WicketMaiden

It's getting silly now.

Now would be a really good time for an Upton hot streak.

Fletch's BaBip is .256 this year, against a .318 career average and .348 in 2020 (MLB average is .296), so we could argue he has been unlucky. His batting average is generally 30 points below his BABip in any given year.

Pretty underwhelmed by Thaiss. He just seems, well, ordinary. What am I missing?

It's the Angels way.

Jeff's got dirt on all the managers.

"That dress looks lovely on you..." (wait for reaction) "...it would look even better on my bedroom floor". It works as an ice-breaker, but has to be delivered with a cheeky smile and not in a sleazy way.

Do you really want to re-sign Heaney? Sure he has the occasional lights-out game, but he also shits the bed on a regular basis (or so it seems, I haven't stat-checked that, just using the eye test/memory). Bundy appears to be a couple of tiers above Heaney's level, so if we signed Heaney and not Bundy I would be pretty disappointed personally. Do you see something I don't Warf? Just curious, thanks.

I agree with this bit.

Postponements - especially postponements of weekend games.

Maddening isn't it?

Best of luck to Fowler, that's a tough injury at any age and especially so in your mid-thirties. Hope he makes a complete recovery and gets another shot at playing in the show.

So did Albert (4 RBI) - doesn't mean they're both not shite though.

Knowing the Angels and early medical advisories, that 'minor left groin injury' is probably something like a ruptured testicle.

Good luck to him on his recovery, hope the guy's career isn't over. Having said that, the Angels just got a little bit better.

Yes I'd be happy with that. With his streaky nature he will likely carry the team to a few wins during the year and if his D holds up that's a nice enough place-holder until Marsh/Adell are ready.

Nice appraisal. Not worried about Upton (yet), he has always been streaky and is likely to string a few multi-hit games together once his timing comes back. When it does, this line-up will be nasty (yes I'm sitting here with everything crossed).

Well, we can't win them all, but that was a shit-show. Maybe the rain delay messed up Quintana, maybe Barria was a little rusty after being at the alt site, maybe it was the unfamiliar surroundings of a spring training venue they don't usually visit, maybe after seeing seemingly every borderline umpire's call (and a few obvious ones) go the BJ's way the team got angry and lost focus... maybe maybe maybe. Still a shit-show though. Oh well, on to the next. Hopefully the Angels come back at them hard today and take the series 3-1.

i'm so sick of pujols hitting missing in the middle of the lineup.

Eppler played a weak hand fairly well, and maybe his narrative changes if he had 6 years rather than 5. By year's end we could see Marsh, maybe Adell, C.Rod and maybe Detmers added to Ohtani, Fletch, Walsh, Ward, Rengifo and he could claim the team had a very Eppler look. Maybe that's enough for Arte to give him another contract, maybe not. His biggest failing in my view was creating or allowing (or even just being oblivious to), a corporate culture that led to employees supplying sticky substances to help opposing pitchers beat the Angels, and allowed the terrible chain of events to occur in the Skaggs tragedy. I have absolutely no idea of Eppler's knowledge of either incident but as the GM at the time he must shoulder a degree of the blame for it happening on his watch. As for the TITS - Minasian's do look good at first glance, but may prove to sag over time.

Chone Figgins playing for the Mariners. Luckily he was rubbish for them.

Whilst on the subject of teeth - the number one profession for suicides in the UK? Dentists. Not sure whether it's the depressed dentists causing the teeth or the teeth causing the depression in dentists. One would think they would be happy with all the potential extra work.

It's the British vernacular chap. Much like: put a little effort in, will you?

I am deeply offended by this: it's bad toothed fuckers you ruddy half-wit. Your understanding of the most basic tenets of communication really does leave a lot to be desired. If you did indeed go to college / law school as you claim, then you are an appalling indictment of the US education system. And isn't 'pretentious bad toothed' Brit rather cliché? Is that the best you can do: low-brow jingoistic stereotyping? Yawn. If you're going to troll an entire nation at least put a little effort in.

Albert is still an RBI machine. In the last full season (2019 - everyone gets a pass for 2020) Albert was 8th in the American League for plate appearances per RBI at 5.86 (MLB average was 8.29) and hit .294/.362/.551 with RISP in 136 at bats (Trout hit .297; Upton hit .258 with RISP). He hit into 21 GIDP's. For comparison Abreu hit into 24, Brantley 21, Mancini 22, Grichuk 20, JD Martinez 19 - all of those apart from Abreu were below Albert for PA's per RBI. It's interesting to note that Albert's career PA per RBI is 5.89, right in line with his last full season performance.