.7 WAR in 82.1 IP. He was so good there for a few years. No other reliever has had a 4 WAR season in the 21st century, although Liam Hendricks was close in 2019 with 3.8.

Like Frankie and Percy, Mariano Rivera's best season by WAR was also his first (4.3 in 1996), when he was setting up for John Wetteland. 

Harvey's '91 season is all the way down at #66 - but that's among all reliever seasons. Frankie's 3.7 WAR 2004 season is #17.

Gameday Thread: Angels @ A's (5/13/22 6:40 start): Silseth makes his debut, Ward back in the starting lineup

"Perhaps the Angels will not need any of their starters to pitch 165 innings. But they could use a veteran stabilizer, not to mention other pieces. General manager Perry Minasian, aggressive by nature, will be busy come July, if not sooner. No time to wait."

Our old friend Rob Goldman who brought us Once they were Angels, Always an Angel (Tim Salmon biography) and Nolan Ryan - The making of a pitcher and so many historical articles years ago, is back with a video production - Facing Nolan Ryan. Available in theatres on May 24th and at some point on streaming platforms as well. 

You can check your local theatres to see where it will be playing here: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/Facing-Nolan-

Check out the trailer. It looks awesome!! 

View the full article

Defense. Defense. Defense.

The emergence of Taylor Ward as an elite hitter--as well as the slow development of Adell--has put a bit of a crimp in the Angels outfield outlook. Before the year, it was reasonable to assume that the Angels would platoon Ward, Marsh, and Adell in the corner spots, and let them hack it out for playing time all year long. Even last year, I presented various configurations on how the Angels could platoon Marsh and Adell with Upton, assuming Ward would be a bench guy. But Ward wasn't having any of it, and Adell is now in AAA.

But here's another "problem": Adell is absolutely crushing AAA pitching. He just hit an HR in his first AB tonight and is hitting .500 with 3 HR in four games. Oh yeah, he walked 4 times yesterday.

So the Angels have a "problem" - both in the near and long-term future: How to get Adell back in the lineup, when he's ready? Be that in a month or next year, it is going to happen. 

Ward is already 28, but is under club control through 2026 - that's 4.8 seasons of cheap offensive firepower, even if he chills out and becomes a more garden variety borderline star hitter in the 130-140 wRC+ range (and at this point, he could be a true 150+ wRC star).

Marsh (24) is under club-control through 2027, and Adell (23) through 2026. Meaning, basically all the same.

I know this question is unanswerable, but how do you see this playing out? Will the Angels trade one in July for another pitcher or a middle infielder? Or do they stash Adell in AAA all year until someone gets injured and/or go back to a platoon with Marsh? 

One other factor to consider is that Walsh is under club control through 2025, and had significant trade value so could also be traded and Ward moved to 1B. But that seems less likely.

It is a good problem to have, but hard to get my mind around - as far as what the Angels are likely to do.

Gameday Thread: Rays @ Angels (5/11/22 4pm start): Ohtani on the mound, no Trout or Ward

Introduction

Before the season began, I predicted that the Angels would go 91-71, with a good chance of earning a wildcard berth. At the time, I doubted my own prediction - as @Dochalo half-jokingly remarked, he and I did the same thing every year: Wrote a long, stat-heavy post that showed how the Angels could be better than expected. And they never were.

But this year seems different - and more so, I'm starting to believe. Not only my own prediction, but that this is a very good club.

Before getting into that, I'm going to take a stroll down memory lane, to provide the context from which the current team arose. If you're not interested in all that, just skip to Part 2.

Gameday Thread: Rays @ Angels (5/10/22): Detmers on the mound, Ward still out

Gameday Thread: Rays @ Angels (5/9/22): Syndergaard on the mound, Ward out with a tweaked hamstring

Gameday Thread: Nationals @ Angels (5/8/22): Sandoval on the mound

Also, note that the Nationals pitcher is Joan Adon.  So we've got a Jhonathan vs. Joan matchup.


 

 

On this day in 2021, Albert Pujols was mercifully released by the Angels.

Discuss

GameDay Thread: Angels @ Red Sox (5/5/22 10:30am): Ohtani on the mound, no Trout

I wasn't a believer.   But damn.  Dat dude can hit.  Like Howie Kendrick in the minors hit.  With plate discipline.  I love D, but f it.  put him at second and figure it out.  

Looks like the worst of the rain will taper off before the scheduled start time, so hopefully they'll be able to get in the full game.

Gameday Thread: Angels @ Red Sox (5/3/22): Syndergaard on the mound, Ohtani back, Mayfield in LF

PART ONE: Angelic Offense & the Dynamic Duo

As of today, May 2, the Angels have had one of the best offenses in baseball, leading the majors in both runs scored (110) and wRC+ (126), and ranking highly in other categories like home runs (28, 3rd), stolen bases (16, 2nd), and walk rate (10.0%, 6th). To put that in context, the most recent player with a season similar to the Angels' overall offense was Jared Walsh last year, when his .277/.340/.509 and 29 HR yielded a 127 wRC+. Meaning, the overall Angels offense is roughly equivalent to having a lineup of nine Jared Walshes.

Or put it another way, that 126 team wRC+ is the same as the best hitting team since 1901, the 1927 Yankees. Ignoring 2020, only eight teams have reached 120 wRC+: three times by the Yankees in '27 and 1930-31, twice by the Astros in 2017 and '19, and once each by the Big Red Machine in 1976, the 1982 Brewers, and the 2003 Red Sox. 

A lot of this is driven by the performance of two players, Mike Trout and Taylor Ward:

Trout: .344/.481/.766, 255 wRC+, 1.8 fWAR

Ward: .400/.507/.764, 267 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR

Gameday Thread: Angels @ White Sox (11am start time): Sandoval on the mound, no Ohtani or Rendon