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CHICAGO — Logan O’Hoppe is continuing to develop into an everyday big league catcher, even though he hasn’t played a game in more than a month.
O’Hoppe is here with the Angels on the road, as he has been throughout his rehab from left shoulder surgery. He participates in pregame meetings and then charts pitches throughout each game, looking for patterns with the opposing hitters and the Angels pitchers.
“I’ve learned a lot,” O’Hoppe said on Monday. “We’d be here all night if we talked about everything I’ve learned… I knew it was going to help. I didn’t think it would help this much.”
O’Hoppe had surgery five weeks ago, and he’s at least three months from returning. He still hasn’t done any baseball activity. He is optimistic that next week he will start some running though.
Typically, a player that far from returning would not be on the road, and he might even be working out at the spring training complex. Because O’Hoppe is a catcher, though, the Angels felt he could still gain something from simply being with the team.
“There’s a lot that goes into that position prior to 6:38 or whatever time we start,” general manager Perry Minasian said. “There’s a lot of work done between noon and 5 that he can still do. That’s reviewing certain things and watching the game and game plans. What would you do in this situation? Why did we call what? What was the turnout? So there’s a lot of things we felt like he could gain and being here and being part of the club and I think he’s making the most of it.”
Catcher Chad Wallach said he’s been impressed with O’Hoppe’s effort in learning while he’s been rehabbing.
“Just watching the game, that’s the biggest thing,” Wallach said. “He’s taking notes. He’s paying attention, which a lot of guys wouldn’t. A lot of guys would take this time and kind of just check out for a while. It  just shows how much he loves the game. He wants to learn. He wants to be here… He wants to know the game plan and stuff like that, which is cool. It’s big for him being a young guy and just learning as he goes even through the injury.”
It remains to be seen when he’ll get to put it all back into use on the field. O’Hoppe suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The surgery was expected to have him out four to six months. If he comes back in four, that would be late August.
“They told me four to six months, so why wouldn’t anyone try to come back in four?” O’Hoppe said. “That’s the mindset I have.”
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
At the start of the season, the Angels bullpen was short on pitchers with high velocity fastballs who could rack up strikeouts. Now they’ve added right-handers Chase Silseth, Sam Bachman and Ben Joyce, who all throw in the upper 90s or harder.
They’ve also added some walks, though. Silseth has averaged 4.6 walks per nine innings in the majors. Bachman (5.2 walks per nine innings) and Joyce (5.3) have both had walk problems in the minors.
General manager Perry Minasian conceded that the Angels are taking a risk by adding pitchers like that to the bullpen.
“There is give and take,” Minasian said. “With power comes a little less command, unless you’re a Hall of Famer, to a certain extent. That’s all part of a learning curve. It’s definitely different from what we’ve had from a look standpoint. We’ll see how it plays out.”
NOTES
First baseman Jared Walsh was not in the lineup, even though the Angels were facing a right-hander on Monday. Manager Phil Nevin said it was just a day off. Nevin said he wanted Luis Rengifo to play because he had two hits, including a homer, against White Sox right-hander Michael Kopech. …
Third baseman Anthony Rendon (groin) took some grounders and did some throwing on the field before Monday’s game. Rendon has also done some running in the outfield. Although he’s been adding activities lately, there is no timetable for his return. “Just a day by day thing,” Minasian said. “We miss having him in the lineup. Hopefully he’s back sooner than later. I think we’re a different team with him.” …
Left-hander José Suarez (shoulder) has been working out in Arizona. Suarez is still not throwing yet, Minasian said. …
Right-hander Chris Rodriguez (shoulder) is throwing in Arizona, but still not off the mound. Rodriguez “has had some setbacks,” Minasian said. The Angels have “done what we need to do medically” to make sure he doesn’t need further treatment, Minasian said, so they are just waiting for him to be ready for more activity.
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 2-0, 4.81) vs. White Sox (RHP Lucas Giolito, 3-4, 3.98), Tuesday, 5:10 p.m., Guaranteed Rate Field, Bally Sports West,  830 AM.
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ANAHEIM ― In three games against the Miami Marlins, the Angels went 3 for 28 with runners in scoring position.
There were other missteps along the way to their first series sweep at home this season, but the Angels’ lack of clutch hitting loomed large over a 2-0 loss Sunday before an announced crowd of 36,345 at Angel Stadium.
The Angels went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base.
Hitting was not the Angels’ strength in any situation Sunday. Rookie sensation Eury Perez and five relievers limited them to three hits. Miami pitchers also issued seven walks, however, and the Angels did nothing to take advantage.
In the fifth inning, Perez walked Taylor Ward and Livan Soto with one out. Mike Trout batted with two out and took a liking to a 1-and-1 slider. He caught it a bit too close to the end of his bat, and the ball came to rest in Bryan De La Cruz’s glove in left field.
In the seventh inning, Zach Neto doubled with one out. With two outs, Trout was walked intentionally with first base open, and left-hander Tanner Scott hustled in from the bullpen to face Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani swung and missed at two of the four pitches he saw, including a two-strike fastball over the plate.
Finally, in the ninth inning, pinch hitter Chad Wallach led off with a single against right-hander JT Chargois, who was in search of his first career save. After Ward grounded into a double play, Neto walked and Hunter Renfroe doubled, giving the Angels runners on second and third with two outs.
That brought up Trout again, whose soft flare into shallow right field was easily tracked down by second baseman Luis Arraez for the final out of the game. Trout finished 0 for 4.
Angels starter Patrick Sandoval (3-4) took the hard-luck loss. The left-hander allowed two runs in six innings, deftly working around eight hits and two walks. He helped himself with a pair of slick plays on defense, fielding a comebacker behind his back in the first inning and leaping off the mound to catch a bunt pop-up in the third.
Marlins catcher Nick Fortes opened the scoring with a solo home run in the third inning. In the sixth, the Angels intentionally walked Yuli Gurriel with first base open to pitch to Jean Segura instead.
Segura, who began the day with a .196 batting average, punched an RBI single into right field, then flipped his bat en route to first base.
Overall, it was a marked improvement from Sandoval’s previous start, when he pitched through a bout of food poisoning on the losing end of a 6-2 defeat against Minnesota.
The Angels travel to Chicago on Monday to begin a three-game series against the White Sox.
More to come on this story.
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ANAHEIM — The last time Griffin Canning recorded at least 21 outs in a baseball game, it was played in a stadium with photos of the players’ family members occupying seats and fake crowd noise pumped in over the ballpark speakers.
Canning worked seven innings in the Angels’ 4-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night, his longest outing since he went eight innings once during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Canning helped lift the Angels (27-23) to their third straight victory, and their fifth in the past six games. By taking the first two of this series against Boston, the Angels have now won back-to-back series for the first time since they did so last month against the Kansas City Royals and Oakland A’s. The Angels hadn’t won any series against teams with winning records before these two series wins against the Minnesota Twins and Red Sox.
The Angels’ prospects of contending certainly look better if they have the version of Canning who was poised to be a rotation building block back in 2020.
Since then, he had missed a season and a half with a stress fracture in his back, dropping on the depth chart to a spot in which the Angels simply hoped they could once again get a glimpse at that pitcher.
They finally did on Tuesday.
Canning had said after each of his first six starts since he returned that he felt everything was getting better. The words accompanied middling results, though, because in each game he’d managed to get burned by one bad inning or bad defense behind him.
This time Canning got into a minor jam in the second inning when he issued a two-out walk and gave up a hit, but he escaped with a strikeout.
Otherwise, he gave up just one hit and two walks in his other six innings. The Red Sox did not get a runner into scoring position against him.
Canning needed 41 pitches for the first two innings, but he got more efficient as the game wore on. Over his final five innings, he threw 12, 13, nine, 11 and five pitches, finishing with 91 pitches.
Canning also got some of the defensive help he’d been missing.
Left fielder Mickey Moniak made a running catch toward the line on a sharp line drive off the bat of Rafael Devers in the fourth. In the sixth, Devers hit a grounder that shortstop Zach Neto backhanded.
First baseman Jared Walsh went toward the line to make a nice pickup of an Enmanuel Valdez grounder.
Canning turned a two-run lead over to the bullpen because the only runs the Angels managed were a leadoff homer from Moniak (his third in 10 games) and a fifth-inning homer from Matt Thaiss.
Left-hander Matt Moore took care of the Red Sox in the eighth, working around a leadoff walk by inducing a double play.
Closer Carlos Estévez was warming in the bullpen when the Angels added some insurance on a Mike Trout two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth. That cushion allowed the Angels to use Jacob Webb instead for the ninth.
More to come on this story.
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ANAHEIM — The Angels’ hottest hitter was on the bench on Wednesday night.
Mickey Moniak hit .419 with four home runs and a 1.373 OPS in his first 10 games, but he did not get the start when the Angels faced Boston Red Sox lefty James Paxton.
The issue is that Moniak is just 1 for 24 in his major league career against lefties. Also, that provided an opportunity for Manager Phil Nevin to get a start for slumping Taylor Ward.
“I felt like this was the best way to win this game tonight,” Nevin said before Wednesday’s game. “I know Mickey’s been hot. He’s playing great, but we need to get Wardo going too.”
Moniak, a left-handed hitter, acknowledges that he has not seen lefties as well as he’s seen righties in his career. He also pointed out that all three times he was hurt last year came against lefties. Once he was hit in the hand while bunting, and two other times he was hit while swinging.
Moniak reached on a bunt single on the play in which he broke his hand last August against Seattle Mariners lefty Brennan Bernardino. That’s Moniak’s only hit against a lefty in the majors.
“I think that goes back to what I was doing in the box, crossing over,” Moniak said. “This year I made sure I stayed square and through the middle of the field. Opening my stance has helped. When I get closed off it’s a little harder to see the ball.”
That raises the question of whether the changes that Moniak made to his swing last winter, which have helped him to be so much better overall, have also solved his issues against lefties.
In spring training, Moniak was 7 for 13 (.538) with a double and a homer against lefties. He did not strike out. This year at Triple-A he still didn’t play that much against lefties, going 5 for 23 (.217) with five strikeouts and no walks.
It’s fair to ask how Moniak is supposed to prove he can hit lefties if he isn’t getting the opportunity.
“We still develop in the major leagues, but first and foremost we’re trying to win games,” Nevin said. “I’m going to put the best lineup out there each day that I feel is gonna help us win that game.”
Nevin said Moniak will still get some opportunities against lefties, perhaps when someone else needs a day off so he and Ward are both in the lineup. That happened on Friday night, but it was against a right-hander.
The Angels are set to face Miami Marlins lefty Jesus Luzardo on Friday. Nevin was noncommittal about who would play in that game.
Moniak said he understands the role he’s in right now.
“I think the opportunities will come with just continued success,” Moniak said. “I think being consistent is the name of the game. I’ve only been here for a little over a week, close to two weeks now.
“The lineup obviously is out of my control. Obviously, I have all the trust in the world in Phil. This is a team game and I’m here to help the team win.”
NOTES
Third baseman Anthony Rendon (groin) did some agility work on the field before Wednesday’s game. Rendon has also been hitting in the indoor cage. Nevin said they don’t have a timeline for when Rendon will be ready, but he’s hoping it won’t be long. Rendon declined to talk to reporters. …
Nevin said Gio Urshela could get some work at second base when Rendon comes back. Urshela has started one game at second this year. …
Outfielder Brett Phillips cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. …
Left-hander Ky Bush, one of the Angels’ top pitching prospects, is again healthy and pitching in extended spring training. Bush missed much of spring training with an oblique injury and then he hurt his groin in April.
UP NEXT
Marlins (LHP Jesus Luzardo, 3-3, 3.83) at Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 0-3, 4.87 ERA), Friday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
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ANAHEIM — The Angels’ hottest hitter was on the bench on Wednesday night.
Mickey Moniak hit .419 with four home runs and a 1.373 OPS in his first 10 games, but he did not get the start when the Angels faced Boston Red Sox lefty James Paxton.
The issue is that Moniak is just 1 for 24 in his major league career against lefties. Also, that provided an opportunity for Manager Phil Nevin to get a start for slumping Taylor Ward.
“I felt like this was the best way to win this game tonight,” Nevin said before Wednesday’s game. “I know Mickey’s been hot. He’s playing great, but we need to get Wardo going too.”
Moniak, a left-handed hitter, acknowledges that he has not seen lefties as well as he’s seen righties in his career. He also pointed out that all three times he was hurt last year came against lefties. Once he was hit in the hand while bunting, and two other times he was hit while swinging.
Moniak reached on a bunt single on the play in which he broke his hand last August against Seattle Mariners lefty Brennan Bernardino. That’s Moniak’s only hit against a lefty in the majors.
“I think that goes back to what I was doing in the box, crossing over,” Moniak said. “This year I made sure I stayed square and through the middle of the field. Opening my stance has helped. When I get closed off it’s a little harder to see the ball.”
That raises the question of whether the changes that Moniak made to his swing last winter, which have helped him to be so much better overall, have also solved his issues against lefties.
In spring training, Moniak was 7 for 13 (.538) with a double and a homer against lefties. He did not strike out. This year at Triple-A he still didn’t play that much against lefties, going 5 for 23 (.217) with five strikeouts and no walks.
It’s fair to ask how Moniak is supposed to prove he can hit lefties if he isn’t getting the opportunity.
“We still develop in the major leagues, but first and foremost we’re trying to win games,” Nevin said. “I’m going to put the best lineup out there each day that I feel is gonna help us win that game.”
Nevin said Moniak will still get some opportunities against lefties, perhaps when someone else needs a day off so he and Ward are both in the lineup. That happened on Friday night, but it was against a right-hander.
