Showing posts with label Angels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angels. Show all posts

Monday, September 30, 2019

Brad Ausmus Fired

I wasn't invested in Brad Ausmus either way, but seems to me he's getting a raw deal. It's not like the Angels were coming off a contending season in 2018 or anything. Mike Scioscia quit after more than a decade of mediocrity. (The Angels won the 2002 World Series.)

Anyway, it's hard out there, I guess.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Angels fire manager Brad Ausmus; Joe Maddon expresses interest in job."


Saturday, August 31, 2019

Angels Pitcher Tyler Skaggs O.D.'d on Fentanyl, Oxycodone, and Alcohol

I knew it.

I just knew it immediately when the news broke in July that Skaggs didn't die of natural causes. What exactly killed him? No one knew at the time. But it was suspicious and anyone with a brain probably had it figured out.

Prayers for his family and his soul.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Tyler Skaggs’ autopsy: Fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol led to death by choking on vomit."

And, "Details of Tyler Skaggs’ death could trigger legal battle with millions at stake":
Investigations into that question could determine whether the Angels and the family of one of their most popular players face off in legal proceedings that could take years and be worth tens of millions of dollars — or more.

The Skaggs family and the Angels each have retained attorneys based in Texas, where Skaggs died July 1 on the first day of a team trip to play the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. The prospects of a wrongful-death lawsuit appear significant, given that the family‘s assertion in a statement Friday that they had learned the “circumstances surrounding Tyler’s death … may involve an employee of the Los Angeles Angels.”

That statement prompted Major League Baseball to launch an investigation. Police in Southlake, Texas — where the Angels were staying that night — have been investigating since Skaggs’ death. The attorney hired by the Skaggs family, Rusty Hardin, intends to pursue his own probe.

“We’re going to want to know how it came about that those drugs were ingested,” Hardin told The Times, “and whether or not others are responsible for what happened.”

The prospects of success for any wrongful death suit could depend on whether attorneys can identify a party besides Skaggs that might be at least partially responsible for his death, said Julie Cantor, who teaches law at UCLA.

“You need to have a wrongful act,” said Cantor, speaking generally because she has not reviewed any records in the Skaggs case...
RTWT.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Position Players Pitching

I love this development, actually. It adds so much fun and variety to the game, although it's not optimal baseball from the manager's perspective.

I posted last month, for example, "Orioles Beat Angels in 16 Innings: Outfielder Stevie Wilkerson, Pitching 55 MPH, Records the Save (VIDEO)."

At USA Today, and third baseman Wade Boggs, back in 1997, below:


Friday, July 26, 2019

Orioles Beat Angels in 16 Innings: Outfielder Stevie Wilkerson, Pitching 55 MPH, Records the Save (VIDEO)

What a game!

Second longest in Angels history, and also in Orioles history.

At the L.A. Times, "Angels use 10 pitchers in a 16-inning marathon but lose to Orioles."

My mouth was hanging open watching this guy Stevie Wilkerson pitch. He was throwing up softballs, but it was so late in the game, players were clearly tired, and no one could adjust to the lobs. It was freaky.




Monday, July 1, 2019

Angels Pitcher Tyler Skaggs Has Died

It's still early and the cause of death has not been announced, but it's official. I wonder if he took his own life. This is enormously sad.


Thursday, July 19, 2018

Mike Trout Responds to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's Comments

The O.C. Register's Jeff Fletcher asked the initial question about Mike Trout earlier this week during coverage of the All-Star Game:


And also at USA Today, "Mike Trout, Angels respond to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred's comments on star":
In a startling rebuke of Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday issued a vigorous defense of All-Star outfielder Mike Trout, touting his commitment to promoting the game and his work in the community.

The Angels' statement, which calls Trout "an exceptional ambassador for the game," comes one day after Manfred told a gathering of the Baseball Writers' Assn. of America that Trout's lack of widespread popularity among casual sports fans was due in part to his hesitance to participate in activities that might promote him.

