Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / A FAREWELL TO ARM: Yusei Kikuchi's shoulder injury puts a major strain on Angels rotation

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A FAREWELL TO ARM: Yusei Kikuchi's shoulder injury puts a major strain on Angels rotation · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Hell, Hey Angel fans, and welcome back to Helo Territory.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: I am Mike Digievanna, former La Times A baseball writer
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and host of the show, joined by my regular co
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: host Mark Trumbo, the former Angel slugger.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Mark, how you doing today.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: I'm doing just fine. I hope you are as well.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: We have some stuff to talk about.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a little bit of a mixed bag. This weekend,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: the Angels lost two of three to an abysmal New
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: York Mets team to fall the thirteen and twenty two,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: the worst record in the American League. The big news
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: from the weekend, though, was you say, Kukuchi going on
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the angrew list because of shoulder inflammation. The Angels say,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Kakuchi is quote getting looked at again and we're waiting
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: to see how it progresses unquote, but my sources are
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: telling me that he's going to be out for say
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: several months, if not the whole season. It just doesn't
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: look good.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Mark.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: How big a blow to the rotation would this be?
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: And what are the options for the Angels starting pitching
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: wise moving forward?
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: Well, they got a great group of guys in there,
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: and they're sticking together, you know, through the adversity and
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: the very you know this I forgot anyway, in all seriousness,
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: They're going to have to plug a pretty big hole.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: He is a pitcher that they signed for pretty big
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: dollars twenty plus million.
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: He is in year two of a three year deal.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: And the vagueness of the injury is it is concerning shoulder,
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: is all I know so far. I was looking to
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: see what is going on, and the arm angles have
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: been brought up a lot. Now I went back five years.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: His arm angles have changed quite a bit over those
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: five years. There's been around twenty twenty, twenty twenty one,
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: they were a little higher, and then they traded to
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: their lowest last year. I believe, as far as as
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: arm angle, what stood out to me more than that
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: was his the ratings. I'm using Baseball Savant for this,
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: but his fastball rates is incredibly poor. I didn't realize
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: because it's mid nineties and to my eye doesn't seem
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: to get hit hard that often. I thought it would
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: probably not rate like it did. But when I saw that,
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: I said, wow, Okay, he probably has been told that
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: he has to maintain a certain level. I think shohe
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: is similar, you know, they're having to redline it a lot.
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: Kakuchi's breaking ball is his best pitch, and that rates
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: well above average generally this year. And my main point
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: is he started throwing a split finger out of nowhere,
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: and he's throwing it twenty to twenty five percent of
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: the time. It's labeled on there as a split finger.
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: I don't think they have it wrong. They have so
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: much advanced data and metrics cameras that but I haven't seen.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: I couldn't find a single article asking him about this
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: new pitch why he incorporated it, And I do wonder
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: it's a very different, you know, type of type of pitch.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: I know, it's very trendy and it's very nasty when
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: it works, But could it also have impacted whatever injury
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: he's dealing with. If we're talking about him for the
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: entire season, that's that's a big blow.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I always thought the splitter was a little tougher on
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: the elbow as opposed to the shoulder, as that was
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: your understanding is, But the armslot, to me, it just
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: seemed like something very strange to do in the middle
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: of the season. You know, that's a that's a spring
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: training thing, you know, you get your mechanics down, you
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: make a few adjustments here and there, and you take
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: it into the season. He was tinkering back and forth
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: from you know, a higher arm slot to a lower
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: arm slot than one in between. Just doesn't seem like
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: the healthiest thing to do for a major league pitcher.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: He got off to a nice art last year, he
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: made the All Star team, and then the second half
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: wasn't as good. The air conditioning incident, if you recall,
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: still a little bit unclear on that. I believe it was.
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: It's back in action and working. And over the winter
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: he played in the WBC as well. He did not
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: have a very good show in there, over a sixerned
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: run couple starts, so not much Spring training looked okay, But.
