Mark PT

On 5/13/2021 at 9:10 AM, Stradling said:

This really isn’t about the Angels, but of course it kind of is.  

The top names on the free agent market for relief pitchers were Hendricks, Yates, Rosenthal and Hand.  

Hendricks has pitched 14 games is trending in the right direction, but has given up runs in 6 of his 14 outings, has a loss and two blown saves.  If the Angels signed him we would be in a better place, but not a single one of us would be happy with his performance.

Yates, out for the year.

Rosenthal hasn’t pitched yet.

Hand is trending in the wrong direction giving up runs in 4 of his last 5 outings.  He got off to the best start after every single major league team passed on him when he went through waivers.  

So how do you guess right?  

For me, definitely underqualified, it starts with mechanics. These throw the ball as hard as they can, chuckers, would never be on my list, as they are always very inconsistent. Then its pitch combination. What pitches compliment each other so that batters can be kept off-balance. Then control, is most important. Can they change speeds on their pitches and maintain control? 

6 hours ago, Blarg said:

Or maybe the 440 foot home runs last night. 

You forgot about the 2 walks that usually precede those blasts.

32 minutes ago, JustATroutFan said:

If Ryan had Maddux-like control, he would have had a few Cy Youngs next to his name. His career ERA would have been even lower. Like, a 95-97 mph fastball in a great location where a hitter usually doesn't make good contact wouldn't even be fair. 

Ryan would have won those Cy-Youngs if he played for a team that could score. He had about 3-4 years where he should have won that award but did not have the wins. But you are right if he had more control, especially early on in his career, he would have won multiple.

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

Among starting pitchers with at least 10 IP, here is how the Angels rank in terms of SO/9 IP:

3. Jose Quintana 14.57

4. Shohei Ohtani 14.46

11. Alex Cobb 13.08

13. Andrew Heaney 12.91

31. Griffin Canning 10.65

47. Dylan Bundy 9.84

I know Ks are through the roof, but that's ridiculous - four of their starters are in the top 13. Only Corbin Burnes and Jacob deGrom have higher rates than Quintana and Ohtani.

Here's the other problem, though - BB/9:

2. Shohei Ohtani 9.16

4. Jose Quintana 8.14

27. Alex Cobb 4.22

43. Griffin Canning 3.80

78. Andrew Heaney 2.93

118. Dylan Bundy 2.29

 

Heaney is about the major league median, and Bundy's rate is quite low, but the other four are in the worst third or so, and Ohtani and Quintana are out of control.

What gives with the Angels rotation? They're striking people out at a ridiculous rate, but also walking people a ton. I can't help but think of the sub-par defense - are they trying to strike everyone out due to lacking confidence in the defense? Or maybe the opposite is true, that the defense is getting less chances and rhythm because they're either striking out or walking everyone? A vicious cycle, perhaps?

 

Simply put, they cant pitch. They are extremely inconsistent pitching in the zone. They cant hit their spots well, so they miss over the middle (high ERA) or they miss the zone altogether. 

On 5/4/2021 at 11:48 AM, rageous said:

I don't have a big problem with Maddon but I am worried about his loyalty to Quintana. 

He keeps bringing up how good he used to be when he managed the Cubs but his lack of control seems to be a continuing issue on the year.

Angels need to pull him out of the rotation before its too late.  Its just too many games they are giving away by starting Quintana over and over.

Its too late, by May's end, 10 games below .500

4 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

At the head of the complaints line:

Do Joe and Perry value defense?

Last in MLB with almost 1 error per game 

Well its like a participation trophy. By making errors, it shows motivates other player to try their best and that all are welcome regardless of talent. Its called inclusion!!!

On 4/24/2021 at 3:24 AM, Angel Oracle said:

Raisel Fuentes/Ernesto Iglesias is a flop so far!

Nice bullpen acquisitions, Perry!

Your off-season player acquisitions grade so far = a big fat D !

Things that will happen before this team has a good bullpen:

Politicians stop lying

Mencia develops his own comedy.

Jimmy Fallon stops breaking character.

The Orlando Magic wins an NBA title.