"Mike has made decisions on what he wants to do, doesn't want to do, how he wants to spend his free time or not spend his free time," Manfred said in the hours before MLB's All-Star Game at Nationals Park. "I think we could help him make his brand very big.

"But he has to make a decision to engage. It takes time and effort."

The Angels fired back in kind on Wednesday, with a withering statement that did not mention Manfred by name but certainly made clear who they were referencing.


Saturday, April 14, 2018

Angels Off to Best Start Since 1979

At LAT:


For a team that has been so much about one player, the Angels keep winning as a group.

On Friday, they made it six victories in a row with key offensive contributions from everyone from a first-ballot Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols, to a pinch-hitter, Luis Valbuena. Five relievers strung together four more shutout innings and catcher Rene Rivera gunned down Whit Merrifield attempting to steal second for the final out.

"It's a team win tonight," starting pitcher Andrew Heaney said after a 5-4 triumph over Kansas City. "I put us in a hole early and they came back. Everybody did a great job."

And that included, naturally, Shohei Ohtani, who has dominated the game and the headlines. This time, the rookie had two hits and scored the winning run.

What's more, the legend of Ohtani and his immense popularity swelled again as the Angels apparently requested that a group of his fans at Kauffman Stadium quell its passion, for the good of the star and his team.

"I heard it," Ohtani, through an interpreter, said of the vocal support he received. "I'm thankful for the cheer. But at the plate I try to focus and block out all the noise."

A local reporter, citing security personnel, noted that someone evidently with the Angels contacted authorities to ask that the clamor be tempered.

"I was aware of that," Ohtani said. "But I wasn't the one who asked for it. I think they just did it so everyone could kind of focus at the plate. I was thankful for that."

And so went another night at the ballpark for the Angels, who improved to 12-3, matching the 1979 club for the best record in franchise history after 15 games.

That '79 group then lost four straight, something that seems unlikely for these Angels...


Saturday, April 7, 2018

Shohei Ohtani Makes History in Angels' 13-9 Comback Victory Over Athletics

The Angels are off to a great start. They're 6-2 so far, and both pitching and hitting are almost unrecognizable from last year.

I'm excited!

At LAT, "Down 6-0, Angels' bats awaken with homer by Ohtani and beat the Athletics 13-9":


Friday, September 1, 2017

Angels Acquire Justin Upton and Brandon Phillips

Hey, I can dig it.

I like Cameron Maybin, who was sent to Houston, but if the acquisition of Upton and Phillips helps the Angels make the postseason, it's no problem.

And the front office did some serious business with these acquisitions.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Angels signal they're in it to win it by trading for Justin Upton":

This is bigger than Yu Darvish.

You might have wondered if the Dodgers were trying their hardest to win the World Series, but you never had to wonder whether they were trying to win. The Dodgers were bound for October, with or without Darvish.

The Angels? Mike Trout, some wings and a prayer.

When the July 31 trade deadline came and the Angels were afloat in the wild-card race, they made one move: dumping one of their most reliable relievers for no good reason, and nothing good in return.

With one bold move on Thursday, the Angels announced they were back.

Back to relevance. Back to winning. Back to a commitment to excellence.

No longer will the Angels allow themselves to be held hostage by the ghost of Josh Hamilton. When they agreed to acquire Justin Upton from the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, they finally removed the“vacancy” sign from left field, three years after they exiled Hamilton to Texas.

They could have had Upton two winters ago, or Yoenis Cespedes, Dexter Fowler, Alex Gordon or Jason Heyward. They passed on them all, trying to pass off Craig Gentry and Daniel Nava as a legitimate major league platoon. They still had to pay Hamilton, after all.

The Angels’ left fielders have hit 27 home runs in the three years of the post-Hamilton era, seven this season. Upton has hit 28 home runs this season, 11 in August.

The Angels’ second basemen had a .589 OPS (on-base-plus-slugging percentage), the lowest for any American League club at any position, aside from shortstop for the Kansas City Royals (Alcides Escobar). After two years and zero offense there in the post-Howie Kendrick era, the Angels doubled down on this year and traded for Brandon Phillips on Thursday as well.