The Angels are set to face Miami Marlins lefty Jesus Luzardo on Friday. Nevin was noncommittal about who would play in that game.
Moniak said he understands the role he’s in right now.
“I think the opportunities will come with just continued success,” Moniak said. “I think being consistent is the name of the game. I’ve only been here for a little over a week, close to two weeks now.
“The lineup obviously is out of my control. Obviously, I have all the trust in the world in Phil. This is a team game and I’m here to help the team win.”
NOTES
Third baseman Anthony Rendon (groin) did some agility work on the field before Wednesday’s game. Rendon has also been hitting in the indoor cage. Nevin said they don’t have a timeline for when Rendon will be ready, but he’s hoping it won’t be long. Rendon declined to talk to reporters. …
Nevin said Gio Urshela could get some work at second base when Rendon comes back. Urshela has started one game at second this year. …
Outfielder Brett Phillips cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. …
Left-hander Ky Bush, one of the Angels’ top pitching prospects, is again healthy and pitching in extended spring training. Bush missed much of spring training with an oblique injury and then he hurt his groin in April.
UP NEXT
Marlins (LHP Jesus Luzardo, 3-3, 3.83) at Angels (LHP Reid Detmers, 0-3, 4.87 ERA), Friday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
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ANAHEIM — Just over a quarter of the way through the first year of Tyler Anderson’s three-year, $39 million deal, the Angels are still waiting to see the pitcher they hoped they had signed.
Anderson has been just as frustrated, but he still believes better days are coming.
“I always feel like I just want to outperform whatever my contract is,” Anderson said. “I know I’m capable of it. I just haven’t done it.”
Anderson, 33, has a 5.27 ERA heading into Wednesday’s start against the Boston Red Sox, which will be his ninth start of the season.
Last year he had a 2.57 ERA with the Dodgers, but his career ERA for the previous six seasons was 4.62, so it’s fair to wonder if last season was simply an outlier year that he can’t repeat.
The key to last year’s breakout was an improvement with his changeup. He went back to a grip that he’d used earlier in his career, but he abandoned it because it was too difficult to command. Last year he was able to harness the pitch and opponents hit .179 against it, whiffing on 37% of their swings.
So far this year opponents are hitting .281 against his changeup, with a whiff rate of 36.8%.
Anderson said the changeup is “getting better.” He discovered one grip tweak during his previous start and felt good about the results during his bullpen session on Monday, according to Manager Phil Nevin.
To Anderson, though, the changeup results are a side effect of what’s gone wrong with his fastball.
Anderson explained that command always starts with the fastball. He knows when he aims for a certain spot, the pitch will end up in a consistent location relative to where he’s aiming. That location changes with each secondary pitch.
If he doesn’t know exactly where the fastball is going, then he has no chance to know where his changeup is going.
“It’s hard to throw your other pitches because you’re trying to throw it where you think you should start it, but you’re not getting into the right spot, even from the start,” Anderson said.
Failing to get his fastball where he wants it has also prevented him from getting ahead in the count enough to get hitters to chase his changeup.
Anderson said all of that comes down to his mechanics, which he’s trying to refine.
“I feel like mechanically, my delivery got off to a bad start,” he said. “I kind of dug a little bit of a hole. It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.”
Anderson had a 7.20 ERA in his first four starts, but he’s got a 3.57 ERA in his last four. Last Thursday in Baltimore, Anderson did not allow a run for the first four innings, but then he gave up three in the fifth, two on a homer.
“He’s been a lot better,” Nevin said. “It’s been the one inning that’s kind of unraveled. In the last one, it was the home run he gave up in the fifth. I thought he’s been more consistent. He’s a tireless worker. He throws every day. He’s trying to perfect his pitches.”
NOTES
The chopping motion the Angels have been making to celebrate a victory is actually a sledgehammer. It began with Angels bullpen catcher Manny Del Campo and Shohei Ohtani. Del Campo made the sign with Ohtani whenever Ohtani would “hammer” a baseball for a home run or extra-base hit, and from there it spread to something they did to punctuate a victory.
Nevin said that he’s been asking Ohtani when he needs another day off, but Ohtani says he wants to keep playing. “Conversations keep happening, but right now he feels great, he doesn’t want to sit,” Nevin said. “I trust him when he’s talking about his body and how he feels. He’s normally very honest with me.” …
First baseman Jared Walsh had one hit in his first 12 at-bats after missing nearly two months dealing with neurological issues. He spent just a week in a Triple-A rehab assignment before being activated. “I think the swings have been good,” Nevin said. “He’s still trying to get that complete timing down and that whole feeling down. What he went through and the time he had to take off up until this point, it’s difficult to come right back into a big league game after only a week of taking at-bats, but I think he’s been doing a fine job at the plate. He’s made a difference on the field defensively already I think.” …
The Angels’ pre- and postgame television shows are now shot from inside the ballpark as a cost-cutting measure by Bally Sports West, whose parent company is going through bankruptcy proceedings. Fewer crew members are required to do the show from inside the ballpark than from outside the stadium.
UP NEXT
Red Sox (LHP James Paxton, 1-0, 2.45 ERA) at Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 1-0, 5.27 ERA), Wednesday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
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ANAHEIM — On the opening night of what is being billed as “Country Weekend,” the Angels’ Hunter Renfroe might as well have been swinging a banjo.
Renfroe’s softly hit dunker into shallow left field in the seventh inning on Friday ended up being sweet music, driving in the go-ahead run in a 5-4 victory the Angels first looked to have in hand before being forced to rally late.
Just when the Angels seemed ready to craft a tale of loss, they picked up the tempo late against the Minnesota Twins to win the opener of a three-game series and nine-game homestand.
Mickey Moniak had three hits, falling a home run shy of the cycle, and Reid Detmers took a no-hitter into the sixth inning as the Angels came out on top without Mike Trout, who was given a day of rest following a 2-4 road trip to Cleveland and Baltimore.
Detmers brought back memories of last May against the Tampa Bay Rays when he fired a no-hitter in his 11th career start. Detmers matched a career high with 12 strikeouts, including the first two batters of the sixth inning, but never made it out of the frame.
He was chased from the game as the Twins scored three times to tie it. When Minnesota took a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning on a Willi Castro home run, it looked to be another night of woe for the Angels, who led for the 38th time in 46 games but were still about to fall to .500.
That all changed in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Angels stood up for themselves.
The momentum shift actually started in the top of the seventh, two batters after Castro’s home run, when center fielder Moniak robbed Minnesota’s Michael A. Taylor of another homer by reaching over the wall for an out.
In the bottom of the seventh, rookie Zach Neto singled with one out against Griffin Jax (2-6) and scored on a Moniak triple into the right field corner. Moniak was thrown out at home on a Taylor Ward grounder, but after Shohei Othan walked to put two aboard, Renfroe hit just the right note with his soft single to left that brought home Ward from second base.
Angels right-hander Carlos Estevez struck out two in the ninth inning, including Joey Gallo to end it and earn his 11th save. Zack Weiss (1-0) recorded one out in the seventh inning to earn the win.
The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Neto singled, went to second on a double from Moniak and scored on a fly ball to center field from Ward.
The lead grew to 3-0 in the fourth inning as Brandon Drury drilled an RBI double off the left field wall, went to third on a Gio Urshella line out then scored when Luis Rengifo stole second base and twins catcher Ryan Jeffers threw the ball into center field.
Even as his pitch count soared, Detmers was in control until he opened the sixth with a pair of strikeouts. Carlos Correa walked before Byron Buxton ended the no-hitter on a single to left field. Kyle Farmer followed with an RBI single to chase Detmers.
Minnesota pinch hitter Alex Kirilloff greeted Angels right-hander Jimmy Herget with a two-run double to right field to tie the score 3-3.
More to come on this story.
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ANAHEIM — On the opening night of what is being billed as “Country Weekend,” the Angels’ Hunter Renfroe might as well have been swinging a banjo.
Renfroe’s softly hit dunker into shallow left field in the seventh inning on Friday ended up being sweet music, driving in the go-ahead run in a 5-4 victory the Angels first looked to have in hand before being forced to rally late.
Just when the Angels seemed ready to craft a tale of loss, they picked up the tempo late against the Minnesota Twins to win the opener of a three-game series and nine-game homestand.
Mickey Moniak had three hits, falling a home run shy of the cycle, and Reid Detmers took a no-hitter into the sixth inning as the Angels came out on top without Mike Trout, who was given a day of rest following a 2-4 road trip to Cleveland and Baltimore.
Detmers brought back memories of last May against the Tampa Bay Rays when he fired a no-hitter in his 11th career start. Detmers matched a career high with 12 strikeouts, including the first two batters of the sixth inning, but never made it out of the frame.
He was chased from the game as the Twins scored three times to tie it. When Minnesota took a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning on a Willi Castro home run, it looked to be another night of woe for the Angels, who led for the 38th time in 46 games but were still about to fall to .500.
That all changed in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Angels stood up for themselves.
The momentum shift actually started in the top of the seventh, two batters after Castro’s home run, when center fielder Moniak robbed Minnesota’s Michael A. Taylor of another homer by reaching over the wall for an out.
In the bottom of the seventh, rookie Zach Neto singled with one out against Griffin Jax (2-6) and scored on a Moniak triple into the right field corner. Moniak was thrown out at home on a Taylor Ward grounder, but after Shohei Othan walked to put two aboard, Renfroe hit just the right note with his soft single to left that brought home Ward from second base.
Angels right-hander Carlos Estevez struck out two in the ninth inning, including Joey Gallo to end it and earn his 11th save. Zack Weiss (1-0) recorded one out in the seventh inning to earn the win.
The Angels took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Neto singled, went to second on a double from Moniak and scored on a fly ball to center field from Ward.
The lead grew to 3-0 in the fourth inning as Brandon Drury drilled an RBI double off the left field wall, went to third on a Gio Urshella line out then scored when Luis Rengifo stole second base and twins catcher Ryan Jeffers threw the ball into center field.
Even as his pitch count soared, Detmers was in control until he opened the sixth with a pair of strikeouts. Carlos Correa walked before Byron Buxton ended the no-hitter on a single to left field. Kyle Farmer followed with an RBI single to chase Detmers.
Minnesota pinch hitter Alex Kirilloff greeted Angels right-hander Jimmy Herget with a two-run double to right field to tie the score 3-3.
More to come on this story.
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First off let's just get right to the point. Mike Trout while he's older and will never be the player he was in his younger 20's and prime years, he is not someone that is in steep decline as some have suggest on social media and our community forum, he's just off at this time.
Let's take a closer look. 
As you can see below, Trout has been missing, as his exit velocities have been down the last three weeks, but the underlying data is still really strong.

People have been saying that Mike Trout can no longer hit the fastball, but here's what you need to look at.

As you can see his xSLG (expected SLG% of 541 on fastballs is a lot better than his actual SLG, and his exit velocities have been pretty much in line with his career numbers off fastballs --  as is his hard hit% as you will see here.
Year Pitch Type Team RV/100 Run Value Pitches % PA BA SLG wOBA Whiff% K% PutAway % xBA xSLG xwOBA Hard Hit % 2023 4-Seamer   0.6 2 350 46.1 68 .220 .458 .352 31.2 30.9 20.0 .263 .558 .390 52.6 2023 Sinker   -2.3 -2 108 14.2 27 .227 .227 .296 24.0 22.2 27.3 .246 .323 .330 18.8 2023 Slider   5.7 5 90 11.9 26 .417 .708 .498 35.3 34.6 28.1 .269 .499 .352 46.7 2023 Curveball   2.3 1 51 6.7 9 .167 .667 .456 50.0 22.2 20.0 .239 .661 .479 100.0 2023 Sweeper   -2.8 -1 44 5.8 15 .200 .267 .203 23.8 26.7 25.0 .221 .284 .218 36.4 2023 Cutter   3.5 2 43 5.7 13 .417 1.083 .569 22.2 23.1 37.5 .348 .857 .489 80.0 2023 Changeup   3.8 2 41 5.4 11 .500 .600 .505 19.0 9.1 6.3 .544 .791 .581 55.6 2023 Splitter   -1.6 0 23 3.0 7 .167 .167 .229 30.0 28.6 16.7 .200 .225 .260 25.0 2023 Slurve   -11.1 -1 9 1.2 3 .000 .000 .000 25.0 0.0 0.0 .237 .256 .216 33.3 2022 4-Seamer   1.8 16 903 42.9 190 .265 .560 .396 31.0 32.1 20.4 .237 .545 .375 52.8 2022 Slider   1.9 7 355 16.9 78 .292 .694 .431 36.0 26.9 17.6 .253 .573 .376 43.1 2022 Sinker   2.4 8 337 16.0 97 .311 .600 .445 16.7 19.6 27.5 .315 .576 .405 47.9 2022 Cutter   4.2 6 146 6.9 37 .321 .893 .546 24.6 16.2 15.8 .365 .817 .552 59.1 2022 Changeup   3.1 4 143 6.8 41 .324 .757 .473 33.3 24.4 15.2 .298 .659 .437 51.9 2022 Curveball   -0.6 -1 139 6.6 28 .200 .560 .354 41.0 42.9 33.3 .187 .526 .342 53.8 2022 Sweeper   1.6 1 64 3.0 16 .250 .500 .316 45.2 50.0 38.1 .221 .491 .302 75.0 2022 Splitter   -2.6 0 15 0.7 3 .000 .000 .000 44.4 66.7 22.2 .002 .002 .002 0.0 2022 Slurve   -0.5 0 2 0.1   -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2021 4-Seamer   3.3 9 271 44.4 57 .419 .744 .546 21.7 22.8 16.7 .328 .703 .497 50.0 2021 Slider   2.5 3 117 19.2 22 .350 .900 .532 46.9 40.9 28.1 .336 .786 .488 45.5 2021 Sinker   -0.4 0 87 14.3 29 .292 .333 .350 8.6 10.3 15.8 .359 .436 .405 61.9 2021 Cutter   1.6 1 53 8.7 11 .333 .556 .480 23.8 18.2 11.8 .336 .450 .408 57.1 2021 Changeup   6.7 2 34 5.6 9 .333 .889 .500 27.8 55.6 26.3 .190 .542 .305 25.0 2021 Curveball   -2.1 -1 28 4.6 6 .167 .333 .208 60.0 66.7 57.1 .194 .291 .204 100.0 2021 Sweeper   -4.4 -1 13 2.1 4 .000 .000 .175 33.3 50.0 50.0 .026 .030 .194 0.0 2021 Splitter   -6.9 0 5 0.8 3 .000 .000 .000 100.0 100.0 60.0 -- -- .000 -- 2021 Slurve   0.0 0 2 0.3   -- -- -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- -- 2020 4-Seamer   1.6 7 424 41.4 89 .292 .542 .424 14.8 20.2 12.7 .296 .594 .439 58.9 2020 Sinker   2.1 4 173 16.9 45 .325 .600 .457 13.2 13.3 14.6 .387 .711 .489 50.0 2020 Slider   0.6 1 165 16.1 43 .211 .579 .350 27.9 32.6 21.9 .174 .389 .289 36.0 2020 Curveball   4.8 5 98 9.6 26 .300 .900 .512 34.6 34.6 27.3 .305 .951 .530 58.3 2020 Cutter   1.0 1 91 8.9 17 .250 .500 .391 12.1 29.4 20.8 .240 .502 .335 72.7 2020 Changeup   1.1 1 48 4.7 14 .273 .727 .471 34.8 21.4 15.0 .353 .721 .498 75.0 2020 Splitter   2.7 0 18 1.8 3 .500 .500 .533 25.0 33.3 9.1 .387 .451 .475 100.0 2020 Sweeper   4.3 0 6 0.6   -- -- -- 100.0 -- 0.0 -- -- -- -- Looking at the data it appears it's been sinkers that have been hurting him and looking at his LD and FB rates overall it may be he's simply topping some pitches as his FB rate is a bit down from where it's been in recent years while his LD rate is the highest it's been since 2019.  Normally a strong LD rate is a good thing but in Mike's case it may be a sign of his being just a tad off and not getting his usual lift.
