Angels Fan Forever

After Maddon pulled Heaney there was a pause before they went to commercial and Vasgersian said "I don't like that" thinking they had gone to commercial.

Rengifo isn’t in the game for the Bees tonight. I wonder if he’s getting called up…it’s probably a stretch but maybe Rendon is going on the IL.

I'm not sure that Taylor Ward will stick in the Majors. Could be a AAAA guy. He still has options....

88 MPH fastball is not going to cut it. Bundy was hitting 94 in April.

Actually, the article references the use of foreign substances when discussing the gap between Pitchers and Hitters in MLB versus hitters. And the consolidated teams were all lower level I think so it wouldn't affect AAA at this point. The lost MiLB year and the 26th roster spot could be a factor. But the reality is the quote is coming from one unnamed player who is close to a dude who is struggling... "But Hiura has never struggled to this degree at any level and he moved quickly through the minors, with one player close to Hiura saying “he had no reference of how to get back on track.” “The environment in the big leagues now, everything is hard on hitters,” the player said. “Never been a bigger gap between Triple-A and the big leagues. So that didn’t really help him on what he needs to do to succeed here consistently.” Perhaps the work with Haines, along with Major League Baseball cracking down on pitchers using foreign substances, will allow Hiura to bounce back."

Thank you Billy Eppler!!

I noticed this trend last night... Thaiss went a stretch from 5/13 to 5/22 where he caught 6 of 9 games. Since then, from 5/23 through 6/7, Thaiss has only been the catcher in 3 of 13 games. Over that same stretch he has 3 starts at DH and 6 starts at 1B. He had a really rough night behind the plate on 5/22 and has 4 errors at catcher in limited starts. And I think if a team has a 26 year old prospect who hasn't played catcher since college in 2016/5 years ago and you are looking at him to catch in MLB games I think he would be catching more than 3 of 13 AAA games over guys like Butera, Arcia and Bemboom. Something doesn't add up. I'm thinking they gave him a shot and they have backed off. Who knows why, I'm basing it on box scores and BR but something isn't right and I haven't seen anything with more in depth analysis. If Thaiss were a stock I wouldn't buy him as a MLB catcher right now but If he can replicate the hitting at the MLB level I think he can find a MLB home at 1B/3B/DH and as an ED player at either position with the right team.

Big night for Thaiss. Interesting he is at DH... 37 year old prospect Drew Butera is at Catcher.

Pujols makes that play look easy - Walsh struggled...

This makes no sense to me. He’s had 4 errors in only 11 games at catcher according to BR. I can’t imagine the Angels saying yep, your ready for the bigs now go play some first and third and DH. I think he’s a project. And so far the defense doesn’t look good.

Don't bury the lead. Would you replace Suzuki with Thaiss? My response was to Blarg wanting this.

Where did primary catcher come from? I said I don't think the Angels see him as "a MLB catcher". My response was to Blarg saying he wants the Angels to cut ties with Suzuki for Thaiss.

I don't think the Angels see Thaiss as a MLB catcher. Sure, they are experimenting with him there but he's only started 3 of the last 8 games at catcher. Overall he has had 4 errors in 11 games at catcher. And you're right, the 30% K rate is an issue.

Nice win last night!! Great matchup tonight - Cobb vs. Kikuchi. A win gets us to one game out of 3rd place.

Walsh is .213/.250/.393 vs. LHP’s...

Thanks but strange it’s not showing on BR.

Wonder why BR doesn’t have a salary section for Griffin Canning?

He's a great story. Drafted in the 39th round. I hope he can continue to play at this level. Interesting side note - Dipoto drafted his own Son in the 38th round that year.

Wow. Walsh crushes RHP’s!!

Minasian? I would give it some time. I like Gosselin. We will see.

True. It's now .879 vs. .813 after last night. But Pujols had an OPS that was over 200 points higher when Friedman signed him and Walsh has continued to drop - he's at .604 now. My point was and still is that I think Pujols has some value against LHP's as a starter or a pinch hitter. I still think it's a good signing by the Dodgers and I think Pujols will help them in his role. We will see. But as I've said I think Minasian believes Gosselin is a better option against Lefty's than either Pujols or Walsh. It didn't work out last night but we will see.

Right. I’m certain he used the 3 year old 2018 stats you cited. I get it. You have a narrative, Pujols sucks worse than Muncy or Walsh vs. LHP’s, so you dig deep to find a stat to support your narrative with stats from 2018. I’m certain that’s how it’s done...

3rd rule of Strad Club...

Yes. Andrew Friedman did also. And. As I mentioned, maybe Minasian decided Gosselin is a better option at 1B vs. LHP’s than either Pujols or Walsh. He probably is. I think we may see Gosselin get more starts at 1B against Lefty’s.

Batting Average? 2018? Really? I based it on OPS vs LHP’s for this year. Look them up. Pujols is a better option than Muncie and Walsh. Andrew Friedman made a solid move.