Trout has drawn 11 walks in his last eight games, and not just because of his plate discipline. For most of the season, no Angels hitters besides Trout and Andrelton Simmons ranked above league average. They rank last in the AL in OPS. Frankly, with their starting pitching in tatters for most of the season, it’s a miracle they are in contention.

But they awoke Thursday — the last day before organizational rosters are frozen for postseason eligibility — and found themselves one game out of the second AL wild-card spot, two games behind the New York Yankees for the top wild-card spot.

The disabled list is clearing. Andrew Heaney and Tyler Skaggs are back in the starting rotation, with ace Garrett Richards expected to follow any day now. C.J. Cron hit two home runs on Tuesday. Albert Pujols hit two home runs on Wednesday.

The players deserved some help, and owner Arte Moreno gave it to them.

Moreno doesn’t come around the ballpark as often as he used to, and he doesn’t have much to say publicly, leaving fans to wonder whether he remains engaged and interested in his team. He takes pride in running the team as a successful business, with no debt. He could sell the team for 10 times what he paid for it.

On Thursday, he showed he still is in it to win it. The Angels’ lone World Series appearance, remember, came the year before he bought the team.

This is the last year of the Hamilton contract. Moreno will pay about $35 million to left fielders this year — $26 million to Hamilton, the rest to Upton and Cameron Maybin.

It isn’t that the Angels’ payroll is taking a huge jump this year. It’s not. The Angels let the Houston Astros take Maybin on a waiver claim, and the $1.5 million the Angels save there will cover much of the $3.7 million Upton is owed for the rest of this season. The Tigers will pay some of that too. And the Angels’ commitment to the 36-year-old Phillips is less than $1 million; he’s a free agent come fall.

No, the plaudits for Moreno come because Upton has four years and $88.5 million left on his contract after this season. He could opt out, but Moreno assumed that risk — and, really, there’s not much to lose here.

The Angels know they get a month of Upton for a few million bucks, without losing either of their two legitimate prospects in the trade. They just might get four more years of a premium power hitter at a market rate.

Upton, who turned 30 last week, has hit at least 25 home runs five years running. They ought to hope he does not opt out. If he does, they won’t get a draft pick.

The Angels cannot dream of getting anywhere near that production of anyone in their farm system by 2020.

That is the last year of Trout’s contract. The Angels don’t have time for a tank job if they want to persuade him to stay. They need to show him they can win, with him, and soon.

And, as of Thursday, they are two big bats closer to doing something they never have done since baseball’s best player joined the Angels in 2011: winning a postseason game.

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Angels Surge to Sole Possession of Second American League Wildcard Spot

There's video at MLB, "8/12/17: Pujols' late double propels Halos to 6-3 win."

And here's AP's report at LAT (the Times has no beat reporter covering the Angels right now), "Angels rally for 6-3 victory over the Mariners and to get back into a wild-card playoff spot."

Finally, check Jeff Fletcher, at the O.C. Register, "Angels move into 2nd wild card spot with 5th straight victory."

Let's see how long this lasts. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, considering the Angels' (inconsistent) experience this season. Sheesh:
SEATTLE — The Angels have reached a notable, although meaningless, moment.

They are currently sitting in the second wild card spot, after running their winning streak to five games with a come-from-behind, 6-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.

“It gives us a little taste of what’s left to come,” Jesse Chavez said.

The Angels have taken the first three games of this series against the team that was leading the race for the second wild card when it began. The Mariners were since passed by the Minnesota Twins, who also lost on Saturday to allow the Angels to pass them both.
At 60-58, the Angels still have 44 games to play, which is why being in playoff position now means little.

Asked if there was any small significance to draw from the standings now, Manager Mike Scioscia said flatly: “No. Nope. We’ve got a game tomorrow.”