Mike Trout through the first 40 games played over his career:
2012: .354/.412/.565
2013: .293/.364/.549
2014: .269/.357/.531
2015: .288/.386/.555
2016: .320/.408/.567
2017: .350/.466/.757
2018: .315/.450/.650
2019: .278/.449/.541
2020: .303/.400/.665
2021: .333/.466/.624 (36 games)
2022: .319/.425/.674
2023: .275/.364/.506 (coming into today's May 18th, 2023 game)
Basically it's a spotty 40-game stretch and he's done this before, only it's happening at the start of the year instead of 40 games in.
In conclusion we need about 60-70 games of data to see what's noise and what's an actual development.  People tend to be very reactive to traditional stats but it's the predictive stuff we need to focus on that I highlighted above.  We made these arguments regarding Anthony Rendon before he started mashing, pointing to the same exact data.  
Mike Trout has too much talent, physical ability and an incredible work ethic in a constant effort to improve his game on a daily basis, but like with the best of them, Hall of Famers of yesteryear, they've all gone through tough stretches.
The GOAT went yard off a 96 MPH four seamer last night up in the zone. Stop worrying and let the man cook. 
EDIT: As I was publishing this Blog, Mike Trout just went deep again.
LET TROUT COOK. 
View the full article

BALTIMORE — The Angels pulled out just the type of roller-coaster victory that makes a cross-country flight much more pleasant.
Shortly after they blew their second lead of the game, the Angels scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to take the final lead in a thrilling 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday afternoon.
Right fielder Hunter Renfroe made a spectacular throw to nail Adam Frazier trying to stretch a single into a double in the ninth. Closer Carlos Estévez struck out Ryan Mountcastle with two runners on to end it.
The Angels (23-22) split the four-game series against the Orioles, who have the second-best record in the American League.
This one took a little bit of everything, with Shohei Ohtani driving in the first run with a first-inning homer and the last with a tie-breaking infield hit with two outs in the eighth.
Mike Trout hit his second homer in two games, showing signs of emerging from his slump.
Luis Rengifo had three hits and a walk, starting the Angels’ go-ahead rallies in the sixth and eighth innings.
The bottom three spots in the Angels order accounted for six hits and three walks.
Relievers Matt Moore and Estévez worked two scoreless innings to finish the game, after Chris Devenski gave up a two-run homer to Adley Rutschman that put the Orioles on top in the seventh.
Devenski ended up with a victory, thanks to a rally that began with the Rengifo’s one-out single in the eighth. Zach Neto followed with a walk. Gio Urshela then singled, tying the game.
Taylor Ward struck out and Trout was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Ohtani. He yanked a sharp grounder to the right side. Mountcastle made a diving stop, but couldn’t beat Ohtani to the first-base bag.
Moore and Estévez then took care of the rest, with Renfroe’s help.
Frazier lined a one-out hit off the right-field fence, but Renfroe played it perfectly off the wall and threw it on a hop to Neto, nailing Frazier. It proved to be a game-saving play because Cedric Mullins then doubled. The Angels intentionally walked Rutschman and Estévez struck out Mountcastle for his 10th save.
It should not have been so dramatic after the Angels took a 3-0 lead on Ohtani’s first-inning homer and Trout’s third-inning homer.
Angels starter Tyler Anderson escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first inning and stranded two runners in the second before slipping into cruise control with a pair of perfect innings.
Just when it seemed he might be on his way to one of his best outings of the season, he hit a speed bump in the fifth inning. After allowing a bloop single and a double off the fence, Anderson got a couple flyouts. He then left a cutter over the inner half of the plate that Anthony Santander drilled for a game-tying two-run homer.
More to come on this story.
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First off let's just get right to the point. Mike Trout while he's older and will never be the player he was in his younger 20's and prime years, he is not someone that is in steep decline as some have suggest on social media and our community forum, he's just off at this time.
Let's take a closer look. 
As you can see below, Trout has been missing, as his exit velocities have been down the last three weeks, but the underlying data is still really strong.

People have been saying that Mike Trout can no longer hit the fastball, but here's what you need to look at.

As you can see his xSLG (expected SLG% of 541 on fastballs is a lot better than his actual SLG, and his exit velocities have been pretty much in line with his career numbers off fastballs --  as is his hard hit% as you will see here.
Year Pitch Type Team RV/100 Run Value Pitches % PA BA SLG wOBA Whiff% K% PutAway % xBA xSLG xwOBA Hard Hit % 2023 4-Seamer   0.6 2 350 46.1 68 .220 .458 .352 31.2 30.9 20.0 .263 .558 .390 52.6 2023 Sinker   -2.3 -2 108 14.2 27 .227 .227 .296 24.0 22.2 27.3 .246 .323 .330 18.8 2023 Slider   5.7 5 90 11.9 26 .417 .708 .498 35.3 34.6 28.1 .269 .499 .352 46.7 2023 Curveball   2.3 1 51 6.7 9 .167 .667 .456 50.0 22.2 20.0 .239 .661 .479 100.0 2023 Sweeper   -2.8 -1 44 5.8 15 .200 .267 .203 23.8 26.7 25.0 .221 .284 .218 36.4 2023 Cutter   3.5 2 43 5.7 13 .417 1.083 .569 22.2 23.1 37.5 .348 .857 .489 80.0 2023 Changeup   3.8 2 41 5.4 11 .500 .600 .505 19.0 9.1 6.3 .544 .791 .581 55.6 2023 Splitter   -1.6 0 23 3.0 7 .167 .167 .229 30.0 28.6 16.7 .200 .225 .260 25.0 2023 Slurve   -11.1 -1 9 1.2 3 .000 .000 .000 25.0 0.0 0.0 .237 .256 .216 33.3 2022 4-Seamer   1.8 16 903 42.9 190 .265 .560 .396 31.0 32.1 20.4 .237 .545 .375 52.8 2022 Slider   1.9 7 355 16.9 78 .292 .694 .431 36.0 26.9 17.6 .253 .573 .376 43.1 2022 Sinker   2.4 8 337 16.0 97 .311 .600 .445 16.7 19.6 27.5 .315 .576 .405 47.9 2022 Cutter   4.2 6 146 6.9 37 .321 .893 .546 24.6 16.2 15.8 .365 .817 .552 59.1 2022 Changeup   3.1 4 143 6.8 41 .324 .757 .473 33.3 24.4 15.2 .298 .659 .437 51.9 2022 Curveball   -0.6 -1 139 6.6 28 .200 .560 .354 41.0 42.9 33.3 .187 .526 .342 53.8 2022 Sweeper   1.6 1 64 3.0 16 .250 .500 .316 45.2 50.0 38.1 .221 .491 .302 75.0 2022 Splitter   -2.6 0 15 0.7 3 .000 .000 .000 44.4 66.7 22.2 .002 .002 .002 0.0 2022 Slurve   -0.5 0 2 0.1   -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2021 4-Seamer   3.3 9 271 44.4 57 .419 .744 .546 21.7 22.8 16.7 .328 .703 .497 50.0 2021 Slider   2.5 3 117 19.2 22 .350 .900 .532 46.9 40.9 28.1 .336 .786 .488 45.5 2021 Sinker   -0.4 0 87 14.3 29 .292 .333 .350 8.6 10.3 15.8 .359 .436 .405 61.9 2021 Cutter   1.6 1 53 8.7 11 .333 .556 .480 23.8 18.2 11.8 .336 .450 .408 57.1 2021 Changeup   6.7 2 34 5.6 9 .333 .889 .500 27.8 55.6 26.3 .190 .542 .305 25.0 2021 Curveball   -2.1 -1 28 4.6 6 .167 .333 .208 60.0 66.7 57.1 .194 .291 .204 100.0 2021 Sweeper   -4.4 -1 13 2.1 4 .000 .000 .175 33.3 50.0 50.0 .026 .030 .194 0.0 2021 Splitter   -6.9 0 5 0.8 3 .000 .000 .000 100.0 100.0 60.0 -- -- .000 -- 2021 Slurve   0.0 0 2 0.3   -- -- -- -- -- 0.0 -- -- -- -- 2020 4-Seamer   1.6 7 424 41.4 89 .292 .542 .424 14.8 20.2 12.7 .296 .594 .439 58.9 2020 Sinker   2.1 4 173 16.9 45 .325 .600 .457 13.2 13.3 14.6 .387 .711 .489 50.0 2020 Slider   0.6 1 165 16.1 43 .211 .579 .350 27.9 32.6 21.9 .174 .389 .289 36.0 2020 Curveball   4.8 5 98 9.6 26 .300 .900 .512 34.6 34.6 27.3 .305 .951 .530 58.3 2020 Cutter   1.0 1 91 8.9 17 .250 .500 .391 12.1 29.4 20.8 .240 .502 .335 72.7 2020 Changeup   1.1 1 48 4.7 14 .273 .727 .471 34.8 21.4 15.0 .353 .721 .498 75.0 2020 Splitter   2.7 0 18 1.8 3 .500 .500 .533 25.0 33.3 9.1 .387 .451 .475 100.0 2020 Sweeper   4.3 0 6 0.6   -- -- -- 100.0 -- 0.0 -- -- -- -- Looking at the data it appears it's been sinkers that have been hurting him and looking at his LD and FB rates overall it may be he's simply topping some pitches as his FB rate is a bit down from where it's been in recent years while his LD rate is the highest it's been since 2019.  Normally a strong LD rate is a good thing but in Mike's case it may be a sign of his being just a tad off and not getting his usual lift.
Mike Trout through the first 40 games played over his career:
2012: .354/.412/.565
2013: .293/.364/.549
2014: .269/.357/.531
2015: .288/.386/.555
2016: .320/.408/.567
2017: .350/.466/.757
2018: .315/.450/.650
2019: .278/.449/.541
2020: .303/.400/.665
2021: .333/.466/.624 (36 games)
2022: .319/.425/.674
2023: .275/.364/.506 (coming into today's May 18th, 2023 game)
Basically it's a spotty 40-game stretch and he's done this before, only it's happening at the start of the year instead of 40 games in.
In conclusion we need about 60-70 games of data to see what's noise and what's an actual development.  People tend to be very reactive to traditional stats but it's the predictive stuff we need to focus on that I highlighted above.  We made these arguments regarding Anthony Rendon before he started mashing, pointing to the same exact data.  
Mike Trout has too much talent, physical ability and an incredible work ethic in a constant effort to improve his game on a daily basis, but like with the best of them, Hall of Famers of yesteryear, they've all gone through tough stretches.
The GOAT went yard off a 96 MPH four seamer last night up in the zone. Stop worrying and let the man cook. 
EDIT: As I was publishing this Blog, Mike Trout just went deep again.
LET TROUT COOK. 
View the full article

BALTIMORE — Shohei Ohtani had the kind of game that only he could have.
Ohtani blasted a three-run homer and came up just a double shy of the cycle, which made up for the fact that he gave up five runs in the Angels’ 9-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night.
Ohtani’s ninth home run of the season was a 454-foot blast, a three-run shot that snapped a 4-4 tie in the fourth inning.
After his homer keyed a five-run inning, Ohtani turned back into Ohtani on the mound. He gave up one run over the next four innings, finishing with seven innings on 98 pitches.