IS that D you gave him stand for dynamic?

On 4/25/2021 at 9:26 AM, Angel Oracle said:

Pitching pitching pitching 

Plus no more guys who can only play 100+ games a year!

Done, no more to say, Judge is a complete waist for the Angels. Marsh and Adell for a #3 starter and top pitching prospect!

On 4/24/2021 at 6:39 PM, Swiss Angel Fan said:

I don't post a lot on this forum, but I wanted to bring a little of optimism to the table... I truly believe this is the best team we've had in the past five years and I'm confident it can make the playoffs if healthy. 

When healthy, the lineup is arguably the best in baseball. I was just looking at old opening day lineups for the angels. Compare our ideal (healthy) lineup to 2019 (last full season) and it's not even close:

2021: Fletch, Ohtani, Trout, Rendon, Walsh, Upton, Stassi, Schebler/Lagares, Iglesias

2019: Calhoun, Trout, Bour, Simmons, Pujols, Cozart, LaStella, Lucroy, Bourjos

The team's success is going to depend on the pitching, but if the offense produces as it should, the pitching only needs to be average to slightly above average. And it seems like the Angels have suffered from bad luck. They lead MLB in BABIP at .322 and they have by far the largest differential between their ERA and FIP at 1.40 (the second closest sits at 0.87). So there should be some progress in the future.

I understand the frustration when the team doesn't perform but I think we should at least wait until everybody is healthy until we cast a judgement. After all, they were playing very good baseball up until Rendon and Stassi got hurt.

There is always hope this early but this team still cant pitch. There is still no consistency in the BP and we do not have even 1 starter that is beyond a #3 at best (jury still out on Ohtani-he needs a solid month of success) which means winning streaks beyond 1-2 games are unlikely. This teams will win 75-80 games at most.

5 hours ago, WicketMaiden said:

This statement from Dusty Baker shows the Astros still don't understand why people are angry at their cheating. Saying they have "paid the price... leave it alone" fails to comprehend that not one single player was penalised for cheating: Altuve kept his batting title and MVP; Astros kept their World Series and the players kept their rings; no players were banned or suspended; none of the players came out and said "Yeah, that was a really shitty thing to do to fellow professionals and we're really, really sorry for the damage we have caused to the game and the reputation of baseball. We cheated and I'm sorry". The penalties the club received were pitiful compared to the extra revenue and kudos that comes from winning a World Series.

So, Dusty, allow me to educate you: the kids in the stands are being taught that if you cheat in life and you get caught and then pretty much just shrug your shoulders, the average American is going to rag on your ass big-time until you show some Goddamn humility. 'Fess up, man up and apologise, then take the beating you deserve - that is the lesson their parents are teaching.

OK, rant over. 

 

 

What are kids supposed to think? Really. Has lesson learning sunk this low? Kids will learn what they are taught morn. They will learn not to cheat.

56 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

We’re only 2.5% into the season, but I thought it might be a cool thing to do one of these after each series for all to give their thoughts on the just concluded series.

Positives:

3/4 of the starters gave up just 7 earned runs between them, and averaged 5 2/3 innings.

The bullpen pitched well except for the 9th inning hiccup on Friday.

The defense was very good, except for a case of the Knoblauchs last night.

Walsh hammered the ball in his two starts.   Move over Albert, here comes Jared.

JUp is a different player from the past two seasons.   Thank you, good health.

They got solid offense from the catcher’s spot, continuing the 2020 emergence.

They took 3 out of 4 from a seriously good hitting/pitching team.

Negatives:

Just two really, one was being the case of the Knoblauchs last night.

The other is, of course, Heaney’s continued meltdowns after sailing along.

Pretty much said it all. The Iglesias Knoblauchs, as you put it, really bothered me because it looked to me that he was extremely nervous (my opinion) and this does not bode well for a closer.

16 hours ago, Stradling said:

Had to get more dollars than Tatis. 

Dont you mean, you get more dollars for showing Tatis? Badda Bing!!!

18 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I'm not coming here with a bunch of projections based on ZIPS or PECOTA or ZIPPITYDOPPITYBOOP. We have enough of those. 