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: I kind of apparently.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: He's a guy that somewhat of a team leader, and
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: I know he's very well liked throughout the game. I've
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: talked to guys that have been teammates with him elsewhere
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: and they really like the person.
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: I sound like somebody else there, but.
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: I think I think, you know, bottom line, he's a
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: major league starting pitcher that's a mid rotation guy normally,
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: and they are going to have to fill that slot
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: with somebody. Alec Manoah made a rehab start last night.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: I don't think he's that slot anytime soon. I didn't
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: see the video of last night, did you?
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: I did? Oh?
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: I did, And I was one of our regular viewers
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: and a contributor to the question Yes Stephen most of
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: the game, so I got to watch a lot of Manoa,
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: Yates and Ben Joyce. Ben Joyce looked like Ben Joyce again.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: He started out, it was almost identical to the previous
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: out and pulled some fastballs early. Got it together one
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: hundred and one miles an hour Gooby. On the broadcast,
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: they mentioned that they could sure use him sooner than later.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: So we'll see Yates eighty nine to ninety. Not a
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: lot of life on the heater arm action. He's always
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: kind of been a short armor, so not much to
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: judge there, but the velocity I think he it's kind
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: of tough, you know, eighty nine ninety for a reliever.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: It doesn't unless you're a side armor and Manoa. If
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: i'll put it in play in English, that stuff I
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: saw will not get major league hitters out.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: It won't be pretty either.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: One potential replacement I don't know if he's ready right now.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Is Ryan Johnson. He did throw three in the third
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: innings for Rancho today, didn't give up any runs, struck
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: out seven.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: I believe, you know, you.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Could maybe piggyback him with another long man in the
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: bullpen if you want to. But outside of him, maybe
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Caden Dana, Mitch Ferros, anyone else you're seeing at least
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: for a short term play.
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: So I think makes sense.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: He did a nice job the other day, came in
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: tough situation, and he had some improvements over the winter.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: He's thrown a lot harder. I think it took a
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: minute and this last out in because he was an
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: injury thing. But if he's he could be a nice pickup.
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure what to think of him just yet.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: He's another guy that hasn't had a ton of success,
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: but he also made some changes, and I do believe
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: players can improve and sometimes improved significantly, So a little
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: bit cautiously optimistic. I was encouraged by what I saw
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: the other day, though.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Well, Jerra general manager Perry Manesium came out of hiding
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: this weekend, which, as I believe, I think it was
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: the first time during the regular season. He's actually spoken
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: on the record to reporters and he gave first year
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: manager Kurt Suzuki somewhat of a vote of confidence. Let's
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: look at his quote, reported by Jeff Fletcher the Orange
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: County Register. Manasium said, he's quote happy with the job.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: First year manager Kurt Suzuki is the unquote. I think
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: he's been great, Manasium said. When you go through tough stretches,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: it's tough. Nobody wants to see it. It's really tough.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: You're living it, you're there. It's emotional, but you find
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: out a lot about people in those types of situations
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: and being, you know, on the road trip and in
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: that room, and even in New York we had a
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: tough couple of losses. You see the quality of people
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: we have, whether it's the manager, the coaching staff, the
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: locker room. So as much as you don't want to
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: go through struggles like that, you're going to over the
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: course of a season. I learned a lot about our
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: group in our room, and I love it more than
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: I did before before the stretch we had Kurt. It's
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: his first time doing it. He's learning on the job too.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: But I love where he's at coaching staff I believe
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: is one of the best in baseball, and that's why
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: we have these guys the experience level.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: We've got a lot.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Younger players that we're trying to establish in certain roles,
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: and having some of the experience we have in the
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: coaching staff and the manager I believe will really help
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: them long term. Mark, what do you make.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Of that quote?
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: And I got to Hunt, you might have seen things
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: a little bit differently this weekend.
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: I did, And as far as the quote, I am
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: not a big tech guy, so I needed to I asked, Rock,
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: You're able to most everyone probably knows just input just
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: about anything. But I asked, what is this essentially saying?