He had a chance to become the first player in major league history to hit for the cycle in a game when he had been the starting pitcher. He singled in the third, homered in the fourth and tripled in the fifth.
Ohtani grounded into a fielder’s choice in the seventh, but he dropped a bloop single into left field in the ninth. It was the first time in Ohtani’s career he had four hits in a game that he pitched. He also walked, making him the first starting pitcher to reach base safely five times in a game since Mel Stottlemyre did it for the New York Yankees in 1964.
It was the sixth time in Ohtani’s career that he hit a homer in a game when he pitched, and the fourth time that he hit a homer in a game that he won.
Although he didn’t make history, he did enough to help the Angels to a much-needed victory after they had suffered a pair of frustrating, late-inning losses to the Guardians over the weekend in Cleveland.
Ohtani led the offensive barrage, but catcher Chad Wallach also had three hits, including a homer, in his first game since returning from the concussion list. Hunter Renfroe had two doubles. Everyone in the starting lineup had a hit or an RBI by the fourth inning.
For all Ohtani did at the plate, his performance on the mound lately has raised some eyebrows.
After starting the season with an 0.64 ERA in his first five games, Ohtani now has a 6.12 ERA in his last four games, which has raised his ERA for the season to 3.23. Prior to this stretch, he had never allowed three or more runs in three straight games, and now he’s done it in four straight.
On Monday he gave four of the runs on a pair of hanging sweepers, which were hit for two-run homers by Adam Frazier and Anthony Santander. Ohtani gave up another homer on a fastball to Cedric Mullins.
Ohtani has now allowed five homers this season on the sweeper, which is only one fewer than he gave up all of last season.
He clearly recognized that the pitch is not working as well as usual, and he threw it just 27% of the time on Monday, his lowest percentage of the season.
More to come on this story.
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CLEVELAND — One day after a messy eighth inning cost them a win in Cleveland, the Angels are making a change to their bullpen.
Reliever Ryan Tepera was designated for assignment Sunday after he allowed two home runs in a six-run eighth inning by the Guardians in an 8-6 Angels loss. Right-handed reliever Matt Weiss was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake.
“It’s some results stuff, and the velocity was down a little bit,” manager Phil Nevin said. “We just felt this was the right move to make to better our team.”
Tepera, 35, was in the final year of a two-year, $14 million deal he signed with the Angels before the 2022 season. The Angels will still have to pay him $5.25 million for the rest of the year.
After finishing last season with a 3.61 ERA, Tepera had struggled to find consistency in his second year with the Angels and had a 7.27 ERA in 8-2/3 innings.
Tepera entered the eighth inning Saturday with runners on first and third. He immediately allowed a three-run home run from Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor that gave the Guardians the lead after the Angels had built a four-run cushion.
He also gave up a solo home run two batters later from Andrés Giménez. The home runs were the first two he allowed this season, but he also had allowed 15 hits and had a 2.07 WHIP.
Weiss, 30, will join the Angels for the first time this season. He pitched 13 1/3 innings last year and had a 3.38 ERA, surrendering seven walks and seven hits.
He started the year in Triple-A and owned a 6.75 ERA in 12 innings.
RENDON UPDATE
Nevin said third baseman Anthony Rendon was still being evaluated Sunday after he left Saturday’s game in the sixth inning with left groin tightness. The team hasn’t decided how long he’ll be out, but Nevin said he’ll miss “a couple days, at least.”
Rendon alerted Nevin of the injury when he was on the mound for a pitching change.
“The groin gets a little tricky sometimes, and we don’t want to push it,” he said. “He felt it on a ground ball he fielded earlier in the game. When I went out to make the pitching move, he looked at me and said, ‘Hey, I’m not sure I can go side to side right now. I’m starting to feel it a bit more.’ So I felt it was the right time to get him out of there and make sure our defense was OK.
“It hurts him internally, as far as having to miss games. He doesn’t like that at all, but hopefully this is just a short thing and he’ll be back. We’re certainly going to miss his bat. The at-bats had been tremendous.”
Gio Urshela was penciled in as the starter at third base for Sunday’s game.
TROUT HAS DAY OFF
Center fielder Mike Trout wasn’t in the lineup Sunday for a scheduled off-day. Mickey Moniak, who hit a home run and stole two bases Saturday in his season debut, took his spot on defense.
Trout was also hit on the left elbow by a pitch in Saturday’s game. He needed a minute or so to shake off the pain, but he remained in the game.
Nevin said he’ll still be available off the bench.
“Got a good chunk of the elbow, and it actually got him in the thigh, too,” Nevin said. “He got dinged good, but he’ll be all right.”
AROUND THE BASES
Nevin said the swing timing for first baseman Jared Walsh (headaches, insomnia) appears to be “coming back really quick” after Walsh went 2 for 3 in his second rehab assignment game Saturday in Triple-A. …
Catcher Chad Wallach “feels great,” according to Nevin, and has a “good chance” of coming off the seven-day injured list Monday when the Angels begin their next series against the Orioles. …
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Shohei Ohtani, 4-1, 2.74 ERA) at Orioles (RHP Grayson Rodriguez, 2-0, 5.08 ERA), Monday, 6:35 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
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After crossing into his 30s and spending significant chunks of the past two seasons on the injured list, Mike Trout has come around on the value of a day off.
“I used to fight it, big time,” the Angels superstar said. “I still do, when (Manager Phil Nevin) says I have a day off, I give him some crap, but he’s strong with his reasoning and I trust him. Instead of being all (ticked) off that I’m not in the lineup, I take the day and move on to the next.”
One of the reasons the Angels have failed to meet expectations lately is that they’ve played too many games without their three-time American League MVP, who suffered a calf injury in 2021 and a back injury in 2022.
In order to try to avoid a similar fate this season, the Angels have a plan for giving him a few more scheduled days off, and Trout, 31, said he’s come to grips with the fact that it is the best solution.
“It’s a long season,” Trout said. “I’d rather take a day now than be out. If I didn’t have the injuries I have had in the past, it would be a different story, but freak things happen. You do the best you can to prevent them. You’ll be better in the long run.”
Trout’s days off are always a hot topic among Angels fans who, naturally, want to see the 10-time All-Star in the lineup every day when he’s healthy.
Trout has been out for three of the Angels’ first 38 games. Nevin said the plan all along was for him to miss about one in 10 games. If they maintain that pace all season, he would play 146 games. That would be his most since 2016.
Trout is actually hoping that taking the days now will mean he will need fewer days off in August and September.
“Down the stretch, you want to be there every day,” he said. “Being able to stay fresh now is great. I feel great.”
Nevin said there are a few things he looks for to determine when Trout needs a day off, but there is one scenario that will always raise a red flag.
“If you look in the past, long flights across the country and playing the next day don’t do well for me,” Trout said.
In 2021, the Angels played in Boston on May 16 and then played at home the next night. Trout suffered his calf injury in that game. The injury was at first expected to sideline him for about two months, but he missed the rest of the season.
That’s why one of Trout’s three off days this year was on April 21, the first game of a homestand after the Angels played the day before in New York. The Angels’ upcoming trip ends in Baltimore on May 18 and they have a home game the following day, so Trout is likely to be off for the first game of that homestand on May 19.
Major League rules mandate that a team has a day off anytime it flies from the Pacific time zone to the Eastern time zone, but not the other direction. Even though there is a built-in off day when teams fly East, a few years ago the Angels began flying an extra day early to mitigate the impact of the travel. They flew from Southern California to Cleveland on Wednesday night, even though the series begins on Friday.
An east-to-west cross-country flight was also a part of the back injury Trout suffered last year, but there were other factors involved in that one.
Last year the Angels were trying to climb back into the race in June when Trout played five games in four days in Seattle, including playing both ends of a doubleheader in center field.
“You play 18 innings of baseball, you can be in the best shape of your life and you’re still going to be grinding coming out of that,” Trout said. “It probably had something to do with (the back injury).”
The following week Trout began a stretch in which he played 16 games in a row. After the 15th game in that stretch, the Angels flew from Baltimore back to Southern California. The Angels did have a day off after that flight, but Trout nonetheless left the next game with the back injury that ended up costing him five weeks.
Nevin said he’ll also rely on the “eye test” to determine when Trout doesn’t look right.
“Sometimes I can see that it’s not Mike Trout,” Nevin said.
Nevin said he will be careful to give days off to players like Trout, 32-year-old third baseman Anthony Rendon and 31-year-old infielder Gio Urshela when it looks like they need them, regardless of how the team is playing.
Nevin’s plan to give Trout and Rendon regular days off has been enabled by General Manager Perry Minasian, who built a deeper roster this year.
“Not to take anything away from the past, but I don’t think we’ve had that in a while,” Trout said.
So far the Angels are 3-0 in games when Trout hasn’t played and 6-3 in games Rendon hasn’t played. They’re also 2-0 when Shohei Ohtani isn’t in the lineup.
All of this is certain to frustrate some fans who figure that a young, healthy athlete ought to be able to play a baseball game six or seven times a week without needing any more days off than the schedule provides.
Nevin used to think the same thing when he was playing.
He recalled a stretch when he was playing every day with the Padres, and then-manager Bruce Bochy wanted to give him a day off because he didn’t look right.
“I said ‘I’m not tired,’” Nevin recalled. “I argued with him. But he gave it to me. But I played the next day and I remember feeling so much better. The bat went through the zone a tick quicker. The reaction times at third were just a tick quicker. I certainly could tell a difference.”
Nevin and Trout both said there are also mental benefits to a day off.
“Obviously the day off is for resting the body, but it’s also to rest your mind, to just be able to take your mind off baseball,” Trout said. “The mental part of this game is huge.”
Nevin said there can be a benefit to simply watching a game, especially when a player is struggling.
“Take a day and let it come to you,” Nevin said. “Let it look easy for a minute. It’s not, but if you’re sitting and watching, it’s that mindset.”
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 1-0, 5.40 ERA) at Guardians (LHP Logan Allen, 1-1, 2.70), Friday, 4:10 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
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After crossing into his 30s and spending significant chunks of the past two seasons on the injured list, Mike Trout has come around on the value of a day off.
“I used to fight it, big time,” the Angels superstar said. “I still do, when (Manager Phil Nevin) says I have a day off, I give him some crap, but he’s strong with his reasoning and I trust him. Instead of being all (ticked) off that I’m not in the lineup, I take the day and move on to the next.”
One of the reasons the Angels have failed to meet expectations lately is that they’ve played too many games without their three-time American League MVP, who suffered a calf injury in 2021 and a back injury in 2022.
In order to try to avoid a similar fate this season, the Angels have a plan for giving him a few more scheduled days off, and Trout, 31, said he’s come to grips with the fact that it is the best solution.
“It’s a long season,” Trout said. “I’d rather take a day now than be out. If I didn’t have the injuries I have had in the past, it would be a different story, but freak things happen. You do the best you can to prevent them. You’ll be better in the long run.”
Trout’s days off are always a hot topic among Angels fans who, naturally, want to see the 10-time All-Star in the lineup every day when he’s healthy.
Trout has been out for three of the Angels’ first 38 games. Nevin said the plan all along was for him to miss about one in 10 games. If they maintain that pace all season, he would play 146 games. That would be his most since 2016.
Trout is actually hoping that taking the days now will mean he will need fewer days off in August and September.
“Down the stretch, you want to be there every day,” he said. “Being able to stay fresh now is great. I feel great.”
Nevin said there are a few things he looks for to determine when Trout needs a day off, but there is one scenario that will always raise a red flag.
“If you look in the past, long flights across the country and playing the next day don’t do well for me,” Trout said.
In 2021, the Angels played in Boston on May 16 and then played at home the next night. Trout suffered his calf injury in that game. The injury was at first expected to sideline him for about two months, but he missed the rest of the season.
That’s why one of Trout’s three off days this year was on April 21, the first game of a homestand after the Angels played the day before in New York. The Angels’ upcoming trip ends in Baltimore on May 18 and they have a home game the following day, so Trout is likely to be off for the first game of that homestand on May 19.
Major League rules mandate that a team has a day off anytime it flies from the Pacific time zone to the Eastern time zone, but not the other direction. Even though there is a built-in off day when teams fly East, a few years ago the Angels began flying an extra day early to mitigate the impact of the travel. They flew from Southern California to Cleveland on Wednesday night, even though the series begins on Friday.
An east-to-west cross-country flight was also a part of the back injury Trout suffered last year, but there were other factors involved in that one.
Last year the Angels were trying to climb back into the race in June when Trout played five games in four days in Seattle, including playing both ends of a doubleheader in center field.
“You play 18 innings of baseball, you can be in the best shape of your life and you’re still going to be grinding coming out of that,” Trout said. “It probably had something to do with (the back injury).”
The following week Trout began a stretch in which he played 16 games in a row. After the 15th game in that stretch, the Angels flew from Baltimore back to Southern California. The Angels did have a day off after that flight, but Trout nonetheless left the next game with the back injury that ended up costing him five weeks.
Nevin said he’ll also rely on the “eye test” to determine when Trout doesn’t look right.
“Sometimes I can see that it’s not Mike Trout,” Nevin said.
Nevin said he will be careful to give days off to players like Trout, 32-year-old third baseman Anthony Rendon and 31-year-old infielder Gio Urshela when it looks like they need them, regardless of how the team is playing.
Nevin’s plan to give Trout and Rendon regular days off has been enabled by General Manager Perry Minasian, who built a deeper roster this year.
“Not to take anything away from the past, but I don’t think we’ve had that in a while,” Trout said.
So far the Angels are 3-0 in games when Trout hasn’t played and 6-3 in games Rendon hasn’t played. They’re also 2-0 when Shohei Ohtani isn’t in the lineup.