To JC Ramirez, the standings don’t mean as much as the way the Angels are currently playing. They have now won 11 of their last 15 games.

“You’ve seen the tough season we’ve been through and now we finally gained that spot,” Ramirez said. “People that weren’t hitting are now hitting. People who weren’t pitching very well are now doing good. This is the kind of team we are. This is the kind of team we were supposed to be since the beginning of the season.”

The characteristic that has been on display most lately is a penchant for late-inning heroics. They scored the decisive runs in the eighth and ninth innings in all three victories so far in Seattle. And in the past two games, they overcame seventh-inning deficits, of four runs on Friday and two on Saturday...
More.

Friday, August 11, 2017

American League Wild Card Race Tightens

The Angels won a dramatic 9th-inning victory last night in Seattle, after a terrible blown save by Bud Norris.

Here's the story, at LAT, "Mike Trout's three-run double in ninth inning gives Angels win after blowing three-run lead."

And with that, the AL wildcard race tightened even further. I wrote about it here, "The American League Wild Card Race is Getting Insane."

Earlier this week the Angels were catching up to Kansas City, but the Cards swept the Royals in St. Louis this week. (See, "Fowler makes more rally magic for suddenly 'dynamic' Cards.") Now both the Angels and Royals are one game behind Tampa Bay and Seattle (both tied at a .509 winning percentage, behind the Yankees for the first wildcard spot).

I love it!

Here's a piece debating the utility of MLB's wildcard playoff system, "Is Major League Baseball’s double-wild-card format working? MLB's six-year-old playoff set-up has its pros and cons." And a killer few paragraphs for me:
Matt Clapp: I still can’t decide how much I like the two Wild Cards. I’m a big believer in the better team being rewarded. Say the WC1 wins 96 games, and the WC2 wins 88 games. And then the WC2 beats the WC1 in the one-game playoff. That’s very unfair to the WC1, as they have absolutely been the better team over 162 games, and baseball should in no way be judged by one game.

Then again, 2015 was an example of the two Wild Cards being a good thing. The NL Central featured three teams with at least 97 wins; the Pirates were the WC1 with 98 wins and the Cubs were the WC2 with 97 wins. Those were the three best records in baseball! One of them being completely left out would’ve been quite lame. Of course, the Pirates would argue that it was even more lame that they won 98 games and had to face a historically red-hot pitcher in Jake Arrieta.

Again, one game deciding anything in baseball flat-out sucks. I’d prefer they find a way to make it a three-game play-in, but that’s of course difficult with scheduling. And because of the scheduling issues, Theo Epstein said in 2015 that he proposed the idea of a three-game playoff which included a doubleheader for two of the three games to make things easier. This would also be a very weird way to decide the Wild Card winner, but in my opinion it still beats just one game in deciding the more Division Series representative.

Whatever the case, what we think doesn’t matter. What matters is how it’s working out for MLB, and it’s working tremendously. Look at the AL Wild Card race right now. There are NINE teams (including the two currently leading the race) within four games for two spots. Several teams have a legitimate playoff shot because of the second Wild Card, and this means much more fan interest. Fans of the teams in the race will go out to the ballpark into deep September. Baseball fans that generally don’t even care about those teams will be following these games just because pennant races are compelling. Then the one-game playoff is fantastic drama, must-see TV for people that aren’t even big baseball fans. In general, it’s all more eyes on the game, more discussion on social media/TV/radio, and more money. This all makes it a success for MLB, regardless of whether or not we think it’s the best way to be handled...

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

The American League Wild Card Race is Getting Insane

Check the standings here.

This is insane.

At Sports on Earth, "SIZING UP THE AL WILD CARD RACE":
There are roughly 50 games left in the Major League Baseball season. Some teams have more, some teams have fewer, but it's pretty much around that number -- and it will go by like that. All you can reasonably hope for, if you are a team that is on the fringes of contention -- particularly with first-place teams owning massive leads like Los Angeles, Houston and Washington -- is to at least have a shot.