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: According to Grock, not me, this is damage controls less
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: positive spin from a GM whose team is at ongoing issues.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: The Angels have had many losing seasons. Instead of saying
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: we're playing badly and changes might be needed, he's saying
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: the opposite. The on field results are disappointing, but the intangibles, leadership, chemistry,
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: professionalism are excellent.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: MM groc Huh.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: I Sometimes I am coming around to it. It is
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: helpful for some of these things, and in this case,
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: I really wanted to see the second opinion that was neutral.
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: I assume neutral. It is interesting sometimes to read it,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: but that's the idea, is how it seems when I
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: see this. It doesn't We've said he's not always transparent,
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: and I mean, you're the professional writer.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: You tell me, Well, well, I'll give you credit for
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: finally stepping out and you know, and you know, taking
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: some questions. Today, We're gonna take a quick break in here,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: word from our sponsors, and when we come back, we're
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: gonna get into a little more specific so some of
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Kurt's decisions over the weekend and talk a little bit
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: about Zach Netto, one of the Angels players who is
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: definitely struggling at the plate.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: We'll be right back with more Halo territory.
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: You know, we don't always have to do things because
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: that's how it's always been.
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  Speaker 6: Look, people consider me old school, and I thought I was,
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  Speaker 6: but then we had to pitch clock and the abs
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  Speaker 6: and ban on shifts and all these things that we've
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  Speaker 6: had for a long time in baseball. And you know what,
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• 11:16
  Speaker 1: Hey, welcome back to Halo Territory on Mike d Giovanna
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: with Mark Trumbo. Mark, you know Kurt has taken a
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: lot of heat for a lot of his moves this season.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Were there a couple specific things over the weekend that
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: you would that kind of raised your eyebrows a little bit?
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: Just in this last game today recording Syndays game. Sunday's game,
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: I was a little surprised to believe. Jeff Fletcher also
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: tweeted about it too, that Jack Ohanowitz went out for
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: the seventh inning at nearly one hundred pitches. It seemed
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: like after six very quality inning. It's a very logical
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: place to call it, you know, the handshake way to go.
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: But he was back out there, and that was an
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: inning that some runs were given up. I'm assuming that
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: he's probably spoken by now. I haven't seen any of
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: the thoughts on that. That to me was I guess, damned,
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: if you damned, if you don't, he is an extra.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: But realistically, if he you know, unless he does get
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: a lot of ground balls, but he'd probably be closer
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: to one hundred and fifteen pitches by the end of
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: that that inning, which would look like a heck of
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: a lot for a young arm. The second point he
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: Kurt has managed essentially like what I remember nationally Baseball,
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: emptying his bench most games, we're using most of his bench.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: And there was a situation with a lefty, left handed reliever.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: I believe it was was really oh yeah, yeah, really
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: and yeah. So he was pitching and Josh Lowe, who
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: was hitting seventy seven against left handed pitching took the
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: at bat. Now they were down four runs. Maybe not
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: a big deal, but Tiudosio is hitting two sixty nine
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: against left handed pitching. He's a better defender, and it
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: seemed like a very logical place to insert him for
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: a better chance at success. I found that to be interesting. Again,
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: it wouldn't have tied the game even if he had
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: gone deep, which he's not known for his power. But
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: with the way Curtis managed so far, I do wonder
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: why that decision didn't fall in line with all of
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: the other ones. Would you agree with that?