I just want to say that for once, it's time we get something positive. I'm so done with losing. I hate being done watching baseball in early September. It's old. It's tired. And this time, it's going to change. 

I'm sick of seeing the "Trout not in the playoffs" shit that plagues social media every year. Fuck those people. Hard. I'm sick of losing interest in the team I love, year after year. 

This is it. Fuck the projections, fuck the doubters, fuck the Red Sox just because. 

We're winning. 

This isn't some feeling or revelation. It's based on absolutely fuck all. I don't care. We've been drifting through the motions for 6 straight years, but this year we're swimming to shore. Fuck. Losing.

You had me at F the Red Sox

8 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

...and no more arms and elbows coming apart on the mound. Just stop it!!! So sick of the constant injuries.

...and no more pitching prospect deaths!

7 hours ago, oldguy said:

I'd like to not regret purchasing my MLB.TV year-long subscription in mid-May.

That's the answer every Angel fan is well acquainted with. 

21 hours ago, mmc said:

What has to happen, in this 2021 season, for you to consider it a success?  My poll is based on the team's overall performance, but if there's other things you want to touch on, such as specific performances for certain players and prospects, feel free to touch on that in your replies.  Basically, I'm just trying to get a sense of what everyone expects from the team, as well as what they would consider a disappointment.

My answer was make the playoffs but it really depends on the way the season progresses. If players up their game and develop, especially the pitchers, then some satisfaction can be achieved. A good year from Trout and Ohtani will help. Maybe some minor leaguers show some success in the majors would also help.

2 hours ago, AngelsWin.com said:

Throughout the Angels’ current stretch of disappointment, one issue has overshadowed all others in explaining the problems.

Starting pitching has been insufficient to get the team out of what is now a six-year playoff drought, made all the more painful because it’s lasted through a solid chunk of the prime of Mike Trout’s career.

The Angels head into 2021 with the same aspirations as always – to get to the playoffs and make a deep run – and the same assertion for how they will do it.

The starting pitching, they insist, is going to be better.

Many fans are understandably skeptical, still with fresh memories of the disappointments of Trevor Cahill and Matt Harvey and a seemingly endless stream of pitchers having Tommy John surgery

They watched a winter go by in which the Angels failed to sign or trade for a top-of-the-rotation starter like Trevor Bauer, Blake Snell or Yu Darvish. Adding salt to the wounds, those pitchers ended up bookending the Angels in Southern California, with Bauer going to the Dodgers and Snell and Darvish to the Padres.

Still, General Manager Perry Minasian, Manager Joe Maddon and the pitchers currently in the Angels’ rotation ask for some faith.

“We feel good about it,” said Opening Day starter Dylan Bundy. “We’ve got five, six, seven guys who can go out there and who we feel good about. We just have to go out there and execute and try not to do anything that we’re not accustomed to doing.”

Bundy leads a six-man rotation, with the Angels using one more starter than the standard so they can protect pitchers ramping up from a 60-game season to the traditional 162.

Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning join Bundy from last year’s rotation, supplemented by veterans Jose Quintana and Alex Cobb and Shohei Ohtani’s return from two years of injuries.

Maddon believes the extra rest between starts will make the pitchers better individually, perhaps able to throw more pitches per game or throw a little harder. The group performed well in spring training, for what it’s worth. Most importantly, none of them got hurt.

“We’ll see how it plays out,” Maddon said. “Theory and reality, when they come together, are always wonderful.”

In assessing the Angels’ starters, though, there are really two relevant questions. The first is how good they will be. The second, which is certainly less often discussed by fans, is how good they need to be.

Aside from the fact that the Angels’ offense might be good enough to outslug any pitching issues, the American League is thin on starters this year.

A rival scout believes the Angels’ rotation is more than passable in relation to the rest of the league.

“I’d say the Angels are in the middle of the pack in the league, probably toward the higher end of the middle of the pack,” the scout said. “I don’t know why everyone is giving them such a hard time. No one has a bunch of No. 3-4 guys, which is what they have. They can all be middle rotation guys when they’re pitching well, which is good. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Among the two AL West teams that made the playoffs last year, the Houston Astros have the best rotation in 2021.