All of this is certain to frustrate some fans who figure that a young, healthy athlete ought to be able to play a baseball game six or seven times a week without needing any more days off than the schedule provides.
Nevin used to think the same thing when he was playing.
He recalled a stretch when he was playing every day with the Padres, and then-manager Bruce Bochy wanted to give him a day off because he didn’t look right.
“I said ‘I’m not tired,’” Nevin recalled. “I argued with him. But he gave it to me. But I played the next day and I remember feeling so much better. The bat went through the zone a tick quicker. The reaction times at third were just a tick quicker. I certainly could tell a difference.”
Nevin and Trout both said there are also mental benefits to a day off.
“Obviously the day off is for resting the body, but it’s also to rest your mind, to just be able to take your mind off baseball,” Trout said. “The mental part of this game is huge.”
Nevin said there can be a benefit to simply watching a game, especially when a player is struggling.
“Take a day and let it come to you,” Nevin said. “Let it look easy for a minute. It’s not, but if you’re sitting and watching, it’s that mindset.”
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 1-0, 5.40 ERA) at Guardians (LHP Logan Allen, 1-1, 2.70), Friday, 4:10 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
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ANAHEIM — Although Phil Nevin said he liked what Chase Silseth brought to the Angels’ bullpen, necessity is going to bring him back to the rotation.
After the Angels placed José Suarez on the injured list with a left shoulder strain on Monday, the Angels manager said that Silseth is likely to take Suarez’s spot in the rotation on May 17 in Baltimore. Since the Angels don’t need a sixth starter until next week, it’s possible they change plans before then, depending on how the games go in the days prior.
Suarez might have been bounced from the rotation even if he didn’t hurt his shoulder while he was allowing seven runs on Sunday, ballooning his ERA to 9.62.
The Angels don’t have to answer questions about the quality of Suarez’s pitches for now, because they are still waiting to see how seriously he is hurt. He underwent an MRI on Monday afternoon, and the Angels hadn’t heard the report from doctors when Nevin addressed the media.
Suarez will be out for a minimum of 15 days, which provides an opportunity for Silseth.
The Angels recalled Silseth two weeks ago because they were desperate for innings out of the bullpen, and he’d been starting in Triple-A. After he pitched three scoreless innings in his first two relief outings, Nevin said he felt that was Silseth’s best role for now. As a starter, Silseth had issues with declining velocity and poor performance once he got past around 50 pitches.
Nevin also said he felt Silseth’s velocity would go up even from his normal 96-97 mph in short relief outings.
All of that is on hold now, though.
The Angels could have moved left-hander Tucker Davidson into the rotation and left Silseth in the bullpen, but it’s now been more than a month since Davidson was stretched out to start.
The Angels had to use Silseth, Davidson and Jaime Barría in blowout losses on Saturday and Sunday, so they called up right-hander Cesar Valdez to provide bullpen coverage on Monday. He replaced Suarez on the active roster.
Valdez is a 38-year-old soft-tossing journeyman who Nevin said “can throw just about every day, as many pitches as you want.”
The Angels moved left-hander José Quijada to the 60-day injured list to create a spot on the 40-man roster for Valdez.
LESSON FOR SUAREZ
Suarez said after Sunday’s game that he began to feel pain in his shoulder in the second inning, but he didn’t tell anyone until the third, after he’d allowed seven runs.
Nevin said it was regrettable, but understandable, that Suarez kept his mouth shut.
“For somebody that’s never had an injury, and has pitched through some soreness before, you don’t quite understand what injured is,” Nevin said. “It’s not a knock on anybody. It’s not a knock on any player. You know your body more than anybody. But until you’ve had an injury that sets you back for a long time, you probably don’t know what that feels like.”
NOTES
Catcher Chad Wallach has been bothered by a stiff neck for the past two days. The Angels brought catcher Chris Okey to Anaheim in case they needed him. …
Nevin said he “went back and forth” on whether he should put Taylor Ward back in the leadoff spot or continue with Zach Neto, but he decided to go back to Ward. “I think when we’re at our best, when Wardo is going well, is to have him there,” Nevin said. “Neto really in that nine spot is kind of almost another leadoff spot once we start rolling through this.” Ward hit .306 with a .906 OPS last week, but for the season he’s still hitting .233 with a .680 OPS. Neto is hitting .236 with a .621 OPS. …
The Angels are expected to detail the plan for Jared Walsh’s rehab on Tuesday. Walsh, who has been out with headaches and insomnia, has been working out at Angel Stadium.
UP NEXT
Astros (LHP Framber Valdez, 2-4, 2.60 ERA) at Angels (RHP Shohei Ohtani, 4-0, 2.54), Tuesday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
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ANAHEIM — If it was not jet lag then perhaps it was travel slog that had the Angels in a funk and kept them dragging until the last possible moment Friday night.
Down to their last out and nearly reduced to their last strike, the Angels found a way to rally for an improbable 5-4 victory in a series opener against the Texas Rangers to improve their winning streak to a season-best five games.
The Angels scored three runs in the ninth inning, all with two outs, to tie the game then scored on a wild pitch in the 10th inning to win it. Zach Neto raced home from third base to end it when Rangers right-hander Josh Sborz bounced a ball to the backstop on his first pitch of the game.
After a day game in St. Louis on Thursday to cap a three-game sweep of the Cardinals, the Angels finally got to unpacking their fiery temperament before it was too late.
In a game when everything seemed to go against them, the Angels had just two hits through seven innings and both of those were singles. They gave up two runs in a haunted fourth inning that included a Rangers hit batter with an 0-and-2 count, a collision in foul territory while on defense and a ball that was lost in a bluish-gray sky at dusk that seemed to match the mood.
But in the ninth inning against Rangers left-hander Will Smith while trailing 4-1, Anthony Rendon led off with a single. All seemed lost when the Angels made two quick outs, but Brandon Drury kept the game alive with a single.
Chad Wallach, who had just entered the game in the top of the inning, then knocked a drive to the opposite field in right to score two runs and bring the Angels within 4-3. Luis Rengifo’s broken-bat dunker into shallow left-center field drove in Wallach to tie the score.
Angels right-hander Carlos Estevez (1-1) got through the 10th inning, stranding two Rangers runners.
Angels starter Tyler Anderson didn’t help himself with five walks, but as much as he could have used better control, he also would have benefited from a decent good-luck charm.
With Texas leading 1-0, the Rangers’ fourth inning began when Ezequiel Duran fell into an 0-and-2 hole against Anderson. But that advantage was turned on the next pitch when Duran was hit in the left elbow by an Anderson fastball. Leody Taveras then walked to put two runners aboard.
The Angels seemed to catch a break when Bubba Thompson’s sacrifice bunt attempt was popped up foul. And while catcher Matt Thaiss was able to make a play on the ball for the first out, he took a blow to the chin from the shoulder of a charging Rendon.
Thaiss remained in the game but the fun house was only starting to inflict pain. The Rangers’ Marcus Semien followed with what appeared to be a routine fly ball to left field, but Taylor Ward lost track of it and the ground-rule double scored Duran for a 2-0 lead.
Texas’ Nathaniel Lowe grounded a ball to shortstop, but Neto misfired on his throw to first base for his first error in 20 major-league games. The bad throw came two days after a finger injury on Neto’s throwing hand. Taveras scored on that play for a 3-0 lead.
Lowe drove in an eighth-inning run to extend the Rangers’ lead to 4-0 but the Angels got that back on Mike Trout’s bloop RBI single to right-center to pull within 4-1.
More to come on this story.
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ST. LOUIS — The Angels are bringing a hot streak into their first meeting of the season with the surprising division leaders, the Texas Rangers.
The Angels exploded for four runs in the second and six in the third on their way to an 11-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
Winners of four straight for the first time this season, the Angels (18-14) are one game behind the Rangers (18-12) as the teams prepare to meet for three games this weekend at Angel Stadium.
After that, the division favorite Houston Astros will come to town for three games. The Angels won’t have to face Rangers ace Jacob deGrom or Astros starters José Urquidy and Luis Garcia. All are on the injured list.
The Angels picked up a head of steam heading into those games by taking advantage of a Cardinals team that has been one of the most disappointing in baseball. The defending National League Central champions have now lost 11 of their past 13 games to fall to 10-22.
Cardinals fans booed ace Jack Flaherty as the Angels took him apart with a couple of early rallies.
Luis Rengifo hit a three-run homer in the second, which was encouraging because he’s a weaker hitter from the left side. He also singled from that side and added a double hitting right-handed. Playing second base, Rengifo made a nice backhand play up the middle to defuse a threat in the eighth inning.
While Rengifo did most of the damage in the second, it was a full team effort in the third. The Angels strung together seven singles, with a hit batter and a walk. They sent 11 hitters to the plate.
With Mike Trout getting the day off, the Angels finished with 16 hits, including at least one for everyone in the starting lineup.
Matt Thaiss, who had started the season in an 0-for-12 slump, had hits in his first three at-bats. Taylor Ward had three hits, giving him six in the series. Even little-used Brett Phillips picked up his first hit of the season, after going hitless in his first eight at-bats.
All of the Angels’ offensive fireworks were pretty much done by the fourth inning, though. At that point they had an 11-2 lead.
Right-hander Griffin Canning gave up a three-run homer to No. 9 hitter Tommy Edman in the fourth, and he finished just five innings. Canning also gave up two runs in the first when right fielder Hunter Renfroe misplayed a ball that should have been caught for the third out.
Left-hander Aaron Loup, who has struggled this season, had the chance at some mop-up duty in the sixth, and it didn’t go well. He gave up two runs and didn’t finish the inning, lifting his ERA to 7.00 after 11 games.
At that point, the Cardinals were within four runs in the sixth inning, but right-hander Chris Devenski settled things by picking up the next four outs. Left-handers Tucker Davidson and Matt Moore handled the final two innings.
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ST. LOUIS — Two games into his Angels career, Chris Devenski is basking in the joy of feeling like his old self while wearing the uniform of his childhood heroes.
“This is definitely a dream,” the right-handed reliever said on Wednesday. “I’m very thankful. My focus right now is just executing one pitch at a time. Do whatever I can to help the team.”
Devenski, 32, grew up as an Angels fan. He lived five minutes from Angel Stadium, in Santa Ana. He attended Gahr High in Cerritos and Cal State Fullerton. After dealing with injuries for the last three years, he signed a minor league deal with the Angels over the winter.
As more time has passed since his 2021 Tommy John surgery, Devenski said he’s finally feeling more like the pitcher he was before all the injuries. He had been an All-Star with the Houston Astros in 2017.
He pitched just 14-2/3 innings with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies last season, but he feels like a new pitcher now.
Recalled on Saturday after José Quijada went on the injured list, Devenski has retired all eight batters he’s faced so far, including a double play. His fastball has averaged 93.8 mph, and his bread-and-butter changeup has also been effective.
“I could tell one thing different was definitely the fastball command, and I can trust my fastball and feel like I’m spinning it pretty good right now,” Devenski said. “It was like night and day.”
Manager Phil Nevin first used Devenski to hold a three-run lead against the Milwaukee Brewers, and on Tuesday he used him for two innings.
“No moment too big,” Nevin said. “He stepped right back into a big role like that, that he held for a long time a few years back, and I think he’s got the confidence back because he’s healthy. You can see how he uses his pitch mix to keep hitters off balance, then he can go back to the fastball. Really excited with what we have down there and another piece of our bullpen that can help us late in a game.”
Devenski speaks as if he’s enjoying a second chance after a couple of surgeries derailed his career. He had surgery to remove bone chips after the 2020 season, and Tommy John surgery the next year.
“It’s been hard,” Devenski said. “I’m not gonna lie, but there’s a big word that I lean on in my life and my career: perseverance. Anyone who can persevere through tough times and obstacles in life, there’s always going to be a brighter day. You’ve got to believe that. You can’t quit. That’s basically been the story of my life and my career. Not quitting. I love this game and I want to play as long as I can. If injuries happen, that’s part of it. Just keep going. That’s all you can do.”
SURGERY FOR QUIJADA
To no one’s surprise, the second opinion on Quijada’s damaged elbow was not encouraging, so the reliever will have Tommy John surgery.
Nevin said all that’s left is scheduling the surgery, which has a rehab time of 12 to 18 months.
“Of course he’s crushed,” Nevin said. “He’s disappointed as anyone would be right now. But understanding what’s ahead of him. Nobody is going to feel sorry for you. A lot of guys have been through this. He’s not the first one. He understands the work he’s got ahead of him to be back and hopefully get a good chunk of next season in.”
PROGRESS FOR WALSH
First baseman Jared Walsh, who has missed the season so far with headaches and insomnia, is inching closer to a return.
Walsh has been working out in Anaheim, and Nevin said on Wednesday they are currently talking about what the next step will be. He could face some live pitching in workouts at Angel Stadium and then head out on a rehab assignment, or he could go directly to the rehab assignment.
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Griffin Canning, 1-0, 4.11) vs. Cardinals (RHP Jack Flaherty, 2-3, 3.94), Thursday, 10:15 a.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
View the full article

ANAHEIM — A few days before Brandon Drury continued his offensive explosion in the Angels’ 11-3 victory over the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night, he wasn’t feeling so great about himself.
Drury stood on the field during a pregame ceremony on Sunday and accepted his 2022 Silver Slugger Award, which he’d earned as the best-hitting utility player in the National League.
At the time, Drury’s 2023 batting average stood at .182, so he quipped to Manager Phil Nevin that he didn’t deserve the hardware.
Things have taken a dramatic turn since then.
Drury homered, doubled and drove in three runs on Wednesday night. Over his past three games, he is 6 for 13 with three homers. He lifted his OPS from .477 to .730. He has hit four homers this season.