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I don't know why.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: I assuming he did leave Jack in because Zephyr John
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: and Bachmann through multiple innings the night before, and he
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: just didn't feel comfortable. I mean, who do you feel
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: comfortable handing a two to one lead to anyone down
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: on that bullpen besides those two. So yeah, that was
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: definitely a tough one kind of it's like, you're you're right,
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: You're damned if you do, damned if you don't.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Maybe he thought he could squeeze. I mean, then you.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Take Jack out early in his last start and got
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: a little.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Heat for that.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: Maybe he's just trying too has left in pretty long too,
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: and you know he's a little banged up, so it's
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: it's a rough go of it, and that's what you're
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: left with, if you know, with the way that the
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: I don't want to say the dumpster dive.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: In, but yeah, it's the it's the bullpen depth. It's
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: it affects you in so many ways. It's affects your
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: decisions on how long you go with your starters, and
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: it's just that domino effect in so many areas when
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: you don't have bullpen depth. It's causing so many problems
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: for Kurt, and I don't envy the position he's in.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: Another guy, I have to say, I'm a little bit
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: surprised we're talking about as a guy who's struggling. Is
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: Zach Mendel the leadoff man. He's betting one fifty seven,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: eight for fifty one with a five hundred ops, no homer,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: five RBIs, four runs, which is definitely not good for
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: a leadoff man, twenty three strikeouts, seven walks in his
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: last thirteen games. And here's what manager Kurt Suzuki had
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: to say about Zach over the weekend.
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: You in the night thinking Zach really willing to be
• 15:17
  Speaker 5: the guy took a deep breath.
• 15:19
  Speaker 7: Of the play.
• 15:19
  Speaker 8: It didn't work out.
• 15:21
  Speaker 9: I mean, what do you say to a guy that
• 15:23
  Speaker 9: he's done before in this league and he's just kind
• 15:25
  Speaker 9: of hopeful.
• 15:26
  Speaker 8: Get him tomorrow.
• 15:27
  Speaker 7: You know, the efforts there, the intent is there, the
• 15:32
  Speaker 7: will to succeed where his teammates is there.
• 15:35
  Speaker 8: Just the results aren't, you know. And that's part of
• 15:37
  Speaker 8: the game.
• 15:38
  Speaker 7: And I told him this is a week ago, a couple.
• 15:41
  Speaker 8: Of days ago.
• 15:42
  Speaker 7: Just reminded him, you know, you're gonna learn to go
• 15:46
  Speaker 7: through these struggles and.
• 15:47
  Speaker 8: Come out on top. And it's not gonna be pretty
• 15:49
  Speaker 8: all the time. It's not gonna be easy, but this
• 15:51
  Speaker 8: is how you learn for a young player. And I
• 15:53
  Speaker 8: truly believe this guy's gonna be a superstar.
• 15:56
  Speaker 7: And you know, I think he just needs to keep
• 15:58
  Speaker 7: going and keep grinding at it and and know that
• 16:00
  Speaker 7: this is a hard game, and you know, but it's
• 16:04
  Speaker 7: it's a fun game. As the beauty of it is
• 16:06
  Speaker 7: you're always adjusting and always improving. And I think he's
• 16:10
  Speaker 7: he's well on his way. Would he benefit from a
• 16:12
  Speaker 7: day off?
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: Could be?
• 16:16
  Speaker 8: Maybe maybe a day off, maybe not, I don't really know.
• 16:19
  Speaker 7: I think maybe a mental break, But this guy wants
• 16:23
  Speaker 7: to play every day and and right now with his glove,
• 16:27
  Speaker 7: I wanted to understand he can help the team more
• 16:29
  Speaker 7: than just offense.
• 16:30
  Speaker 8: It's it's a total package. It's base running, his defense,
• 16:33
  Speaker 8: it's being a leader, cheering his teammates on. So you
• 16:37
  Speaker 8: know there's going to come a day working the day off.
• 16:39
  Speaker 8: But right now I think he's he's learning how to impact.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Mark. What's going on?