Zack Greinke is a borderline Hall of Famer, but he’s 37. Lance McCullers Jr. and Jake Odorizzi are each fairly reliable when healthy, although Odorizzi was hurt almost all of 2020 and McCullers missed 2019 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Jose Urquidy and Cristian Javier have pitched a combined 26 major league games.

The Oakland A’s rotation includes Chris Bassitt, Jesus Luzardo, Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea, with Mike Fiers due to come off the injured list sometime in April. Bassitt has been reliable and durable for the past two years, but the others have shown flashes of excellence to go with some inconsistency and health issues.

“I don’t think there’s a standout staff in the AL West,” the scout said.

On the other coast, consider that the Yankees have only two starters – Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery – who really pitched last year. Jameson Taillon was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, Corey Kluber got hurt in his first game and Domingo German was suspended.

The Tampa Bay Rays are minus Snell and Charlie Morton, who both went to the National League. Tyler Glasnow is the Rays’ No. 1 starter, with Ryan Yarbrough at No. 2.

The best rotation in the league probably belongs to the Chicago White Sox, with Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel and Lance Lynn as the top three. The Angels will see them in the first four games of the season.

Reigning Cy Young winner Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac are at the top of the Cleveland rotation. The Minnesota Twins have Kenta Maeda and Jose Berrios.

While all of the contenders in the American League might have better pitchers at the top of the rotation than the Angels do, their strength could be the bottom.

In past years, because of injuries and veterans like Harvey falling off the cliff, the Angels were often forced to rely on starters who were clearly not ready for the big leagues, or who were picked up off the waiver-wire scrap heap.

This season the Angels are opening up with six healthy starters who have all been successful, to varying degrees, in the big leagues.

“I don’t think any of the guys will be All-Stars, but I don’t think they’ll be liabilities,” the scout said. “You’re going to get innings if they’re healthy. Bundy and Cobb and Quintana will be OK. They won’t beat themselves. (The Angels) won’t be scraping by to get innings.”

 

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Bundy was the Angels’ best starter last year, and he was very good again in spring training. Canning and Heaney each had ups and downs in the spring, but both are healthy. Cobb and Quintana were effective in Arizona, with slight upticks in velocity.

 

And Ohtani, of course, is the wild card. After barely pitching for two years, he was able to do everything the Angels wanted in the spring, flashing the 100 mph velocity he had before Tommy John surgery.

Having six starters gives the Angels a built-in cushion for injury, and they have Jaime Barria and Patrick Sandoval waiting when they need more depth.

“I love it,” Heaney said. “You look at the guys that we have, and the confidence and control and command of what they’re doing out there, I think as a unit we’re going to work really well and feed off each other and just try to one-up each other each we go out there. … I’m excited for us as a group. I’m ready to get going.”

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I am so excited about the Noe Ramirez re-signing that I wanted to mention it here again!

12 hours ago, sammyscioscia said:

I know it's a bit of a cop out as a baseball fan to say the Angels have 'no pitching' and contend that as the major reason why we will remain middle of the pack and not contend yet again wasting another year of Trout. Many Twitter baseball fans, even some Angels fans as of last night say we still have no pitching 'as usual', is this really true though?  While we never went out and got a stud pitcher, we gained one internally in Ohtani and acquired a reliable arm in Cobb and potential sleeper stud in Quintana who has shown he might be on the right track. 

How do they feel so confident in trashing our pitching?  Well in my opinion, they simply must not be paying attention to our roster changes and have accepted that our record last year was a direct indicator of our pitching (which is somewhat true) and the fact we basically stood pat in terms of blockbuster moves, thus we will remain the status quo again this year. I think some of those fans are in for a little bit of a rude awakening this season.  If every pitcher remains relatively healthy and doesn't pull a Teheran (which is pretty uncommon) we are looking pretty strong.

If the rotation can step over the line from kind of bad last year to kind of good this year, that should be enough to make us tough division contenders.  The bullpen is probably going to be pedestrian, but has the potential (like many bullpens do) to exceed expectations, if that happens we are in good shape.  Also our defense can't be any worse than last season, so that's another benefit coming our way. 