In the relative blink of an eye, he’s gone from a horrible start to exactly what the Angels expected. He has a career .734 OPS. Last season was the best year of his career, with 28 homers and an .813 OPS, good for his first Silver Slugger.
“I’ve just been just trying to get back to being me,” Drury said on Tuesday. “Sometimes you start thinking too much or changing your swing and it kind of turns into this cycle, to the point where you’re standing there and have so many different things you’re trying to do or think or feel.”
Drury’s second-inning double drove in the Angels’ first run of the game against right-hander Luis Medina, who was making his major league debut. Matt Thaiss and Zach Neto followed with doubles as part of a five-run inning.
Neto’s double was significant because he took a first-pitch swing without his distinctive, exaggerated leg kick. Normally he only abandons the leg kick when he has two strikes.
The Angels then padded their lead on Hunter Renfroe’s team-leading seventh homer of the season, in the third, and Drury’s two-run shot in the fifth. Shohei Ohtani, who had been in a week-long slump, hit a two-run homer in the eighth.
The beneficiary of the offensive explosion was Patrick Sandoval, who gave up two earned runs in seven innings. He is the first Angels starter other than Shohei Ohtani to make it through the seventh this season.
Sandoval bounced back nicely from allowing five runs in his last start, a loss in New York. He walked a career-high six in that game, and he didn’t walk any this time.
Chase Silseth, who was just promoted from Triple-A earlier in the day, worked the final two innings as the Angels finished off their first victory by more than two runs since April 8.
More to come on this story.
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Interview conducted by David Saltzer and Geoff Stoddart
April 25, 2023
Geoff Stoddart and I recently sat down with Angels Play-By-Play Announcer Wayne Randazzo to find out more about him, his background, and how he came to be with the Angels. Along the way, we learned quite a bit about him, and how he came to be an Angels announcer.
Wayne grew up near Chicago and attended St. Charles East High School. He loved watching the Chicago teams and modeled his broadcasting after many of the great Chicago announcers. From a young age, Wayne decided to be an announcer, and as he said, “being a bit stubborn”, that’s what he pursued. He said he possibly could have played baseball in a D3 school, but he chose to focus on his broadcasting career instead.
As parents, Geoff and I wanted to know how hard it was for him to have that conversation with his parents (imagining our own children telling us that they wanted to be play-by-play announcers and realizing how hard a career that would be). Wayne said it wasn’t that hard for him to have that conversation because he had a college degree from North Central College (yes, we had to look it up, it’s in Naperville, Illinois) and that he could always fall back on that.
For those who don’t know, Wayne’s cousin is Tony Randazzo, a Major League umpire. Wayne has in fact called games in which his cousin was the umpire when he was with the Mets. Wayne said that he didn’t hide the fact during the broadcast that his cousin was the umpire (even saying that during the broadcast he referred to the umpire as “his cousin Tony”), and the Mets fans at times let him know on social media about some of the calls that Tony made (especially if it affected any player’s stats).
We asked if that led to some awkward conversations around the dinner table or during the holidays, and Wayne laughed and said “not yet”. Wayne was very proud of his cousin, telling us about all the important games that Tony had called, including being a part of the 2016 World Series umpiring crew and officiating two All-Star Games (2001 and 2012). Wayne said that he looked forward to calling more games when his cousin is the umpire, and, as with the Mets fans, won’t hide his connection with his cousin when he’s calling games for the Angels.
Speaking of social media, Wayne does enjoy hearing what the fans like to say and to get out sentiments. You can find and follow him on Twitter at @WayneRandazzo. He said that he’s still getting to know Angels fans, and what we are like, and enjoys hearing from them online.
One of the things that really stood out for us was when we asked him about how he felt as an announcer to be calling and narrating history at times. For example, Wayne called Albert Pujols’ 700th homerun when he was an announcer for the Apple TV. We asked him specifically about what it’s like as an announcer to tell the story and what it’s like to be forever tied to a specific moment and event. Wayne focused heavily on the “responsibility” of telling the story and getting out of the way of the event and letting it happen. That really impressed us because as fans, we want to both watch and revel in the moment without it being overly narrated.
When it came to Pujols’ 700th homerun call, he told us that he didn’t know if it would happen, and actually wasn’t sure it would happen when the Cardinals came to town for the series against the Dodgers. He recalled that Aaron Judge had been stuck at 61 homeruns for a long time, and Pujols hadn’t been getting that many at-bats at the time going into the series. Wayne thought that maybe he might get a chance at 699, but again, wasn’t sure if it would happen.
Early in the game, Albert quickly took care of business hitting number 699. That still didn’t mean he would get to 700. But, later in the game, he did, and again, Wayne said he just let the moment happen and then let the fans celebrate the moment. You can watch his calls for 699 and 700 by clicking here. It’s a great call, and a great moment for Pujols and Randazzo.
Listening to Wayne talk about the Pujols milestones, Geoff and I imagined what it would be like to have Wayne calling major milestones for Trout and Ohtani. Wayne said “if [he] is lucky enough to call Trout’s 500th homerun, [he] would take that responsibility seriously and do a similar job [on the calls].” And, of course, Wayne would love to call an Ohtani no-hitter.
We asked Wayne what it was like to see Trout and Ohtani up close and in person as opposed to watching them from afar with the Mets. He talked a lot about watching how much work Trout puts in (and that the fans don’t see) to do the things that he does (going to so far as to call Trout “probably the best hitter in all of baseball” and “one of the hardest workers in baseball”). He talked about all of Trout’s work on running, exploding out of the box and hustling down the line, taking corners, and keeping up his speed, especially at his age. He really focused on the little things that truly separates Trout as such an elite player.
Regarding Ohtani, he raved about his pitching saying that he is probably a slightly better pitcher than hitter right now (and he said “to put that in perspective, we’re talking about a guy who hits .270+, 30+ HRs, and 100+ RBIs” and then added “how many guys do that in a season?”. He told us that he had only 2 chances to see the Angels while with the Mets (recalling one series in NY and one series here, and that in 2020 we lost a series against the Mets due to the Covid-shortened season), and that he didn’t get to see Ohtani pitch. However, he said that now that he’s seen him pitch in person that Ohtani “is one of the best, if not the best pitcher in baseball”. And of course, he talked about how Ohtani is doing things that no one else has done or is doing in all of baseball, being both a hitter and pitcher.
As far as coming into the Angels broadcast booth, we asked what Wayne did to prepare for all the 1970s and 1980s references from Gubi. He laughed quite a bit and said that luckily he worked with Howie Rose with the Mets who has a “similar set of cultural references and time frame as [Gubi], so it wasn’t that hard of a transition” for him and that he was well versed in that time period. Wayne enjoys working with Gubi and the two are developing their relationship for the broadcast booth (Wayne said that it’s still “early in the season” and that they’ve only called about 25 official games together and that developing a deep and good relationship in the booth can take a season or more). He said that over the years, that Gubi has learned to work with a lot of different announcers, especially over the last few years, and that Gubi does an incredible job working with him and all the other play-by-play announcers as well as making it easy for them all to step right into the broadcast booth.
When talking about his experiences in the broadcasting booth, we of course had to ask about the possum at the Oakland A’s stadium. He laughed and recalled the “pungent smell” and the “funk” that was in the booth, even making note of it during the broadcast! On top of that, he said there was a “toxic smell” from chemicals used to clean up the scat left by the possum in the booth. Wayne let his friends with the Mets broadcasting team know about it (they came in over a week later (after the A’s played Cleveland and then had a road trip), who talked about it on air as well. You can hear their take on the possum droppings here.
One area that Wayne talked about with a lot of pride and humor is his Italian heritage and culture. George Randazzo, the father of Tony the umpire, founded the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago to cover the many great contributions to American sports throughout the years. You can find out more about the NIASHOF by clicking here.
Away from the ballpark, Wayne loves spending time with his two daughters. A perfect day for him when he’s not broadcasting would be spending time with them doing anything, such as going to a park or doing anything that they want. As he said “I’m on the road so much, any chance I have to spend with them is a good day.”
We concluded with a lightning round of questions, and here are his responses:
Coke or Pepsi: Whatever the Angels have in their stadium is what I like best (very diplomatic answer).
In ‘n Out or Shake Shack: Shake Shack, but will have to eat more In ‘n Out (we will give him some time to do that before asking him about the fries).
A book or an audio book: I haven’t listened to many audio books, so I will have to try them more. A book for now.
Do the laundry or the dishes: I put the dishes in the dishwasher, so that’s a lot easier than doing the laundry.
Live in 1969 or 2069: Can I be my age at either time? (yes we said) Then 1969.   
Rachel or Monica: Laughs. All around, I’m a Rachel guy. (we then translated that for Gubi as Mary Ann or Ginger which got lots of laughs from Wayne).
High-five or fist bump: Thinks about it. I prefer the high-five.
Bon Jovi or Def Leopard: Bon Jovi. He’s Italian and I’ll always go for the Italians.
Overall, we learned quite a bit about our new play-by-play announcer, and we have been enjoying his game calling. The time flew by quickly, and we had many more questions for him than we had time for (one in particular we didn’t get to is how the new pitch clock is affecting announcing the game). He is truly a genuine, relaxed, and fun person with whom to talk, and Geoff and I really appreciated our time with him.
Before leaving the interview, Wayne agreed to come back again later in the season to give us his take on the team. We can hardly wait for that and look forward to hearing him continue to do a great job in the booth!
View the full article

Interview conducted by David Saltzer and Geoff Stoddart
April 25, 2023
Geoff Stoddart and I recently sat down with Angels Play-By-Play Announcer Wayne Randazzo to find out more about him, his background, and how he came to be with the Angels. Along the way, we learned quite a bit about him, and how he came to be an Angels announcer.
Wayne grew up near Chicago and attended St. Charles East High School. He loved watching the Chicago teams and modeled his broadcasting after many of the great Chicago announcers. From a young age, Wayne decided to be an announcer, and as he said, “being a bit stubborn”, that’s what he pursued. He said he possibly could have played baseball in a D3 school, but he chose to focus on his broadcasting career instead.
As parents, Geoff and I wanted to know how hard it was for him to have that conversation with his parents (imagining our own children telling us that they wanted to be play-by-play announcers and realizing how hard a career that would be). Wayne said it wasn’t that hard for him to have that conversation because he had a college degree from North Central College (yes, we had to look it up, it’s in Naperville, Illinois) and that he could always fall back on that.
For those who don’t know, Wayne’s cousin is Tony Randazzo, a Major League umpire. Wayne has in fact called games in which his cousin was the umpire when he was with the Mets. Wayne said that he didn’t hide the fact during the broadcast that his cousin was the umpire (even saying that during the broadcast he referred to the umpire as “his cousin Tony”), and the Mets fans at times let him know on social media about some of the calls that Tony made (especially if it affected any player’s stats).
We asked if that led to some awkward conversations around the dinner table or during the holidays, and Wayne laughed and said “not yet”. Wayne was very proud of his cousin, telling us about all the important games that Tony had called, including being a part of the 2016 World Series umpiring crew and officiating two All-Star Games (2001 and 2012). Wayne said that he looked forward to calling more games when his cousin is the umpire, and, as with the Mets fans, won’t hide his connection with his cousin when he’s calling games for the Angels.
Speaking of social media, Wayne does enjoy hearing what the fans like to say and to get out sentiments. You can find and follow him on Twitter at @WayneRandazzo. He said that he’s still getting to know Angels fans, and what we are like, and enjoys hearing from them online.
One of the things that really stood out for us was when we asked him about how he felt as an announcer to be calling and narrating history at times. For example, Wayne called Albert Pujols’ 700th homerun when he was an announcer for the Apple TV. We asked him specifically about what it’s like as an announcer to tell the story and what it’s like to be forever tied to a specific moment and event. Wayne focused heavily on the “responsibility” of telling the story and getting out of the way of the event and letting it happen. That really impressed us because as fans, we want to both watch and revel in the moment without it being overly narrated.
When it came to Pujols’ 700th homerun call, he told us that he didn’t know if it would happen, and actually wasn’t sure it would happen when the Cardinals came to town for the series against the Dodgers. He recalled that Aaron Judge had been stuck at 61 homeruns for a long time, and Pujols hadn’t been getting that many at-bats at the time going into the series. Wayne thought that maybe he might get a chance at 699, but again, wasn’t sure if it would happen.
Early in the game, Albert quickly took care of business hitting number 699. That still didn’t mean he would get to 700. But, later in the game, he did, and again, Wayne said he just let the moment happen and then let the fans celebrate the moment. You can watch his calls for 699 and 700 by clicking here. It’s a great call, and a great moment for Pujols and Randazzo.
Listening to Wayne talk about the Pujols milestones, Geoff and I imagined what it would be like to have Wayne calling major milestones for Trout and Ohtani. Wayne said “if [he] is lucky enough to call Trout’s 500th homerun, [he] would take that responsibility seriously and do a similar job [on the calls].” And, of course, Wayne would love to call an Ohtani no-hitter.
We asked Wayne what it was like to see Trout and Ohtani up close and in person as opposed to watching them from afar with the Mets. He talked a lot about watching how much work Trout puts in (and that the fans don’t see) to do the things that he does (going to so far as to call Trout “probably the best hitter in all of baseball” and “one of the hardest workers in baseball”). He talked about all of Trout’s work on running, exploding out of the box and hustling down the line, taking corners, and keeping up his speed, especially at his age. He really focused on the little things that truly separates Trout as such an elite player.