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: Is that net a swing in your estimation? His mechanics
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: are off. I've taken a closer look. Normally I have
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: access to a little bit different video that I'm working on.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: I won't be able to use it here, but when
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: I do work with hitters, or have for the last
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: few years, I have a few more angles to work
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: with it. I did see one today that kind of
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: reassured what my eyes have told me. Okay, the technical
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: way I would explain it is his stance is actually
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: a little bit wider. He's one of the He's got
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: one of the widest stances in the league. Stanton has
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: the widest and if you look at him hit I
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: mean Stanton's also significantly bigger than Zach's Zach, He's very
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: spread out he's very down into the legs, meaning he's
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: starting with a lot of neflex. And I've always preferred,
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: at least myself, and when I work with guys work
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: up to down. I'd like guys to work kind of
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: down into the legs. I think I always had a
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: very hard time early on as a minor leaguer starting
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: too wide, too down, and then working up.
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: And I think.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: That's he's coming up on a lot of things that's subtle,
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: so it's not going to look all that obvious, but
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: what it's causing is is he's not got really any
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: length in the hitting zone. There's not an angle available
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: for him to use really the middle of the field,
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: let alone the opposite field. And I've said many times
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: he's a pole hitter, but it's become extreme pole. The
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: third base coach's box is getting peppered. He's had a
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: very non competitive at bat late in today's game with
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: a leadoff pop up to start the inning, which I've
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: said before those lead off the inning at bats with
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: a weak pop up, where that's just not the game.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: I knew coming up. It doesn't do anything. And he
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: did make two very nice defensive plays. There was another
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: one that got away. The overall demeanor still, I think
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: he's a guy that's very emotional. I saw the war
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: paint was back today.
• 18:48
  Speaker 7: With the.
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: But they I noticed the other day he didn't he
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: much toned down version. And it looks you wonder, now
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: this team appears to be very superstitious. They had the
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: Star Wars doll in. Uh maybe that was a gift
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: to Wayne or something that they were saying that that
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: brought luck.
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: That was back today. It didn't work.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: I think I heard that Suitor was burning incense in
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: the locker room, and maybe there's a few other things there.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: You know, I don't know. They're they're trying a lot.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: They're saying the right things. We got this, we're in this.
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: But I'll tell you what, you know, the easiest thing
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: to improve things is to win a few ballgames. And
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: this Mets team they just played you already said abysmal.
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: They were.
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: That was a I mean, the statistics were poor. They
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: missed at least one replay that really cost of the game.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: And then there was another one today where Sunday Nolan's glove,
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: the ball got caught in the web of his glove.
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: He's but it wasn't an obvious out either, and maybe
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: the time crunch with twenty seconds is really tough on
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: these guys. But the one in South today night's game
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: was inexcusable. That cost them a run, and that I
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: earned run went to the picture, So I would have
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: been pretty upset had I been that picture.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: What would your adjustment be for Netto at this point?
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Can is there a quick fix there that a hitting
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: coach would suggest.
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: With how talent he is athletically, I don't. The answer
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: is I don't know. I don't know how many reps
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: he's taken, and I do believe that. And that's similarly
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: to what I pointed out with another Angels player over
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: the winner doing some drills I didn't love. They all
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: kind of count and for Zach and what drills worked
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: for I do know. I'm a big believer in the
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: batting team and most every great player I played with
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: it starts there. So I think for Zach it's it's
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: really not getting into the weeds. Especially there's no need
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: to look at what happens at contact or later in
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: the swing. If he's watch a bunch of video, you
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: watch from the first point of where things get off track,
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: because if you're not doing the basics correctly and getting
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: things on the right track, it's worthless to look at
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: what happens after. And I've said that about Trout too,
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: as far as it spends to last year, his timing
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: was so poor that you can chase your tail the
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: whole time. Really, it could be literally as simple as
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: one pitch and it clicks and he's got the feeling back.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: For me, I usually found it in weird counts, even
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: on a foul ball.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: No.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: I mean you think that you're going to find it
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: in logical places, and guys will think that you stay up,
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: you know, in their hotel room taking dry swings in
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: front of a mirror. I don't think that works at all,
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: but that's my opinion. I think for Zach, I agree
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: with Kurt mostly. Today might have been a day to
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: give him a breather, but he had an off day
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: the other day that went to the Ducks game. I
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: thought that was a rallying point too. More camaraderie. Good
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: for the Ducks. Regrets there, but didn't really rub off
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: on their uh their their the other sports team in town.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, believe it or not. There were some bright
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: spots over the weekend in a beleaguered bullpen, namely Sam
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Bachman escaping a basis loaded one out jam and the
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: seventh inning Saturday night and then throwing a one, two
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: three eighth, and Ryan Zephyr John throwing a scoreless ninth
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: and tenth in a four to three walk off win.