I by no means expect us to win the division, but I do expect to see us threatening the WC standings at least.  We will be that annoying team that nobody expected to be so annoying.   

Is it a mistake for me to assume we will be in good shape this year pitching wise?  

You are right, the bullpen is key and all these guys have had trouble throwing strikes. If this continues we are a below .500 team, if they improve then we can win 80-90 games. The lack of a true ace (hopefully Ohtani can develop into this role) prevents this team from competing against elite teams and spells doom in the playoffs.

1 hour ago, Torridd said:

I would think so, but it depends on who's running the game. Is it like the scene above in Bull Durham in which the catcher is definitely running it? Who knows? If Costner hadn't opened his mouth, he may have gotten him out with the curveball.

Its a lefty, everyone knows that you always announce your presence with authority.

35 minutes ago, True Grich said:

So one thing I don't think I've really ever fully understood is how much is the responsibility of the catcher? And is it me or do some pitchers just do whatever the catcher wants and some dictate what they're going to do themselves?  I think I know the answer to this - but it would be nice to know this information specifically for each pitcher.  I imagine it also depends on how long a guy has been in the league.  You hear some guys say... "So and so just put the right fingers down."  I also it depends on how much respect a catcher carries.  I  mean, what happens to a young pitcher who shakes off Yadier?

 

Both should study the opposing team and work out a game plan for each batter. During the game, they need to discuss how each batter is responding and what pitches are working. Needs to be ongoing and consensual with regards to pitch calling.

1 hour ago, AngelsWin.com said:

TEMPE, Ariz. — Given the view of the game that Perry Minasian had when he got his first taste of baseball, there should be no surprise about one of the elements he thinks is important when building a team.

As Minasian introduced each of his acquisitions over the winter, there was a pattern in the way he described them. Without fail, the Angels’ new general manager would talk, unsolicited, about the player’s makeup or character or about how well he would fit in the clubhouse.

The clubhouse, you see, is where Minasian grew up. His father was the visiting clubhouse manager and then the home clubhouse manager with the Texas Rangers. Minasian grew up watching up close the way players interacted with one another and how that affected the results on the field.

“Just from being around different teams that underperform with the talent they have, and other teams that overperform with the talent they have,” Minasian said. “I’m a big believer in people, in general, and on and off the field, especially in the locker room, you go through so many ups and downs over the course of the season that you better have the right group.”

Shortly after the Angels hired Minasian, Alex Anthopoulos, one of his mentors, said that Minasian’s insight into how players and coaches interact in the clubhouse “is a difference-making perspective that is a competitive advantage.”

Minasian and Joe Maddon are in lockstep on this issue. The Angels manager is also a strong believer that intangibles and the makeup of the players have a role in a team’s success. Not coincidentally, several of the players the Angels brought in over the winter were those who had already played under Maddon: pitchers Jose Quintana and Alex Cobb and outfielders Dexter Fowler and Jon Jay.

Maddon knows that outsiders often roll their eyes at talk of clubhouse chemistry. When many people hear that a player is “great in the clubhouse” they view that as code for “not so great on the field.”

“I’ve run into that for years,” Maddon said. “We mock what we don’t understand. … If you’ve never been part of that transition, people say ‘Oh you win, that’s what changes (the culture). Winning solves all evils or ills. OK, then how do you win?”

Talent obviously is what wins baseball games, but the talent margin at the highest level of any sport isn’t that significant. What often separates teams is their ability to maximize talent.

That’s what clubhouse chemistry is about, according to San Francisco-based sports writer Joan Ryan. She studied the topic for 10 years to write the book “Intangibles: Unlocking the Science and Soul of Team Chemistry.”

After interviews with hundreds of players, coaches, executives, neuroscientists and evolutionary biologists, Ryan concluded that team chemistry, while not quantifiable, is absolutely real.

It is also not to be confused with camaraderie, she said. She devoted a chapter in her book to Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent, who both said they couldn’t stand each other while playing for the San Francisco Giants. They still functioned well as teammates, pushing each other to success.

