Duren, Duren

A stinker of a game.

Detmers has really regressed. Just when it looked like he was evolving into a steady ace he's gone backwards.

Hard to figure.Loss of confidence? Pressure knowing he likely won't get lots of run support? Just bad pitching in terms of location and setting up hitters? His stuff looks ok raw, but not very consistent now.

Suarez isn't even a good mop up man. Doesn't look like he'll ever get any better. 

The hitters are just who they are. Why expect miracles? Adell is at least finally starting to show the potential long expected. Possibly the only Angel all-star rep. 

Slim pickings ....

But desperate to field a full roster apparently. 

This could have originally been a one for one trade for Herget but I guess they wanted to stretch out the suspense. 

I wonder which team will actually pay more for these reclamation projects? Or if performance factors in. 

Seriously, just low level baseball roster tinkering. Angels  dire need for  any experienced middle infielder.  Braves with a basically free pitcher who once was serviceable. 

I suppose Perry thinks it"s too early in the season to feed the perception that the team has given up and will just bring up prospects. Ready or not. 

The Real Housewives of the O C. now a peripheral bit of extra sleaze? 

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/40105362/ippei-mizuhara-ryan-boyajian-gambling-money

Isn't that what coaches are for? Technical help and practical advice. Trout and Rendon aren't coaches or technicians. They can add motivation and encouragement. And maybe some anecdotal advice.  But they have their own issues to work out when playing and preparing on the road. And giving technical advice seems to intrude and possibly conflict with what the coaches are doing. 

And do they have to be there physically all the time? They are in the dugout for home games presumably. Are young players so insecure that they need constant attention? Coaches are being paid to help on mechanics and technique. 

3 minutes ago, Erstad Grit said:

Just starting to hit too

The infield is dangerously thin already. This could be a bigger issue if he misses much time. 

Nice comeback win. They could have imploded but held steady. Solid except for Soriano's one bad inning. Good to see Adell hitting with power again. 

As usual, the ball/strike calls are all over the place. I noticed the Pirate starter's angry body language when his really wild pitches weren't called strikes. 

Well I've caught up to real time. Hope I don't jinx them! 

I'm out at the moment half way through my daily morning walk. And a little coffee break at Tim Horton's. I'm recording the game and should catch up to real time before too long. Hopefully a series won and a smidgen of positivity going forward. 

Cheers

The very first game the Expos played at home in tiny Jarry Park. A group of us decided at the last minute to ditch school and we got left field bleacher seats. I posted a picture of that ticket stub the other day. Here it is again, with Bill Stoneman, John Bocabella (an early folk hero), Rusty Staub autographs. 

I've been to about a dozen or so Angel games in Anaheim the last decade and a couple in Seattle. 

After two exciting overtime NHL playoff games it was a nice casual nightcap seeing an Angel blowout win. 

Funny with the Pirate announcers interjecting constantly on balls in play. Yelling "go foul" on Pillar's first homer and muttering with resignation as the game progressed. 

The hot corner sure was that for both teams. Embarrassingly so. And hardly up to major league standards.

But bad defense is to be expected in a battle of bottom dwellers. 

Sandoval pitched one of his best games. Hope it propels him to more success. 

I guess Pillar will be a regular starter now. He certainly earned it with a career game. And Calhoun continues to scald the ball and have good at bats. 

A very good chance to finally win a series and give Soriano more confidence. 

The Angels had three first ballot HOF players on the same team for a bit.  Pujols, Ohtani, Trout. Yet they couldn't come close to contending. Plus quickly added a defending MVP in Rendon. 

It's so transparently clear that Arte's vision of a baseball team doesn't work. It's a team game. Yet he always has prioritized the big names. And subsequently spent the payroll disproportionately. 

Not enough organic growth and development. Or patience.  And probably not the best teachers in the system.

And even some of the young players have failed because they were rushed, not schooled enough or were over hyped. Quick fixes rarely work with prospects expected to be starters or have major roles. It's the exception when they do, and a bad managerial philosophy. 

The last half decade or so has been this pattern. Gambling on big names to carry the load, rushing prospects and filling the rest of the roster with journeymen, retreads or guys recovering from serious injuries. As well as playing constantly for the long ball while neglecting pitching, contact hitting,  speed and defense. With multiple managers who seem paralyzed and unable to make a difference. 

