WeatherWonk

LOL! I had the same question! WTF is OD?? Whatever it is, the answer won't be as funny as yours!

Kind of an easy question to answer. ANY concern? Zero teams dont have ANY concern, of course. There are teams with only a MARGINAL concern. A rotation doesnt exist in a vacuum. Some teams have rotations and bullpens that, given their lineup, they have MARGINAL concern that their rotation will give up more runs than they will score or limit, late in the game. I would say the Nationals, Yankees, Red Sox, Astros, Dodgers fall into this camp. Maybe the Brewers and the A's. The Angels do not, IMO. It will be interesting to see if any more teams opt for the "opener" strategy. I wonder if the Rays will continue this, or whether it was just a function of losing traditional starters. Hey, when Ohtani is ready to pitch again, if we agree to limit him to no more than three innings a start, could we maybe, just maybe, get him to hit more that 3-4 times a week?

Darn, I was getting so optimistic about the springs that Thaiss and Adell and Rojas and Bourjos have had? Apparently, it means nothing, NADA.

95 wins looking a little less likely?

Not this year.

I haven't really delved into the permutations as to how WAR breaks out the various factors that make up the overall WAR score. But I still feel that Mays was the best player in the last 60 years. He was as good a baserunner as Trout, he had a WAY better arm (some players like Mays and Clemente had such good arms that players stopped running on them, so if OF assists are a large percentage of the defensive measure of WAR, they got fewer opportunities because no one would run on them). I really dont see how players before the intensive TV era can be rated on things like UZR. Mays also struck out more than 100 times only once in his career. It was when he was 40; the last full season of his career. In any full season that he plays, Trout will strike out more than 125 times. Ks are the worst out you can make, beside a DP. Actually, even a DP can score a run. WAR doesnt penalize a K enough, it seems. Nothing good can come from a K. fWAR and bWAR are still flawed, IMO, unless they penalize the K. Williams was amazing; the best hitter ever in baseball.

Incredible amount of walks this spring. Angels refuse to let their ST ERA go below 6.00. All 11 runs earned. Angel pitching one HR off the MLB ST lead for HRs allowed. Leaders in WHIP at about 1.6. 2.5 weeks to go till the reg season. Probably another week of "scuffling and working on things".

Just a bit ago, Mota said it's possible he will not see game action until June.

Outside of pitching, are they really happening more often than in the past? Pitching can easily be explained by the emphasis on throwing harder and throwing "junk" pitches that put more stress on the arm, i.e., splitters, sliders, curves, etc.

Is there any significance to Canning being assigned to minor league camp, as opposed to being optioned to Salt Lake like Suarez?

Yes, but OTOH, Angel pitching walked TEN batters today.

This is the last batter of the game, no matter.

Anyone else catch MLB Network radio's analysis of the Angels, as part of their 30 clubs in 30 days programming? Specifically, the talk with Eppler? I did. At the very end (at least that's where it was, after editing) they broached the subject of re-signing Trout. Epps gave the company line BUT the way he worded it was something similar to "I'm not going to comment on negotiations we have had, OR HAVE NOT HAD, with re-signing Trout" (capitalized emphasis by me). In other words, I'm not going to answer questions about whether Trout's camp is stonewalling us on negotiations, either.

My take was that, after all the pressure on him to sign SOMEWHERE, he waited for two ABs for a pitch he could drive, didn't get one, and took two walks instead. The pressure to make a big initial splash, with all the fans and the media in attendance, must have been enormous, but he was still selective. With his personality, that couldn't have been easy to do.

This is actually the perfect scenario for The Gospel According to Angels Win for Adell. His First Time in spring training camp, he goes down for 40 days and 40 nights. The stage is set for the Second Coming.......

I heard that he initially aggravated the hamstring taking a dump. The Angels' staff needs to get more pro-active on enemas............in the morning, of course.

Ward still strikes out a lot.........but I guess there is a level of acceptance of that in MLB these days. His defense is still a long way off.

Yeah, especially for the pitchers.

Cubs radio broadcast reporting Adell has a strained right hamstring and a sprained right ankle.

Another season of getting the Cam shaft...........guy must have an out of balance lobe or something.

Well, he's certainly getting a lot of practice this spring. Dude is rattling, non-stop.

That's not a good sign.

In the middle of the day? Whoa, that's not a good sign, dude. But it explains a lot about your posts..........

Amen to this. You can easily pay 30.00 for lawn "seating". Actually, even more, as some of the clubs instituted dynamic pricing even in ST. Try pricing the Cubs or the Giants games in ST.

I think this means he will decrease his hitting workload during his rehab. I doubt it will reduce the amount he DHs during the regular season...........would it? Then again, I guess this guy's MO is to hit less when he is asked to throw a baseball.