Mark PT

NO! Wrong! The Angels pitching staff are a bunch of Vikings that set sail and arrived at the village they were to plunder and realized they forgot their axes.

Sort of. I think its pitchers that try to throw the ball as hard as they can every time they throw a fastball. This is the focus of modern baseball. Instead of focusing on location with multiple pitches, they try to gun every pitch. They would probably throw 90-92 mph with a nice easy arm speed but they go for it all. Not many can survive the forces on the arm at this rate.

Shouldn't the title of this thread be "blue balls"" instead?

He is talented for sure but very inconsistent in the strike zone. Very easy to root for however.

Na! hate leads to the dark side and those powers are awesome!!!

OK, I am looking for good news so expand your idea. We need good news badly.

I think it's not Cole or bust, it's more like Cole and two other starter and 2 middle relievers or bust. Welcome!

Aren't we using a 6 man rotation every game? Oh you mean starting rotation. My bad!

Where's the post about words Guby cant pronounce?

Cole is a must for me. But they must acquire enough to make Heaney the number 5 that he is.

Location and pitch sequence are the most important. Pitchers in the past did not try to throw the ball as hard as possible but worked on locating all their pitches. There are not many pitchers in the league today that have that control and we don't have anyone even close. Getting up there and chucking the ball 98 mph means nothing when you have to throw every pitch down the middle.

Pitches in the NL. Makes a difference.

Terrence Mann never returned from the corn. Please know what you are talking about before posting.

Not better than Edmonds!!!

I disagree with some of what you insinuate, namely pitchers of today require higher velocities to get batters out. This is false. They need to locate their pitches better and change speeds more, like the pitchers of the 60s and 70s did to perfection. Most pitchers have upper 90s fastballs and can throw either a slider or change but cant control any of their secondary pitches. This is why counts get so deep (maybe in combination with batter's increasing their skill to locate bad pitches but I doubt it). The pitcher then must place a fastball directly over the middle and bam ERA to 7.00

So are you going to tell us or leave us in the dark? (the tootsie pop thing)

Cole sucks. He has zero control over where he is throwing the ball. He should only be in when either leading or losing by 10.

Yes, the whole third time through the line up is BS. None of that would matter if the pitchers could hit their spots, which no Angel can. It is also the pitchers job to find combinations that challenge the batter. As you say, this is pitching at the major league level. I honestly dont think there is one major league pitcher on this starting roster (Canning might be eventually).

Epplers the best

I agree with you Lou. Injuries to every starting pitcher and this is supposed to be a normal occurrence? Other teams can absorb injuries due to the strength of their minor league system. The Angels had the worst in baseball. Eppler has improved that. But either way, the Angels had too many key injuries.

Especially with how bad their pitching has been but your reaction is normal. I, however, am used to seeing my teams lose so I try to find something to focus on that makes it enjoyable.

Yup, that would be icing on the cake.

Root for Trout and for the development of the younger guys. This will still be fun to watch.

Even with all those things happening, there is still a good chance they miss the playoffs. Having 2 of 5 pitchers in your rotation with almost a 5 ERA, Sucks. This ensures an average to below average team due to inconsistency. All our pitchers have no command of the strike zone. This is one of the worst rotations I have seen.

Way too early. Wait for 2 months and see how the league has adjusted to him. If he passes this, then he is for real. Fingers crossed.