I've recently been trying to look at each game just by itself. No thoughts about the standings. That way each game is an isolated self contained piece of baseball entertainment. Cheering for the Angel underdog, but resigned to the fact that they likely will lose. Then groundhog day over again for the next game. 

But it's almost impossible to do. You can't help recognizing the trends and the big picture. So I just try to keep an objective approach and focus on the young guys. And hope that there are more competitive games making the time spent entertaining enough. 

A really mercifully short game. Hardly took any time at all on the PVR. So obvious that all local broadcasts are just long   infomercials for the home team. Both in advertising and promotions. You really notice it fast forwarding between innings ads. And all the chatter by broadcasters. Not that it seems to be helping Pirate attendence.

The game. What there was of it. 

Of course, more really bad ball/strike calls. From the first pitch of the game. 

Just yet another variation on the same theme. Not bad starting pitching other than a major game changing mistake. I guess it's free grand slam week. 

And of course, pathetic offense. With the usual solo homer preventing a shutout. 

I thought the coaching was supposed to be upgraded. But it's the Three Stooges on the base paths. Players and coaches responsible. 

Schamuel isn't fast. They could have had men on second and third. He chugs past third, tries to score standing up. Ward is watching and doesn't signal to slide? He may have scored with a slide, but literally ran into the catcher's glove waist high. 

Adell is back to his old self.  Dreary embarrassing himself. Calhoun and Tucker getting the best wood on the ball. 

Looks like another series to be lost unless they win two in a row. Which hardly looks likely. And they are losing to average and below average teams every series now. 

100 loss season getting more probable with every game. 

Are Angel radio games accessible anywhere beyond their local outlets? Just curious because I never sought them out. I don't want to pay for streaming since I'm already paying for the MLB Extra Innings TV package. 

When I lived in Montreal I was a fanatic radio listener to Expos games through the seventies/early eighties. My student days.  Haven't lived there since. Nor listened to radio broadcasts since then. 

It was great, but you have to realize that everything comes through the filter of the broadcasters. Some were/are more objective. Others consciously or subconsciously are less objective, being paid by the team. 

Dave Van Horn was really solid Expos play by play guy. "Up up and away" was his home run call. Maybe his best game ( available somewhere on the Internet) was the perfect game of Dennis Martinez against the Dodgers. "El Presidente (his nickname) El perfecto" Duke Snider was his long time color guy. Followed by Ken Singleton. I learned a lot about'inside baseball' from them.

Historically there are many iconic team and network broadcasters from mostly radio. I bought about thirty classic baseball games on audio cassette years ago. Complete world series, all star  games and some others, like Maris'61st homer game. From the thirties through sixties. Now you can find so many of those and more on a cd disk sold on eBay. 

I really recommend seeking some out. You get the feel of being there, and relive the mindset of how teams, players, and the overall baseball culture was like. 

Everything really goes back to an organizational plan. Trading the veterans mentioned here for younger players/prospects  is fine. But that acknowledges the team is in full rebuild mode. Which I am not sure Arte would endorse. Even though the results on the field reveal that need as a priority. 

It's possible Perry will still try and look for stop gap players rather than more raw potentially high ceiling prospects. In other words, he'll still look for somewhat younger guys with some major league experience, but with a lower ceiling. Or more veteran guys who have stagnated like the ones he's added mostly in recent years. The best deal he's made was the O'Hoppe trade. And he was lucky that Philly wanted Marsh. And that they still placed faith in Realmuto for their contention window. 

A big factor as well is what the Angel scouts are doing. Have they identified and targeted possible higher ceiling prospects who may take a few more years of development. And may be expendable for an Angel veteran who can help their current situation? 

I actually look forward to watching the current young Angels each game. Adell, Neto, Schanuel, O'Hoppe, some of the pitchers. Looking at their overall play and trying to project forward their possible ceiling. Currently playing on a weak team can actually build character and mental toughness. Going through a long losing grind while still trying to be positive and improving their individual play. 

I think Washington should prioritize their development more than anything else. Veterans can't really change much, and most won't be around longer term. 

Why is the farm system so mediocre?

Scouting and player development are the keys to producing good prospects. 

In the past scouts would physically 'beat the bushes' as the saying goes. Now it's computers, video and analytics that seem prioritized. And often over rule what was seen by scouts first hand. 