• 22:24
  Speaker 7: That what.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: The Angels loaded the bases with nohats in the bottom
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: of the tent two shallow fly balls, but Oswald Parazza
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: came through the clutch to out RBI single to win
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: in the tenth. Now Zephyr John struggles when he goes
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: back out for a second inning or well documented. But
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: had Parazza not won the game in the tenth, uh,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: guess who's going to pitch the eleventh inning? We'll go
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: to Kurtsuzuki.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: On that one, I was hoping we're going.
• 22:53
  Speaker 8: We weren't going to get there. He goes and I
• 22:59
  Speaker 8: was like, please please score because they didn't work out.
• 23:04
  Speaker 8: And he went back out and they went for the third. Hey,
• 23:09
  Speaker 8: maybe the third's better than the second.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: Would you have sent him out for a thirty? I
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: guess he wasn't warming anybody up. I guess he didn't
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: really have any choice at that point? Were you were
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: you surprised by that move.
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: I'm more surprised by some of the is he insinuating
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: he's not in charge of who's pitching?
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, if I'm a first year manager and
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Mike Maddox is my pitching coach, I would probably defer
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: to him on a lot of things. But yeah, I've
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: always wondered, like, what the it's so early, what the
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: dynamic is between Kurt and his bench coach John Gibbons,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: you know, former major league manager. A lot of teams
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: when they have these first year managers want to surround
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: them with a veteran coaching staff, and it appears the
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Angels have. But I mean, I don't know John very well.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: It's hard to tell what's going on behind the scenes
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: and dugout, but it doesn't seem like he's been a really,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: you know, huge presence in terms of these decisions.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: Was that surprising to you? Do you think Curtin needs.
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: To take the Hen's why I mentioned it. I believe
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: that that that caught me very off guard, the fact
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: that the narrative about Zephyr John, he just needs to
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: pitch pitch through it.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: You're a major leaguer.
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: Figure out, figure it out, is my advice, and he will.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: He's got nice stuff. He seems like a genuinely good guy.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: And you know, I'm hoping, Uh, this hes a this
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: is what you got to work through. You know, everyone's
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: got and that's I think it's above the shoulders. We've
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: theorized what the deal is, why it could happen. There's
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: no great answer. He's just struggling.
• 24:47
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: So yeah, But when I don't know to answer your
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: your your question or my question, it's always been you know,
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: I know there's input from the front office, so that
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: is what I'm getting at. I don't I don't think
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: it's coming from I've never seen a bench coach tell
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: a manager. I've heard managers ask. Nad Jost was the
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: one that I recall asking do you like this move
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: or love it? Or something was something like that. But
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: the manager makes those decisions, and the best managers are
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: known for their bullpen management. And when I'm hearing this,
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: it sounds like there's either a formula a script. Maybe
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: Mike Maddox is making those decisions. I also saw something interesting.
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: Keith Johnson, the third base coach, appears to be giving
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: the signs to the catcher for where they're throwing with
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: runners multiple runners on base, either throwing to third or second,
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: and I was a little bit generally that would come
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: from somebody else. So I think the roles are interesting,
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: but from a pecking order standpoint, I think it looks
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: better if the manager is the one, even if they're wrong.
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: You got, I mean, that's why you're in that office,
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: you're directing traffic. Yeah, you mentioned Zephyr John whether it's
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: mental or physical. We did ask him about sort of
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: that getting over that hump of pitching a second inning,
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: and you have to think his Saturday night performance will help.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: But here's what he had to say after that game.