This year, plenty of teams still have skin in the game thanks to the American League Wild Card chase, which looks like it's going to be lunacy. From the Wild Card leader (the Yankees) entering Monday's action to the team that's five spots out of the second slot (Minnesota), you have only 5 1/2 games of separation. Texas, a team that just traded away its ace, is closer to a Wild Card spot than the closest Wild Card team in the National League. It is jammed, essentially top to bottom. Keep your eye on these standings!

So let's take a look at every contender, what their chances are and what the stakes are moving forward. We have to cut off the definition of a "contender" at some point, so for the sake of discussion, we'll omit Texas, Toronto and Detroit, all of whom were sellers at the Deadline. We do this even though Texas is only one game behind Minnesota (also sort of a seller, but no matter). It's crazy this year, and we may have to revisit this in a few more weeks if any other teams go on a run. Also, right now, the Red Sox, thanks to a six-game win streak, have opened up a three-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East. That division is far from settled, but for the sake of discussion, we'll include the Yankees but not the Sox. That, like everything else, could change quickly.
Here's the analysis for the Angels, who just can't seem to earn winning consistency. It's maddening!
Los Angeles Angels Record: 55-58, fourth Wild Card runnerup, three games out of second Wild Card spot.

Playoff projections on MLB.com: 9.8 percent.

What's at stake: The last few years of the best player in baseball. The Angels have been trying to cobble together a mediocre team around Mike Trout for a few years now, with no luck. This year has been different in that Trout missed two months and the Angels somehow treaded water. (Andrelton Simmons is quietly having a superstar season -- he's third in the AL in FanGraphs WAR -- which helps.) But the odds are still stacked against them. It would help to get something, anything, out of Albert Pujols. There are 514 American League position players who have enough at-bats to register a WAR rating this season. Pujols is ranked 513th in WAR.

Fans' reasonable optimism level: Realistic. Three more years of Trout left. They are a little closer to the playoffs than they were last year. But that feels like the fighting of gravity.
 Angels play the Orioles tonight, and could move past them with a win. So, root for the rally monkey, heh.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Angels Storm Back, Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

The Angels beat the Athletics last night, 8-6 at Anaheim Stadium. They were down 6-2 in the sixth inning, and I thought there for a minute the team would lose. It'd have been the first time they lost while I was in attendance for the last five years or so. Really, when I go to the park, they always win. And they did it again last night. I was pretty magical.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Angels mount comeback to beat A's, stretch winning streak to four and improve to .500":
The Angels are still not healthy, still receiving lackluster seasons from an array of hitters, still struggling to capture the public’s interest, still unlikely to actually qualify for the postseason.

But they are undeniably making this thing interesting. They secured their fourth straight victory and sixth in seven tries Friday, scoring six unanswered runs to come back to beat Oakland 8-6 at Angel Stadium. They are 55-55, and only two games separate them from playoff position.

“Better late than never,” said Ben Revere, who scored Friday’s winning run.

It has become the team’s refrain this summer, enjoyed because of its duality: “We’re still in it.”

Applicable to their 32 comeback victories and to their playoff odds, the Angels cite it in interviews and tell it to their pregame visitors during batting practice, a subtle reminder to one another that they can yet contend in 2017. With each passing week, the idea appears more plausible. They do not have to play particularly good games, especially while hosting Philadelphia, Oakland and Baltimore on this homestand. They can always come back, as they did Friday.

After Mike Trout hit an infield single to short in the first inning, Albert Pujols tapped into an inning-ending double play. It was the 351st double-play groundout of his career, which holds grand significance. It broke Pujols’ tie with Cal Ripken and staked him alone to the all-time record.

Making the first start of his career, the Angels’ Troy Scribner did not give up a hit until the second inning. It was a three-run home run to Matt Chapman — a walk and an error preceded it — that gave the Athletics an early lead. The Angels made it 3-2 with three singles, two errors, a sacrifice fly, and a hit by pitch in their half of the second. With the bases loaded and two out, Trout flied out to left field.

