axalar

Worst lineup we’ve put out this year?

10 runs?

California Baseball Team 

58 minutes ago, ThisismineScios said:

YESSSSSSSSSSSS

So it was RAYsel Iglesias from the little birdie…

36 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Do we know who IS in charge of that shit?

I mean they should be fired directly into the sun. And if it isn't fixed we're dealing with the same shit next year. And the year after that.

Maybe we need a strike.

Baseball ops should be.

But apparently they’re not being fully utilized.. something that will hopefully change next year.

Surprised Bundy wasn't covid related. He looked like he was sweating a gallon of water every 2 mins.

mmc angry. mmc smash.

This game is incredibly corny.

Mayfield at SS? Hmm

How much more time does Rengifo have before he’s considered a true bust?

I hope Upton breaks out of his funk and finds his timing again, but until he does, he needs to move out of the 4-hole. Every out he’s made in the last couple of games he looked like he was on the brink of a nervous breakdown - the anti-Rendon mindset.

3 minutes ago, ettin said:

I am still pretty stunned at the amount of controllable years, Minasian just picked up in the Tony Watson trade. Really nicely done.

Also Janson Junk might prove to be a clever pickup in the Heaney deal.

We must have cashed in an IOU from the Giants stemming from the Will Wilson trade…

We got a mention finally!

5 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

This is just a hunch, but I think the Angels trade Heaney, but not Raisel or Cobb. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think they want to signal to the team that they're throwing in the towel by trading Raisel and Cobb, not unless they are blown away by an offer. They'd really need to get at least one 50 FV prospect for each, and I'm not sure any teams are willing to give that up. Maybe for Raisel, but they might want someone really good (e.g. a 55 FV prospect).

We might see one or two other minor moves - maybe Watson and one or two younger players added to sweeten the deal. So we might, for instance, see Heaney and Ward or Rengifo traded for a couple prospects, in the 40-45 FV range.

Just a hunch, though. 

This is pretty close to what I’ve heard from a couple friends in the org in regards to Heaney being the main push, and less motivation to move Cobb/Raisel.

8 minutes ago, eligrba4ever said:

If he did. it might have been a choice imposed on him by the food/rent conditions of the Angels farm system (among most others).

Must not have noticed the 8 gold chains Barria was wearing today.

7 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Oh yes be cognizant of the play on the field, but he doesn’t seem to quite realize what needs to be said versus what he is saying.

I just prefer to let the game itself breathe a little on its own.  We do see what is happening.

But it is a really tough gig to get right.

I’m good with this new guy. Good contrast to Gubi, and I like the more traditional approach to the game call. Cuts down on the corniness we’ve had to endure the rest of the season from Sutton.

Barria had a quick second, but his stuff is not looking that impressive right now. Hopefully, he finds a bit more for the top of the order.

A batting lineup with no Trout + Ohtani, while not having Ohtani on the mound sounds pretty much like forfeit at this point. Seems like a good time to test him getting some exposure to RF should the Angels ever miraculously make the playoffs one day.

4 minutes ago, CanadianHalo said:

At least the Twins are currently a bigger disappointment vs expectation than us

For the first part of the season, I was of the “give him time” opinion, and still think he’s been a little unlucky.

But, at the same time, I now feel like his prime has passed. He tore it up at Angel stadium last year with an XBH every 7-8 PA.  On the road though? An XBH only in every 32 PA w/ an OPS under .750. This year his road struggles have continued w/ an OPS under .750, but now he sucks in Anaheim, too (OPS .566). His XBH are coming every 22 PAs. 
 

I know that’s a bit one dimensional to look at, but to me it suggests he probably should not be batting 3rd anymore (or 4th when Trout returns).

Piling on to how deep this lineup is...

After a slow start to the season, Jose Iglesias is now hitting .319/.333/.447 for an OPS of .780 over the last 12 games (batting .200 after the first 9 games of the season).

5 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Bundy and the pen came up big.

Ohtani continues to destroy the baseball.

Rojas suddenly has 5 doubles.

Good win to break the losing streak.

Now, time to get healthy!

On Rojas.. 5 of his 7 hits are doubles now. Gap hitting ftw. He really legged it out today to get into scoring position for Bemboom to bring him around. 

4 minutes ago, Second Base said:

From my own observation, he's hitting the ball too hard in the air right now. Lots of high line drives right at the CF and RF. The last couple years, we saw more low liners. That and pitchers aren't pitching him up in the zone anymore because he's shown what he does to high pitches. I also think Angels fans had unrealistic expectations. In his minor league career, he never had a high BB%, and after last season, fans thought he had developed into a high OBP player. 

The truth is, Fletcher will adjust, but he's going to be much more of a .280/.320 hitter that can be a gold glover at 2B and 3B, and is particularly well-liked in the clubhouse. 

Your observations are correct. His fly ball % + pop up % are about 2x what they were last year (though not as drastic to ‘19 - 1.3x). Last year, his hard hit GB’s were unreal though.

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

Has saved 3 defensive runs.  

How many offensive runs has he cost so far, not hitting at all in front of Ohtani, Trout, Walsh, and Upton?

What is suddenly causing him to chase pitches out of the zone?

New Contract pressure?

He’s chasing at the same rate as prior years, but making contact more often, likely producing poorer solid contact.

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

Since Fletcher and even Iglesias are high contact, low strikeout, low walks type guys why not go with a lineup like this?

3B Rendon
DH Ohtani
CF Trout
1B Walsh
LF Upton
2B Fletcher
SS Iglesias
RF Schebler/Lagares/Marsh?
C Suzkui

Rendon led off for the Nationals quite a bit a few years back because of his ability to draw walks and get on base. Fletcher and Iglesias put the ball in play. Both hitters hit over. 300 last year. That will bode well for RBI opportunities. 

I was thinking this same exact thing yesterday, but figured it’d catch major ridicule here.. but really, who better to choose to get on base right now (not named Trout).

Looked into Fletcher's stats yesterday, and it was interesting to see that his launch angle has increased to last year (highest since 2018) along w/ a dropoff in exit velocity (80.5mph this year vs 83.8 career). With this, his flyballs / pop-ups have been 31.6% of his batted balls vs. 15.2% in '20 and 23% in '19. Granted, it's a small sample size for sure, but if its due to a swing change (haven't looked at video vs last year), it's not a great trend when the most success he had in prior years came off of hitting on top of the ball vs under it.

Found this article that talked about his success stemming from his GB's last year: https://prospects365.com/2020/09/27/david-fletcher-has-refined-his-ground-balls/

Beyond the launch angle he could be having some recognition issues .. he's getting more balls in the zone, but swinging at them less often, and making slightly less contact when he does swing. Oddly, he's making more chase contact but with the same chase rate. His BA against fastballs has also been crap, but the XBA is there, so let's all pray it's just due to sample size and "Fletcher overrated" don't need to be a subject of conversation at all in a couple more weeks.