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: Is there what's the feeling?
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: Excitement, relief, I mean, all of it. What happens after
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: we get into the street like that.
• 26:19
  Speaker 10: I think it's a little bit of both. You know,
• 26:21
  Speaker 10: for me, it's like a little bit of relief and excitement.
• 26:23
  Speaker 10: I'm a pretty chill guy, but a lot of guys,
• 26:25
  Speaker 10: you know, we've been grinding every day and you know, finally,
• 26:27
  Speaker 10: you know, kind of that weight off the back and
• 26:29
  Speaker 10: now you know, it's all fun every day. Now it's like,
• 26:31
  Speaker 10: you know, let's get on a roll the other way.
• 26:33
  Speaker 10: Let's you know, get a few wins in a row,
• 26:35
  Speaker 10: have some fun. We're a great group, so I think
• 26:37
  Speaker 10: it's a relief and excitement.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: When things are going the way they are going. Is
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: it hard to not kill a little snake bit as
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: a group down there?
• 26:44
  Speaker 7: Uh?
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah it is.
• 26:45
  Speaker 10: But you know we have great Suitor and Pomeranc you
• 26:47
  Speaker 10: know there, they've been around so long, and you know,
• 26:50
  Speaker 10: no one ever gets down. It's a new day as
• 26:51
  Speaker 10: soon as the game's over. It's a new day the
• 26:52
  Speaker 10: next day and we go to work. So I think,
• 26:54
  Speaker 10: you know, we do a great job down there of
• 26:56
  Speaker 10: you know, picking each other up for sure. You know
• 26:58
  Speaker 10: we've struggled. Bet everyone's got each other every night.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that bullpen is still ranked twenty ninth in the
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: major leagues with a five point six two ERA, and
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: they've blown ten of fourteen save opportunities going into this
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: series against Chicago White Sox, and it's definitely weighed on
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: the pitching staff, And I thought it was interesting. We
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: did talk to Reed detmer Zoo started done Saturday night,
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: but I asked him a specific question about what's going
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: on in the bullpen as a former reliever as a
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: guy who pitching the bullpen all last year, so let's
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: sort of see how the bullpen struggles are just sort
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: of weighing on this team as a whole partner streak,
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: you were in the bullpen all last year, could you
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: feel these guys going through it here lately? And how
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: much do you need a night like this when you're
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: going through it?
• 27:46
  Speaker 9: Yeah, I definitely, I feel it absolutely being in the
• 27:50
  Speaker 9: bullpen last year. I know, distress, the different situation stuff
• 27:55
  Speaker 9: like that. Yeah, I mean, it's not like they're pitching
• 27:58
  Speaker 9: that like they're making making one back pitch and they're
• 28:01
  Speaker 9: getting taken like the hitters are taking advantage of it.
• 28:05
  Speaker 9: So it's kind of trust in the process, sticking with
• 28:08
  Speaker 9: your routine and do the best you can. Obviously, it's
• 28:11
  Speaker 9: not like they're trying to go out there and give
• 28:13
  Speaker 9: it up. They're doing their best and they're going to
• 28:16
  Speaker 9: get out of it. And they did it tonight. It
• 28:18
  Speaker 9: was I'll believeable.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: Well, you know Bachman and Zephyr John those are definitely
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: two encouraging outings for the bullpen. But as a whole mark,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: do you see any real hope for this bullpen? We've
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: talked so much about just how it impacts decisions up
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: and down the line. What's it going to take, new faces,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: new arms. It's the depth is just such an issue
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: right now.
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: It's a tough one.
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: When I look at last year, what's the difference, Well,
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: it's pretty significant. You had a lights out closer, You've
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: had read debt Meers throwing high leverage innings, set up
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: man or otherwise. Rock Burke was very good.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: Jeff n was pretty good too.
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Jeff John was was was good.