Over the next three innings, they mustered two baserunners — both on doubles, by Trout and Kole Calhoun. Neither man advanced...
More.

The rally monkey did the trick last night. I love that, heh.

Friday, July 28, 2017

Indians Sweep Angels

The Angels' wildcard hopes took a real thwacking this week in Cleveland. It was brutal.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Angels on the brink after unraveling against Indians":
Last August in Cleveland, the Angels fell further below .500 than they had been in 17 seasons with Mike Scioscia presiding. The Indians swept them in four heavily delayed games, each muggy day threatened by rain, making for a miserable weekend and cross-country flight home.

The Angels’ record entering this series is improved and Northeast Ohio’s midsummer weather much more temperate, but the results have been no better.

After their seven-run comeback was negated in Tuesday’s 11th inning, the Angels unraveled during a tied seventh inning and lost 10-4 Wednesday.

They sank five games behind an American League wild-card spot. Only four games remain until Monday’s trade deadline, their decision day for whether to buy, sell or stand. Their season is on the brink.

“Usually, in the second half of the season, you start looking at the standings,” Mike Trout said. “But we can’t. We gotta go out there and play our game. Once we start looking at the standings, that’s when we’re gonna get in trouble, try to do too much.”

Trying not to do too much is Trout’s mantra. He says it after he homers, says it after he fails. The Angels as a team, though, do not have Trout’s talent. On top of ongoing offensive flaws, they are undermanned in the starting rotation, a group that Scioscia said Wednesday has been “patchwork” since the season’s start...
More.

Monday, June 26, 2017

Angels Beat Dodgers in 4-0 Shutout Behind Ricky Nolasco Gem

The Angels went two games above .500 tonight with a sparking win over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine, the opening night of a four-game freeway series.

The Dodgers have the second best record in baseball, just a game or two behind than Houston. And Los Angeles had a 10-game winning streak heading into tonight's game.


So what's up with the Angels?

The joke recently is that they've been stuck one game within .500 ball, up or down, with no end in sight. Well, with tonight's game Anaheim's got a two-game winning streak, so that's encouraging.

The Angels now move into second place in the American League West, still 12.5 games behind the first place Astros. But if they keep performing like this, things will be looking very good going into the All-Star break, especially since injured Mike Trout's expected to return to the lineup any times thereabouts.

Here's more from Mike DiGiovanna, at LAT, "Break up the Angels? They broke, but haven't wavered":
Last rites were administered to the Angels on May 29, the day they learned that star center fielder Mike Trout would need surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb and miss six to eight weeks.

The rotation was already in tatters, having lost ace Garrett Richards to a right biceps strain after one start, Tyler Skaggs to a rib-cage strain in late April and Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano to season-ending elbow surgeries.

General manager Billy Eppler was running out of spackle to patch a bullpen that lost its best reliever, Cam Bedrosian, to a groin strain for two months, erstwhile closer Huston Street to a back strain for 2½ months and late-inning man Andrew Bailey to a shoulder injury for 2½ months.

Third baseman Yunel Escobar was on the disabled list, and left fielder Cameron Maybin was about to join him. First baseman Luis Valbuena was hitting .167, and second baseman Danny Espinosa (.141) and right fielder Kole Calhoun (.209) were in deep slumps.

The Angels were already buried in the American League West, a division the powerful Houston Astros led by 11½ games entering Saturday.

Surely, they could not withstand the loss of baseball’s best all-around player, a two-time most valuable player who was batting .337 with 16 homers, 36 runs batted in and a league-leading 1.203 on-base-plus-slugging percentage when he injured his thumb on a head-first slide into second.

Yet, as the Angels enter their fifth week without Trout, they were 2 games out of the second AL wild-card spot heading into Sunday, alive and kicking, their ability to tread water in a pool of mediocrity putting them in position for a possible second-half playoff push.

“It’s miraculous, the job the Angels and [manager] Mike Scioscia have done,” John Smoltz, a Hall of Fame pitcher and Fox television analyst, said on a conference call last week. “Their pitching has just been decimated, and then they lose Trout.