Regarding Ohtani, he raved about his pitching saying that he is probably a slightly better pitcher than hitter right now (and he said “to put that in perspective, we’re talking about a guy who hits .270+, 30+ HRs, and 100+ RBIs” and then added “how many guys do that in a season?”. He told us that he had only 2 chances to see the Angels while with the Mets (recalling one series in NY and one series here, and that in 2020 we lost a series against the Mets due to the Covid-shortened season), and that he didn’t get to see Ohtani pitch. However, he said that now that he’s seen him pitch in person that Ohtani “is one of the best, if not the best pitcher in baseball”. And of course, he talked about how Ohtani is doing things that no one else has done or is doing in all of baseball, being both a hitter and pitcher.
As far as coming into the Angels broadcast booth, we asked what Wayne did to prepare for all the 1970s and 1980s references from Gubi. He laughed quite a bit and said that luckily he worked with Howie Rose with the Mets who has a “similar set of cultural references and time frame as [Gubi], so it wasn’t that hard of a transition” for him and that he was well versed in that time period. Wayne enjoys working with Gubi and the two are developing their relationship for the broadcast booth (Wayne said that it’s still “early in the season” and that they’ve only called about 25 official games together and that developing a deep and good relationship in the booth can take a season or more). He said that over the years, that Gubi has learned to work with a lot of different announcers, especially over the last few years, and that Gubi does an incredible job working with him and all the other play-by-play announcers as well as making it easy for them all to step right into the broadcast booth.
When talking about his experiences in the broadcasting booth, we of course had to ask about the possum at the Oakland A’s stadium. He laughed and recalled the “pungent smell” and the “funk” that was in the booth, even making note of it during the broadcast! On top of that, he said there was a “toxic smell” from chemicals used to clean up the scat left by the possum in the booth. Wayne let his friends with the Mets broadcasting team know about it (they came in over a week later (after the A’s played Cleveland and then had a road trip), who talked about it on air as well. You can hear their take on the possum droppings here.
One area that Wayne talked about with a lot of pride and humor is his Italian heritage and culture. George Randazzo, the father of Tony the umpire, founded the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago to cover the many great contributions to American sports throughout the years. You can find out more about the NIASHOF by clicking here.
Away from the ballpark, Wayne loves spending time with his two daughters. A perfect day for him when he’s not broadcasting would be spending time with them doing anything, such as going to a park or doing anything that they want. As he said “I’m on the road so much, any chance I have to spend with them is a good day.”
We concluded with a lightning round of questions, and here are his responses:
Coke or Pepsi: Whatever the Angels have in their stadium is what I like best (very diplomatic answer).
In ‘n Out or Shake Shack: Shake Shack, but will have to eat more In ‘n Out (we will give him some time to do that before asking him about the fries).
A book or an audio book: I haven’t listened to many audio books, so I will have to try them more. A book for now.
Do the laundry or the dishes: I put the dishes in the dishwasher, so that’s a lot easier than doing the laundry.
Live in 1969 or 2069: Can I be my age at either time? (yes we said) Then 1969.   
Rachel or Monica: Laughs. All around, I’m a Rachel guy. (we then translated that for Gubi as Mary Ann or Ginger which got lots of laughs from Wayne).
High-five or fist bump: Thinks about it. I prefer the high-five.
Bon Jovi or Def Leopard: Bon Jovi. He’s Italian and I’ll always go for the Italians.
Overall, we learned quite a bit about our new play-by-play announcer, and we have been enjoying his game calling. The time flew by quickly, and we had many more questions for him than we had time for (one in particular we didn’t get to is how the new pitch clock is affecting announcing the game). He is truly a genuine, relaxed, and fun person with whom to talk, and Geoff and I really appreciated our time with him.
Before leaving the interview, Wayne agreed to come back again later in the season to give us his take on the team. We can hardly wait for that and look forward to hearing him continue to do a great job in the booth!
View the full article

Interview conducted by David Saltzer and Geoff Stoddart
April 25, 2023
Geoff Stoddart and I recently sat down with Angels Play-By-Play Announcer Wayne Randazzo to find out more about him, his background, and how he came to be with the Angels. Along the way, we learned quite a bit about him, and how he came to be an Angels announcer.
Wayne grew up near Chicago and attended St. Charles East High School. He loved watching the Chicago teams and modeled his broadcasting after many of the great Chicago announcers. From a young age, Wayne decided to be an announcer, and as he said, “being a bit stubborn”, that’s what he pursued. He said he possibly could have played baseball in a D3 school, but he chose to focus on his broadcasting career instead.
As parents, Geoff and I wanted to know how hard it was for him to have that conversation with his parents (imagining our own children telling us that they wanted to be play-by-play announcers and realizing how hard a career that would be). Wayne said it wasn’t that hard for him to have that conversation because he had a college degree from North Central College (yes, we had to look it up, it’s in Naperville, Illinois) and that he could always fall back on that.
For those who don’t know, Wayne’s cousin is Tony Randazzo, a Major League umpire. Wayne has in fact called games in which his cousin was the umpire when he was with the Mets. Wayne said that he didn’t hide the fact during the broadcast that his cousin was the umpire (even saying that during the broadcast he referred to the umpire as “his cousin Tony”), and the Mets fans at times let him know on social media about some of the calls that Tony made (especially if it affected any player’s stats).
We asked if that led to some awkward conversations around the dinner table or during the holidays, and Wayne laughed and said “not yet”. Wayne was very proud of his cousin, telling us about all the important games that Tony had called, including being a part of the 2016 World Series umpiring crew and officiating two All-Star Games (2001 and 2012). Wayne said that he looked forward to calling more games when his cousin is the umpire, and, as with the Mets fans, won’t hide his connection with his cousin when he’s calling games for the Angels.
Speaking of social media, Wayne does enjoy hearing what the fans like to say and to get out sentiments. You can find and follow him on Twitter at @WayneRandazzo. He said that he’s still getting to know Angels fans, and what we are like, and enjoys hearing from them online.
One of the things that really stood out for us was when we asked him about how he felt as an announcer to be calling and narrating history at times. For example, Wayne called Albert Pujols’ 700th homerun when he was an announcer for the Apple TV. We asked him specifically about what it’s like as an announcer to tell the story and what it’s like to be forever tied to a specific moment and event. Wayne focused heavily on the “responsibility” of telling the story and getting out of the way of the event and letting it happen. That really impressed us because as fans, we want to both watch and revel in the moment without it being overly narrated.
When it came to Pujols’ 700th homerun call, he told us that he didn’t know if it would happen, and actually wasn’t sure it would happen when the Cardinals came to town for the series against the Dodgers. He recalled that Aaron Judge had been stuck at 61 homeruns for a long time, and Pujols hadn’t been getting that many at-bats at the time going into the series. Wayne thought that maybe he might get a chance at 699, but again, wasn’t sure if it would happen.
Early in the game, Albert quickly took care of business hitting number 699. That still didn’t mean he would get to 700. But, later in the game, he did, and again, Wayne said he just let the moment happen and then let the fans celebrate the moment. You can watch his calls for 699 and 700 by clicking here. It’s a great call, and a great moment for Pujols and Randazzo.
Listening to Wayne talk about the Pujols milestones, Geoff and I imagined what it would be like to have Wayne calling major milestones for Trout and Ohtani. Wayne said “if [he] is lucky enough to call Trout’s 500th homerun, [he] would take that responsibility seriously and do a similar job [on the calls].” And, of course, Wayne would love to call an Ohtani no-hitter.
We asked Wayne what it was like to see Trout and Ohtani up close and in person as opposed to watching them from afar with the Mets. He talked a lot about watching how much work Trout puts in (and that the fans don’t see) to do the things that he does (going to so far as to call Trout “probably the best hitter in all of baseball” and “one of the hardest workers in baseball”). He talked about all of Trout’s work on running, exploding out of the box and hustling down the line, taking corners, and keeping up his speed, especially at his age. He really focused on the little things that truly separates Trout as such an elite player.
Regarding Ohtani, he raved about his pitching saying that he is probably a slightly better pitcher than hitter right now (and he said “to put that in perspective, we’re talking about a guy who hits .270+, 30+ HRs, and 100+ RBIs” and then added “how many guys do that in a season?”. He told us that he had only 2 chances to see the Angels while with the Mets (recalling one series in NY and one series here, and that in 2020 we lost a series against the Mets due to the Covid-shortened season), and that he didn’t get to see Ohtani pitch. However, he said that now that he’s seen him pitch in person that Ohtani “is one of the best, if not the best pitcher in baseball”. And of course, he talked about how Ohtani is doing things that no one else has done or is doing in all of baseball, being both a hitter and pitcher.
As far as coming into the Angels broadcast booth, we asked what Wayne did to prepare for all the 1970s and 1980s references from Gubi. He laughed quite a bit and said that luckily he worked with Howie Rose with the Mets who has a “similar set of cultural references and time frame as [Gubi], so it wasn’t that hard of a transition” for him and that he was well versed in that time period. Wayne enjoys working with Gubi and the two are developing their relationship for the broadcast booth (Wayne said that it’s still “early in the season” and that they’ve only called about 25 official games together and that developing a deep and good relationship in the booth can take a season or more). He said that over the years, that Gubi has learned to work with a lot of different announcers, especially over the last few years, and that Gubi does an incredible job working with him and all the other play-by-play announcers as well as making it easy for them all to step right into the broadcast booth.
When talking about his experiences in the broadcasting booth, we of course had to ask about the possum at the Oakland A’s stadium. He laughed and recalled the “pungent smell” and the “funk” that was in the booth, even making note of it during the broadcast! On top of that, he said there was a “toxic smell” from chemicals used to clean up the scat left by the possum in the booth. Wayne let his friends with the Mets broadcasting team know about it (they came in over a week later (after the A’s played Cleveland and then had a road trip), who talked about it on air as well. You can hear their take on the possum droppings here.
One area that Wayne talked about with a lot of pride and humor is his Italian heritage and culture. George Randazzo, the father of Tony the umpire, founded the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago to cover the many great contributions to American sports throughout the years. You can find out more about the NIASHOF by clicking here.
Away from the ballpark, Wayne loves spending time with his two daughters. A perfect day for him when he’s not broadcasting would be spending time with them doing anything, such as going to a park or doing anything that they want. As he said “I’m on the road so much, any chance I have to spend with them is a good day.”
We concluded with a lightning round of questions, and here are his responses:
Coke or Pepsi: Whatever the Angels have in their stadium is what I like best (very diplomatic answer).
In ‘n Out or Shake Shack: Shake Shack, but will have to eat more In ‘n Out (we will give him some time to do that before asking him about the fries).
A book or an audio book: I haven’t listened to many audio books, so I will have to try them more. A book for now.
Do the laundry or the dishes: I put the dishes in the dishwasher, so that’s a lot easier than doing the laundry.
Live in 1969 or 2069: Can I be my age at either time? (yes we said) Then 1969.   
Rachel or Monica: Laughs. All around, I’m a Rachel guy. (we then translated that for Gubi as Mary Ann or Ginger which got lots of laughs from Wayne).
High-five or fist bump: Thinks about it. I prefer the high-five.
Bon Jovi or Def Leopard: Bon Jovi. He’s Italian and I’ll always go for the Italians.
Overall, we learned quite a bit about our new play-by-play announcer, and we have been enjoying his game calling. The time flew by quickly, and we had many more questions for him than we had time for (one in particular we didn’t get to is how the new pitch clock is affecting announcing the game). He is truly a genuine, relaxed, and fun person with whom to talk, and Geoff and I really appreciated our time with him.
Before leaving the interview, Wayne agreed to come back again later in the season to give us his take on the team. We can hardly wait for that and look forward to hearing him continue to do a great job in the booth!
View the full article

Interview conducted by David Saltzer and Geoff Stoddart
April 25, 2023
Geoff Stoddart and I recently sat down with Angels Play-By-Play Announcer Wayne Randazzo to find out more about him, his background, and how he came to be with the Angels. Along the way, we learned quite a bit about him, and how he came to be an Angels announcer.
Wayne grew up near Chicago and attended St. Charles East High School. He loved watching the Chicago teams and modeled his broadcasting after many of the great Chicago announcers. From a young age, Wayne decided to be an announcer, and as he said, “being a bit stubborn”, that’s what he pursued. He said he possibly could have played baseball in a D3 school, but he chose to focus on his broadcasting career instead.
As parents, Geoff and I wanted to know how hard it was for him to have that conversation with his parents (imagining our own children telling us that they wanted to be play-by-play announcers and realizing how hard a career that would be). Wayne said it wasn’t that hard for him to have that conversation because he had a college degree from North Central College (yes, we had to look it up, it’s in Naperville, Illinois) and that he could always fall back on that.
For those who don’t know, Wayne’s cousin is Tony Randazzo, a Major League umpire. Wayne has in fact called games in which his cousin was the umpire when he was with the Mets. Wayne said that he didn’t hide the fact during the broadcast that his cousin was the umpire (even saying that during the broadcast he referred to the umpire as “his cousin Tony”), and the Mets fans at times let him know on social media about some of the calls that Tony made (especially if it affected any player’s stats).
We asked if that led to some awkward conversations around the dinner table or during the holidays, and Wayne laughed and said “not yet”. Wayne was very proud of his cousin, telling us about all the important games that Tony had called, including being a part of the 2016 World Series umpiring crew and officiating two All-Star Games (2001 and 2012). Wayne said that he looked forward to calling more games when his cousin is the umpire, and, as with the Mets fans, won’t hide his connection with his cousin when he’s calling games for the Angels.
Speaking of social media, Wayne does enjoy hearing what the fans like to say and to get out sentiments. You can find and follow him on Twitter at @WayneRandazzo. He said that he’s still getting to know Angels fans, and what we are like, and enjoys hearing from them online.