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: So I don't know what the minimum number of quality
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: relievers or reliable relievers, like you'd like all of them
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: to be that there's usually at least one guy who's
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: going to come in and mop some some games up.
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: But there Sandlin I.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: Clothes, I don't think but I I uh, I'm still
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: hopeful he's been better in the past. But I agreed
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: with Reid on most of what he said. The part
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: about it's not like they say that it's not like
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: they're pitching.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Bad, Yeah, well you sort of inferred that it's just
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: one bad pitch here or there, But there's a lot
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: of bad pitches here in there.
• 29:52
  Speaker 4: I I think that no need to pile on.
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: It is a weak spot so far a guy the
• 30:00
  Speaker 3: worry is a guy like I think Palmerant's the stuff.
• 30:03
  Speaker 4: The velocity was down again today. He did get a
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: clean inning, but.
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: And Yates, I mean, I am the last guy that
• 30:13
  Speaker 3: really wants to talk about high velocity. But when you
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: see guys that and unfortunately, in the case of Drew,
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: he's no longer getting any ground ball outs and that
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: has always been a big thing for him, and his
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: fastball has always rated very highly, the opposite of Cacucci,
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: like I mentioned earlier, but Drew Drew's fastball is no
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: longer playing. It's been a negative this year big time,
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: and so it's not setting up his solid off speed.
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: And the hitters are getting what it looks like to
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: me is they're getting a very good look at the ball.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: And if left handers who have never hit him are
• 30:48
  Speaker 3: doing some of the damage we've seen, that's I don't know,
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: how do you fix that. It could be something or
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: it's a tough one. I'm glad I don't have to
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: figure that out. Hopefully some of these really what I mean.
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: I threw that out to Sam and it was a
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: facetious call him up. But you do have some guys
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: with some very big stuff. Classes has got huge stuff.
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: He's a starter now. As far as Ryan Johnson, I
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: think he profiles I don't know what he profiles us,
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: but I do see he throws a lot of strikes
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: and he could be very good in like a two
• 31:20
  Speaker 3: winning situation. Urania will pitch very well. The other day
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: very well. Unfortunate and I should they have taken him
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: out of that game? Were you covering that one?
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: I was not at that one, but he looked fine.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: And yes, sometimes with a young guy, you know you're
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: worried about this, worried about that, but the kid says
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: he's fine. I would have left him in, especially with
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: his pitch count where it was and how he was
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: pitching that night.
• 31:45
  Speaker 4: Hindsight, but there are.
• 31:47
  Speaker 3: The starting pitch. But now we're dealing with some injuries.
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: I Soriano am very interested in his next start. It's
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: back to back starts that were more than passable. But
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: when you see the taped up neck and he said
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: the obviously every pitch was uncomfortable. I do worry about that,
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: but there are some Peraza continues to hit. That was
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: a very nice job making them pay because former Angel
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: was a Warren was out there, he made mistake after mistake.
• 32:16
  Speaker 3: I was also a little not to get too far
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: into it, but I think there maybe because Fraser took
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: a first step back, but it seems like a lot
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: of guys are not scoring from second and maybe you
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: don't want to make the first out there. But I
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: have one thing really on the point I'm making is
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: the outfield throws I've seen this year collectively around the
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: game have been lousy, and I would probably start to
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: step on the gas when in doubt because most of
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: the time they don't have much on them and they're
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: not accurate either. So I'm not giving anyone any advice.
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: It's just an observation. Maybe people have seen it differently.
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: I was hopeful that the Angels could get two of
• 32:56
  Speaker 3: three games from this beleaguered Mets team.
• 33:00
  Speaker 4: It ended up being the opposite.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: Well, the White Sox coming town Monday for a three
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: game set and we'll have uh, we'll be I'm sure
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: we'll talk about that on our next Halo Territory. Thanks
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: for joining us today. Thanks for joining us, Mark, Please
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: like and subscribe and we'll see you next time on
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: Halo territory