“If they can get some pitching back, then they’re a threat for a wild card. I didn’t think with that many injuries they’d even be hanging around.”

That the Angels are 13-12 without Trout — and 39-39 overall — through Saturday seems as improbable as their 12-0 record on Tuesdays. Even with Trout’s dominant two months, they were 14th in the AL in OPS (.709) and ninth in runs (335) through Friday.

But they’re averaging 5.0 runs a game in Trout’s absence because Maybin and Calhoun heated up, Albert Pujols continued to drive in runs and Andrelton Simmons and Escobar continued to hit. They’re pressuring teams with a league-leading 67 stolen bases, and Eric Young Jr., has filled some of Trout’s void.

Young, signed to a minor league deal last winter, was called up from triple-A when Trout went on the DL. He was batting .288 with an .826 OPS, three homers, 10 RBIs, 15 runs and six stolen bases in 23 games through Friday.

Calhoun followed an eight-for-65 skid by hitting .341 (28 for 82) with five homers and 20 RBIs in 22 games through Friday. Since moving to the leadoff spot on May 16, Maybin is hitting .374 with a .466 on-base percentage, five homers, 10 doubles and 30 runs in 25 games. Pujols is fifth in the AL with 51 RBIs.

Bud Norris, Blake Parker, Yusmeiro Petit, David Hernandez and Keynan Middleton solidified a no-name bullpen that ranks fifth in the AL with a 3.62 ERA and has stranded 91 of 117 inherited runners, an AL-best 22.2% scoring percentage.

Norris, a former starter who signed as a minor league free agent, had a 2.43 ERA and converted 11 of 13 save opportunities before going on the DL because of an inflamed right knee last Tuesday.

Parker, a winter waiver claim who made the club because of Street’s injury, was 3-2 with a 2.16 ERA, 49 strikeouts and nine walks in 33 1/3 innings through Friday. Petit, a minor league free agent, has a 2.42 ERA, 51 strikeouts and 11 walks in 44 2/3 innings of 28 games.

Hernandez, who was pitching for Atlanta’s triple-A team when the Angels acquired him for cash or a player to be named on April 24, has a 2.28 ERA, 27 strikeouts and four walks in 23 2/3 innings of 26 games.

And Middleton, with his 100-mph fastball, has risen toward a high-leverage role with a 2-0 record and 3.43 ERA in 24 games since being called up...
Still more.

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Kole Calhoun Breaks Through

He broke through his streak of no extra base-hits, at Arlington today, via LAT below.

But look at this beauty of a throw to home. The man's a machine in right field, and in fact is a Golden Glove winner:


Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Angels Claw Back Against the Athletics (VIDEO)

Alex Curry, the Angels sideline reporter for Fox Sports West (at the video below), asked Kole Calhoun about his first walk-off single, indicating that 8 of the 10 Angels wins this season have been come-from-behind.

I'm like, "Please, Anaheim, you're killing me here, lol."

It's great baseball, that's for sure.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Angels beat the Athletics 2-1 with a walk off in the 11th."


Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Mark Gubicza Responds

On Twitter, from last night.

Gubicza's the color analyst for Angels Baseball broadcasts on Fox Sports West (and a darned nice guy).


Sunday, April 9, 2017

Angels Mount Totally Improbable Come-From-Behind Victory Over Mariners

Dang!

I shouldn't be so skeptical of the Angels. They're on fire so far this season, and the Mariners just dropped a game that they in no way should have dropped.

I tweeted after Albert Pujols put one of the board with a solo shot early in the 9th inning:


And then the Angels made the comeback. To call it improbable is putting it mildly:


Monday, August 8, 2016

Bumped Into Robert Spencer and Michael Finch at the Angels Game Last Week

We were out in the parking lot. I had to do a double-take when I saw Robert in his Athletics jersey. He's normally wearing a suit, heh.

Michael Finch is the president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a really nice man.