“The function of team chemistry is to elevate performance,” she said. “It has no other purpose. That doesn’t mean you’re going to win. It means you’re going to make the most out of the talent you have.”

Essentially, if a team has the right mix of players, those players will make each other perform better. It could be in tangible ways, like showing a pitcher a grip, or in more subtle ways, like setting an example on the right way to prepare.

It could also be simple motivation.

“My teammates summon a fight from me I can’t willingly summon for myself,” longtime big league pitcher Jake Peavey told Ryan.

It is common sense to believe that players would influence each other, Ryan said.

“When you think about all these players in this combined space of a clubhouse, day after day after day, and all these different influences around, they are changing each other bit by bit by bit every day,” she said. “Now they could change each other in a really negative way. Or they could change each other in a positive way. That’s who we are as human beings. There’s no getting around it.

“There are reams and reams of research that is very clear about how we influence each other as human beings. So if that’s true, it doesn’t stop at the clubhouse door.”

Minasian has been inside those clubhouse doors watching it happen for years. In his early years, he worked in visiting clubhouse, so he saw different teams for three or four days at a time, but as a teenager he was in the Rangers’ clubhouse, watching the same players together day after day, year after year.

“I’m a big believer that players learn from other players, as much if not more than coaches,” he said. “I can give plenty of examples of guys who have changed their careers because of teammates. When you have the right group, it’s not just jokes and laughs and having fun. It’s the accountability.

“The guy in the next locker says ‘We need you to do this.’ They call each other out. To me, the best teams I’ve been around are the teams that have done that, so that’s what we’re trying to do here.”

Whether that happens remains to be seen. A few weeks into spring training, though, the players seem to have a good feeling about how the mix will work.

“Every single person that they’ve brought in, just in the baseball community if you talk to people, everybody has wonderful things to say about each person,” Cobb said. “We’re going to have a very good clubhouse from the mixture of veteran players to younger players. From what I’ve seen so far with the personalities and the people that are coming, this can be a very fun clubhouse to be part of.”

While a fun clubhouse isn’t as important to success as one in which the players push each other, it doesn’t hurt.

 

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Third baseman Anthony Rendon said when he first got into the majors he “didn’t really give into it or buy into it,” but now he understands the value in how players get along.

 

“As I continue to grow in this game, you realize how much of a benefit, how crucial it is to enjoy being around those individuals in the clubhouse every single day,” Rendon said. “You’re gonna see them more than your family. … Each individual, no matter what personality they may have, you have to enjoy being around them. You have to click for it to be successful.”

Catcher Kurt Suzuki, who was a teammate of Rendon with the World Series champion Washington Nationals in 2019, agreed.

“You’re together for so long, so many days, that you need to build this bond, this chemistry,” Suzuki said. “You become like a family. To win, I believe you can’t just rely on talent. You’ve got to have good chemistry, a good group of guys coming together and having each other’s backs. It creates this great team and family, and I think it’s a huge part in winning.”

New Angels general manager Perry Minasian, left, talks with Manager Joe Maddon on the day of his introductory press conference in November at Angel Stadium. Both men are in lockstep when it comes to believing that intangibles and the makeup of the players have a role in a team’s success. (Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Angels)

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60% of the time, it works everytime. They've done studies.

On 3/4/2021 at 5:28 PM, Trendon said:

The Angels are gonna hire a new play by play announcer by the end of the month, so get your predictions in. Who do you think the Angels new play by play announcer will be?

My prediction: Stephen Nelson from MLB Network.

I want Rex back

21 hours ago, Angel Oracle said:

Either that, or watch Moreno sign a big money SS?

I'm going with a 5 year Pujols extension

2 hours ago, True Grich said:

Monster homerun?

I faced this guy in 74 in Orlando, he is all stare.

40 minutes ago, oldguy said:

Chris Rodriguez is our SECOND best pitching prospect?  After seeing him pitch to two hitters, I now declare him the BEST pitcher we've had in 3 years!

that could be sarcasm or maybe its not, but it works either way.