CaliforniaYankee

The season has been heart breaking.  It tough to be positive but you have to look at the young guys for some promise of better days in the future.  Mickey, Logan, Zack, Nolan, Griffin and others gives all some hope as they continue to further hone their skills.

The season has been heart breaking.  It tough to be positive but you have to look at the young guys for some promise of better days in the future.  Mickey, Logan, Zack, Nolan, Griffin and others gives all some hope as they continue to further hone their skills.

Does he get a Purple Heart for being gunned down by friendly fire?

The point remains though that they are pretty much annually amongst the most injured teams in MLB, 7 seasons in the past 9 seasons where they are in the upper 1/3 for most injuries.
Something is causing it to be pretty much so.   Fluke  bad luck only goes on for so long.
Remember that Moreno supposedly doesn’t invest in infrastructure nearly enough.
The conditioning staff and their way of doing things is amongst the things that need to be looked at.
How do some other teams avoid the constant injuries? 

So it is the the Indian burial ground!

Whether it's the Indian burial ground jinx, Arte's meddling, managers' use of players, or our seemingly awful medical team, the Angels seem to be beset by season-altering injuries every year. So I headed over to Spotrac to see just how bad we are compared to the other MLB teams (they've been tracking it since 2015).
2015: 11th worst in MLB 13 players, 713 IL days, $23.75m
(Most IL days - Rangers 1812: most dollars - Giants $47.89m)
2016: 3rd worst. 17 players, 1483 days, $36.77m
(Most IL days - A’s 1996; dollars - Dodgers $73.13m)
2017: 6th. 19 players, 1482 IL days, $29.41m
(IL days Dodgers - 1779: dollars Dodgers $56.04m)
2018: 5th. 25 players, 1812 IL days, $36.63m
(IL days Angels - 1812: dollars - Mets, $69.80m)
2019: 9th. 26 players, 1344 IL days, $32.74m
(IL days Cubs - 6850: dollars Yankees - $178.94m)
2020: 25th. 12 players, 324 IL days, $4m
(IL days Marlins - 1049: dollars Astros - £21.73m)
2021: 1st. 26 players, 1504 IL days, $94.06m
(IL days Rays 2502; dollars Angels - $94.06m)
2022: 8th. 21 players, 1333 IL days, $39.17m
(IL days Reds 2638: dollars Red Sox - $72.47m)
2023: 3rd. 25 players, 1680 IL days, $45.34m
(IL days Dodgers 1799; dollars Yankees - $71.72m)
https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/injured-list/cumulative-team/
Five times in 9 years the Angels have been in the worst 20% for cost of injuries, and aside from the shortened 2020 season, they are consistently in the top third.
That's not just bad luck, that's institutional failure. And until it is fixed, we aren't very likely to be competing any time soon.

I have no idea what his actually thinking is, but my guess is that it is a combination of being competitive, enjoying playing, wanting to pad his stats (see below), and maybe a touch of denial. I have no idea how those factors are weighted.
As for the stats, if he stopped now he'd end the year with an incredible line of .307/.412/.672 with 44 HR and 92 RBI in 128 games (plus 9.0 fWAR combined) - almost certainly the AL MVP again. Now add another 30 games to that pace and he's well over 50 HR, 110 RBI, and 10 WAR, plus 120+ Runs. For a guy who obviously wants to be as good as he possibly can and build on his legacy, that's a season for the ages. 

Look, the season's been over since early Aug, but last Wed with Trout goin' for broke and back on the IL, and of course, Shohei's injury, that was a huge moment for the Angels, and some may say, for baseball at large.
Who knows for sure Shohei's reasons for continuing to play: prolly he just loves to play so much; as a paid athlete, he feels some obligation to play if he can play; he wants to fulfill the potentials of this season, test himself; he wants to inspire his teammates; he feels he's got enough bucks, so not that worried about a huge contract...? Perhaps, one or all the above.
Regardless, his continuing to play has been getting some attention and deserves continued attention and thought.
I don't think it's off-base to say.
It's obviously less risky to not play at all, and just try to cash in as much free agency bucks as possible. Most pro athletes would.
After a likely career-changing injury, a typical reaction would be to retreat from play; not playing in the 2nd of a back-to-back and still having the focus to contribute with a double. He's either really easygoing to a fault or has crazy mental fortitude--both can be true at the same time.
These moments don't come by very often. One can hope that Trout and Shohei have created a galvanizing moment to really build enduring betterment to this team moving forward. So finish the season the right way. Don't slip on daily prep and focus during the game (like that throw to 2nd on x2 steal today). Basically, don't cheat the damn game and play 
for the fans and also for each other (wink wink Sandy when mates make errors).
Shohei's speech at the WBC was good, that whole bit about while the US has renowned players, you can't overcome them while revering them... Maybe another speech and moment is in order before the Phil's series start. It don't need to be Valvanoesque, fuck perfect English, just say something. 

As long as Arte owns the team nothing matters. Nothing will change until he is gone. 
 
Eternal mediocrity. 

Great seeing Trout tonight.  No doubt. 

ESPN's announcers really are hard to listen to. 

You got that right brother 

Take this guy out before he starts hemorrhaging more runs 

Suarez to the KBO soon

Aaron Poup ... The gasoline on the fire 

The Bullpen needs to be addressed soon.  White knuckling it on every game is getting old. 

The Bullpen needs to be addressed soon.  White knuckling it on every game is getting old. 

Sleepy Minasian sleeps while the bullpen burns!
Snorreee, tic, tic, tic, toc
Snorreee, tic, toc, tic, toc

DFA ShitShek!
DFA ShitShek!
DFA ShitShek!
 

I think he’s waiting till the end of this series to decide. If we sweep we will be buying heavy.

Tonight I say yes, in the morning probably not.

Rich Waltz just called Iglesias' slider a "Cishek-like pitch" lol

This new announcer sucks.