The 2012 Clint Eastwood movie 'Trouble with the Curve' dramatizes this contrast though it wasn't the greatest movie. 

As well, player development with these prospects is critical. 

Seems the Angels just have no long term plan or dependable infrastructure in place for finding and  growing young talent. That draft a few years ago of only pitchers was a sign of pure desperation and a panic reaction. 

A true rebuild ideally starts with a new owner, head of baseball ops and an organization of the best available scouts, coaches and managers. All on the same page with a master plan. And the patience to grow it. 

Just year after year of stagnation and reflex moves remind me of the Bob Dylan line.

"If you don't start swimming you'll sink like a stone because the times they are a changin." 

Canning, like Detmers pitched well enough up to a point. But with little run support each error is magnified. 

Deja vu all over again. Can't cash in runners, bad base running, allowing critical homers. Nightmare seasons for some. 

And how long can Calhoun be the best hitter? Every ball he hits has good wood in it. 

Any sense of false optimism  has slowly morphed into resignation.

This season has drifted into irrelevance really quickly. The peak of optimism was just after the Marlin series. Since then, not a series won. And a  continuing recognition that even .500 will be difficult to achieve. Not a full out rebuild, too many key injuries. And a roster full of journeymen and under achievers. 

Even Adell is now cooling off. And Detmers hasn't taken the next step yet.   Soriano is about the most intriguing player to watch and his sample size needs to get much larger. 

Washington was dealt a bad hand with key injuries and a weak roster but he hasn't moved the needle one iota. 

But as underdogs in probably 90% of their games going forward, each win will feel more meaningful than if it was expected. 

Detmers on the verge of that cliched 'quality start' till the grand slam. All the three homers were on very hittable pitches.

At some point this team needs to actually win two games in a row.

Series win still possible, but they need more than that to make any progress in the standings at all. A real sustained hot streak over a few weeks. But with this roster? Willie Calhoun the hottest hitter now? 

I noticed a few times this season Angel runners trying to steal second being tagged out on bad throws from a catcher. Throws to the first base side. Angel runners being tagged on their bodies before they can touch second. Speaks of lack of real foot speed and/or bad leads and reads  or sliding techniques. Seems that the strategy isn't supported by enough seriously good runners. 

"Angels wax 'em good." As the  Cleveland broadcasters concluded. So rare considering the Angels lost 23 of the last 25 in Cleveland. 

Nice to see  Calhoun and Moniak have good games as a change of pace. And Schanuel is back in the groove. But he needs to work on scooping bad throws out of the dirt. 

Really encouraging seeing Soriano poised and in control. With his stuff he can become a big part of the rotation. 

You understand why Wash put in Suarez in that situation. His first inning could have blown up but he really took over in the ninth. His best inning as an Angel. And hopefully it helps rebuild his confidence though I'd still be cautious in the situations he is used in. 

Nice game and a rare shutout. Cleveland in a little slump so maybe this series is winnable. 

The Angels are an easy target to dump on. It's built up the entire length of Trout's career. Especially for east coast media. Do you think he would have such  contempt for the Red Sox or Yankees in a similar scenario? No doubt there would be criticism but I doubt it would be so dismissive and polarizing. After all he has to physically hang around those environments more frequently than venturing into Anaheim other than on rare occasions. If he personally was around Trout regularly be might have a more nuanced perspective. 

Good player on a weak team most of his career? Happens all the time everywhere. Less so now than in the past but every sport still has multiple examples. And it's not like Trout didn't have a choice. He has his priorities and expectations for the future and locked himself in with full understanding of the risks. And there are many examples of players finding redemption very late in their careers.

It might even make a better story if the Angels become elite at the very end of Trout's contract/career. Making his loyalty and perseverance more newsworthy.

3 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

He's not a lefty.

He should have been! Maybe being more unique would have increased his value,  

Odds are he gets called up in September or earlier if he does well at AAA and they have injuries. 

Herget had a decent spell a couple of years ago but regressed last year. As a lefty with a funky delivery and little velocity he needed excellent control. And didn't have it. But in the Braves system coaches may tweak something. 

Maybe he shows up in a playoff game, gets one out and salvages his career. 

He wasn't a major asset obviously but should have brought back a lower end prospect or a late draft pick. Cash doesn't do anything for the roster.

Here's the ESPN story.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/40074673/braves-acquire-rhp-jimmy-herget-angels-cash