Duren, Duren

Late drama at least for a jolt of excitement. But what a letdown, taking a called third strike. 

Playing Schanuel in the majors before he's had a chance to develop any power is like having him step into a boxing ring with one hand tied behind his back.

Hicks might be most useful as a pinch hitter if he's on the roster. That is, if they want to salvage anything from him. With all that experience and power potential one at bat every couple of games might be addition by subtraction. 

Nice catch by Ward. That would have been trouble. 

Embarrassing for a major leaguer. Another cheap run allowed by the defense. 

Is the Hicks experiment going to go on indefinitely? 

Two equally ugly unearned runs. 
 

Embarrassing for a major leaguer. Another cheap run allowed by the defense. 

This is where the path to the plate rule sucks. In years past that path would and should have been blocked.

Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before getting a severe reality check. With all the negativity and scorn he's been bombarded with maybe he's finally become determined to get his career back on track. 
Hopefully Rendon has put the past behind and can focus on the present. Just the day to day baseball routine. 
I think expectations at this point are just for a decent, competent season. And no big injuries. No one expects him to recapture his all star form. But if he can be productive at a solid pace in his role it should be a positive for the team. Double digit homers maybe though his power seems reduced  so far. More walks than Ks. A return of"Tony Two Bags" in a more modest form. And at least average play in the field. 

Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before getting a severe reality check. With all the negativity and scorn he's been bombarded with maybe he's finally become determined to get his career back on track. 
Hopefully Rendon has put the past behind and can focus on the present. Just the day to day baseball routine. 
I think expectations at this point are just for a decent, competent season. And no big injuries. No one expects him to recapture his all star form. But if he can be productive at a solid pace in his role it should be a positive for the team. Double digit homers maybe though his power seems reduced  so far. More walks than Ks. A return of"Tony Two Bags" in a more modest form. And at least average play in the field. 

I'd cut Washington some more slack. He's new to this set of players and needs first hand game observation to really get a feel for things. Both individually  and how they sync together in the batting order.
Nine games are a minimal sample, though important. But conversely, every game counts and can't be wasted on questionable experiments. So it's a fine line. 
I'd be patient through this week, but when they go on the road I'd hope he can process what he's seen and just play the players who can best be counted on to be steady immediately. Not treating things as a longer term project. And that he tweaks the batting order accordingly. 

Soriano should be stretching out in AAA if that’s the plan. 
 
having him forced to throw 3 high leverage innings as a reliever is dumb af 

We can only speculate what's going through Arte's mind.  Appearances are one thing, but the reality might be different. 
I feel a little sad for the guy.  He was once on top of the world and adored by Angel fans.  It all went bad and there are lots of reasons why.  To us fans, selling makes sense.  To him... who knows? 
The Angels are constantly trying to control the narrative.  That's usually what happens when an organization isn't very transparent. 

There have to be reasons he hasn't sold. Especially at his age.
Financial? Is keeping the team more beneficial than selling it? Factoring in tax and all other factors. 
Family legacy? Related to financial. Does he believe that his family will benefit from ownership longer term when he isn't there? Assuming that things like a new stadium and various future partnerships will be part of the post Arte planning. Rather than other forms inheritance can take. Also it would mean that the family name would still have this public presence into the future.
Ego/Stubbornness? Having on field failures his whole tenure maybe he just wants to hang on till the team finally succeeds. By whatever criteria that he values. As well as stubbornness in taking  advice that contradicted his ideas. Even though they may have helped. 
Tone deaf? Perhaps he and his inner circle just don't care about public and media perception. 
These factors are probably all part of the equation in varying degrees. And probably other reasons too that are more private. 
It's a shame that things have deteriorated incrementally over time. But that's just the way things are. 
 
 

Adell needs to get more shots. 

Outfielders active now. Got away with one hard hit pitch thanks to Trout. 
Knuckle curve revisited! I think Burt Hooten of the Cubs was the first to popularize it. 

Never in doubt! 
All pitching was dominant. Opportunistic offense. 
These are the type of building blocks for a positive season. 

Never in doubt! 
All pitching was dominant. Opportunistic offense. 
These are the type of building blocks for a positive season. 

Most of the game Angel hitters were patient. Once they got the lead they've been swinging at bad pitches. More work for Laker and Washington still to do. 

Looks like it's all up to the bullpen and defense now in a one run game. 

Could have been a decisive inning, but the lead now needs to be held by the bullpen. 

Bats need to wake up. Can't waste this start.

Wow Gubi and Wayne are ripping into MLB taking Schanuel's record like I've never heard before.
Not to mention a bunch of other bullshit like ridiculous jerseys and Ohtani being involved in a betting scandal.
They're both pretty fired up.