One of the things that really stood out for us was when we asked him about how he felt as an announcer to be calling and narrating history at times. For example, Wayne called Albert Pujols’ 700th homerun when he was an announcer for the Apple TV. We asked him specifically about what it’s like as an announcer to tell the story and what it’s like to be forever tied to a specific moment and event. Wayne focused heavily on the “responsibility” of telling the story and getting out of the way of the event and letting it happen. That really impressed us because as fans, we want to both watch and revel in the moment without it being overly narrated.
When it came to Pujols’ 700th homerun call, he told us that he didn’t know if it would happen, and actually wasn’t sure it would happen when the Cardinals came to town for the series against the Dodgers. He recalled that Aaron Judge had been stuck at 61 homeruns for a long time, and Pujols hadn’t been getting that many at-bats at the time going into the series. Wayne thought that maybe he might get a chance at 699, but again, wasn’t sure if it would happen.
Early in the game, Albert quickly took care of business hitting number 699. That still didn’t mean he would get to 700. But, later in the game, he did, and again, Wayne said he just let the moment happen and then let the fans celebrate the moment. You can watch his calls for 699 and 700 by clicking here. It’s a great call, and a great moment for Pujols and Randazzo.
Listening to Wayne talk about the Pujols milestones, Geoff and I imagined what it would be like to have Wayne calling major milestones for Trout and Ohtani. Wayne said “if [he] is lucky enough to call Trout’s 500th homerun, [he] would take that responsibility seriously and do a similar job [on the calls].” And, of course, Wayne would love to call an Ohtani no-hitter.
We asked Wayne what it was like to see Trout and Ohtani up close and in person as opposed to watching them from afar with the Mets. He talked a lot about watching how much work Trout puts in (and that the fans don’t see) to do the things that he does (going to so far as to call Trout “probably the best hitter in all of baseball” and “one of the hardest workers in baseball”). He talked about all of Trout’s work on running, exploding out of the box and hustling down the line, taking corners, and keeping up his speed, especially at his age. He really focused on the little things that truly separates Trout as such an elite player.
Regarding Ohtani, he raved about his pitching saying that he is probably a slightly better pitcher than hitter right now (and he said “to put that in perspective, we’re talking about a guy who hits .270+, 30+ HRs, and 100+ RBIs” and then added “how many guys do that in a season?”. He told us that he had only 2 chances to see the Angels while with the Mets (recalling one series in NY and one series here, and that in 2020 we lost a series against the Mets due to the Covid-shortened season), and that he didn’t get to see Ohtani pitch. However, he said that now that he’s seen him pitch in person that Ohtani “is one of the best, if not the best pitcher in baseball”. And of course, he talked about how Ohtani is doing things that no one else has done or is doing in all of baseball, being both a hitter and pitcher.
As far as coming into the Angels broadcast booth, we asked what Wayne did to prepare for all the 1970s and 1980s references from Gubi. He laughed quite a bit and said that luckily he worked with Howie Rose with the Mets who has a “similar set of cultural references and time frame as [Gubi], so it wasn’t that hard of a transition” for him and that he was well versed in that time period. Wayne enjoys working with Gubi and the two are developing their relationship for the broadcast booth (Wayne said that it’s still “early in the season” and that they’ve only called about 25 official games together and that developing a deep and good relationship in the booth can take a season or more). He said that over the years, that Gubi has learned to work with a lot of different announcers, especially over the last few years, and that Gubi does an incredible job working with him and all the other play-by-play announcers as well as making it easy for them all to step right into the broadcast booth.
When talking about his experiences in the broadcasting booth, we of course had to ask about the possum at the Oakland A’s stadium. He laughed and recalled the “pungent smell” and the “funk” that was in the booth, even making note of it during the broadcast! On top of that, he said there was a “toxic smell” from chemicals used to clean up the scat left by the possum in the booth. Wayne let his friends with the Mets broadcasting team know about it (they came in over a week later (after the A’s played Cleveland and then had a road trip), who talked about it on air as well. You can hear their take on the possum droppings here.
One area that Wayne talked about with a lot of pride and humor is his Italian heritage and culture. George Randazzo, the father of Tony the umpire, founded the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago to cover the many great contributions to American sports throughout the years. You can find out more about the NIASHOF by clicking here.
Away from the ballpark, Wayne loves spending time with his two daughters. A perfect day for him when he’s not broadcasting would be spending time with them doing anything, such as going to a park or doing anything that they want. As he said “I’m on the road so much, any chance I have to spend with them is a good day.”
We concluded with a lightning round of questions, and here are his responses:
Coke or Pepsi: Whatever the Angels have in their stadium is what I like best (very diplomatic answer).
In ‘n Out or Shake Shack: Shake Shack, but will have to eat more In ‘n Out (we will give him some time to do that before asking him about the fries).
A book or an audio book: I haven’t listened to many audio books, so I will have to try them more. A book for now.
Do the laundry or the dishes: I put the dishes in the dishwasher, so that’s a lot easier than doing the laundry.
Live in 1969 or 2069: Can I be my age at either time? (yes we said) Then 1969.   
Rachel or Monica: Laughs. All around, I’m a Rachel guy. (we then translated that for Gubi as Mary Ann or Ginger which got lots of laughs from Wayne).
High-five or fist bump: Thinks about it. I prefer the high-five.
Bon Jovi or Def Leopard: Bon Jovi. He’s Italian and I’ll always go for the Italians.
Overall, we learned quite a bit about our new play-by-play announcer, and we have been enjoying his game calling. The time flew by quickly, and we had many more questions for him than we had time for (one in particular we didn’t get to is how the new pitch clock is affecting announcing the game). He is truly a genuine, relaxed, and fun person with whom to talk, and Geoff and I really appreciated our time with him.
Before leaving the interview, Wayne agreed to come back again later in the season to give us his take on the team. We can hardly wait for that and look forward to hearing him continue to do a great job in the booth!
View the full article

Interview conducted by David Saltzer and Geoff Stoddart
April 25, 2023
Geoff Stoddart and I recently sat down with Angels Play-By-Play Announcer Wayne Randazzo to find out more about him, his background, and how he came to be with the Angels. Along the way, we learned quite a bit about him, and how he came to be an Angels announcer.
Wayne grew up near Chicago and attended St. Charles East High School. He loved watching the Chicago teams and modeled his broadcasting after many of the great Chicago announcers. From a young age, Wayne decided to be an announcer, and as he said, “being a bit stubborn”, that’s what he pursued. He said he possibly could have played baseball in a D3 school, but he chose to focus on his broadcasting career instead.
As parents, Geoff and I wanted to know how hard it was for him to have that conversation with his parents (imagining our own children telling us that they wanted to be play-by-play announcers and realizing how hard a career that would be). Wayne said it wasn’t that hard for him to have that conversation because he had a college degree from North Central College (yes, we had to look it up, it’s in Naperville, Illinois) and that he could always fall back on that.
For those who don’t know, Wayne’s cousin is Tony Randazzo, a Major League umpire. Wayne has in fact called games in which his cousin was the umpire when he was with the Mets. Wayne said that he didn’t hide the fact during the broadcast that his cousin was the umpire (even saying that during the broadcast he referred to the umpire as “his cousin Tony”), and the Mets fans at times let him know on social media about some of the calls that Tony made (especially if it affected any player’s stats).
We asked if that led to some awkward conversations around the dinner table or during the holidays, and Wayne laughed and said “not yet”. Wayne was very proud of his cousin, telling us about all the important games that Tony had called, including being a part of the 2016 World Series umpiring crew and officiating two All-Star Games (2001 and 2012). Wayne said that he looked forward to calling more games when his cousin is the umpire, and, as with the Mets fans, won’t hide his connection with his cousin when he’s calling games for the Angels.
Speaking of social media, Wayne does enjoy hearing what the fans like to say and to get out sentiments. You can find and follow him on Twitter at @WayneRandazzo. He said that he’s still getting to know Angels fans, and what we are like, and enjoys hearing from them online.
One of the things that really stood out for us was when we asked him about how he felt as an announcer to be calling and narrating history at times. For example, Wayne called Albert Pujols’ 700th homerun when he was an announcer for the Apple TV. We asked him specifically about what it’s like as an announcer to tell the story and what it’s like to be forever tied to a specific moment and event. Wayne focused heavily on the “responsibility” of telling the story and getting out of the way of the event and letting it happen. That really impressed us because as fans, we want to both watch and revel in the moment without it being overly narrated.
When it came to Pujols’ 700th homerun call, he told us that he didn’t know if it would happen, and actually wasn’t sure it would happen when the Cardinals came to town for the series against the Dodgers. He recalled that Aaron Judge had been stuck at 61 homeruns for a long time, and Pujols hadn’t been getting that many at-bats at the time going into the series. Wayne thought that maybe he might get a chance at 699, but again, wasn’t sure if it would happen.
Early in the game, Albert quickly took care of business hitting number 699. That still didn’t mean he would get to 700. But, later in the game, he did, and again, Wayne said he just let the moment happen and then let the fans celebrate the moment. You can watch his calls for 699 and 700 by clicking here. It’s a great call, and a great moment for Pujols and Randazzo.
Listening to Wayne talk about the Pujols milestones, Geoff and I imagined what it would be like to have Wayne calling major milestones for Trout and Ohtani. Wayne said “if [he] is lucky enough to call Trout’s 500th homerun, [he] would take that responsibility seriously and do a similar job [on the calls].” And, of course, Wayne would love to call an Ohtani no-hitter.
We asked Wayne what it was like to see Trout and Ohtani up close and in person as opposed to watching them from afar with the Mets. He talked a lot about watching how much work Trout puts in (and that the fans don’t see) to do the things that he does (going to so far as to call Trout “probably the best hitter in all of baseball” and “one of the hardest workers in baseball”). He talked about all of Trout’s work on running, exploding out of the box and hustling down the line, taking corners, and keeping up his speed, especially at his age. He really focused on the little things that truly separates Trout as such an elite player.
Regarding Ohtani, he raved about his pitching saying that he is probably a slightly better pitcher than hitter right now (and he said “to put that in perspective, we’re talking about a guy who hits .270+, 30+ HRs, and 100+ RBIs” and then added “how many guys do that in a season?”. He told us that he had only 2 chances to see the Angels while with the Mets (recalling one series in NY and one series here, and that in 2020 we lost a series against the Mets due to the Covid-shortened season), and that he didn’t get to see Ohtani pitch. However, he said that now that he’s seen him pitch in person that Ohtani “is one of the best, if not the best pitcher in baseball”. And of course, he talked about how Ohtani is doing things that no one else has done or is doing in all of baseball, being both a hitter and pitcher.
As far as coming into the Angels broadcast booth, we asked what Wayne did to prepare for all the 1970s and 1980s references from Gubi. He laughed quite a bit and said that luckily he worked with Howie Rose with the Mets who has a “similar set of cultural references and time frame as [Gubi], so it wasn’t that hard of a transition” for him and that he was well versed in that time period. Wayne enjoys working with Gubi and the two are developing their relationship for the broadcast booth (Wayne said that it’s still “early in the season” and that they’ve only called about 25 official games together and that developing a deep and good relationship in the booth can take a season or more). He said that over the years, that Gubi has learned to work with a lot of different announcers, especially over the last few years, and that Gubi does an incredible job working with him and all the other play-by-play announcers as well as making it easy for them all to step right into the broadcast booth.
When talking about his experiences in the broadcasting booth, we of course had to ask about the possum at the Oakland A’s stadium. He laughed and recalled the “pungent smell” and the “funk” that was in the booth, even making note of it during the broadcast! On top of that, he said there was a “toxic smell” from chemicals used to clean up the scat left by the possum in the booth. Wayne let his friends with the Mets broadcasting team know about it (they came in over a week later (after the A’s played Cleveland and then had a road trip), who talked about it on air as well. You can hear their take on the possum droppings here.
One area that Wayne talked about with a lot of pride and humor is his Italian heritage and culture. George Randazzo, the father of Tony the umpire, founded the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago to cover the many great contributions to American sports throughout the years. You can find out more about the NIASHOF by clicking here.
Away from the ballpark, Wayne loves spending time with his two daughters. A perfect day for him when he’s not broadcasting would be spending time with them doing anything, such as going to a park or doing anything that they want. As he said “I’m on the road so much, any chance I have to spend with them is a good day.”
We concluded with a lightning round of questions, and here are his responses:
Coke or Pepsi: Whatever the Angels have in their stadium is what I like best (very diplomatic answer).
In ‘n Out or Shake Shack: Shake Shack, but will have to eat more In ‘n Out (we will give him some time to do that before asking him about the fries).
A book or an audio book: I haven’t listened to many audio books, so I will have to try them more. A book for now.
Do the laundry or the dishes: I put the dishes in the dishwasher, so that’s a lot easier than doing the laundry.
Live in 1969 or 2069: Can I be my age at either time? (yes we said) Then 1969.   
Rachel or Monica: Laughs. All around, I’m a Rachel guy. (we then translated that for Gubi as Mary Ann or Ginger which got lots of laughs from Wayne).
High-five or fist bump: Thinks about it. I prefer the high-five.
Bon Jovi or Def Leopard: Bon Jovi. He’s Italian and I’ll always go for the Italians.
Overall, we learned quite a bit about our new play-by-play announcer, and we have been enjoying his game calling. The time flew by quickly, and we had many more questions for him than we had time for (one in particular we didn’t get to is how the new pitch clock is affecting announcing the game). He is truly a genuine, relaxed, and fun person with whom to talk, and Geoff and I really appreciated our time with him.
Before leaving the interview, Wayne agreed to come back again later in the season to give us his take on the team. We can hardly wait for that and look forward to hearing him continue to do a great job in the booth!
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