Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / One month of camp reveals reasons for encouragement and concern; Jeff Fletcher joins

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One month of camp reveals reasons for encouragement and concern; Jeff Fletcher joins · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Hell, Hey, Angel fans, Welcome back to Halo territory. I
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: am Mike di Giovanna, former La Times Baseball writer and
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: host of the show, joined by my regular co host
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Mark Trumbo, the former Angel slugger, and our guest today
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: is Jeff Fletcher, the Angels long time now Angels beat
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: writer for the Orange County Register. Fletch, how you doing today?
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: I'm great. How are you, guys, I'm good.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for joining us. So we are a solid
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: month into spring training and now two weeks away from
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: opening day, so we thought this would be a good
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: time to take a closer look at what this Angel's
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: team is going to look like. And to do that,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: we're turning to one of the very few reporters left
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: to have actual eyes and ears on this team throughout
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: spring training, and that's Fletch, who is more than qualified
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: to discuss the good, the bad, and if necessary, the
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: ugly of what's going on in Tempe. So let's just
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: try to start with the positives. What are you seeing
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: right now is the bright spots of what's going on
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: in spring training.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think the most positive thing has got
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: to be that Mike Trout is running really well, and
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: I know you know, I've posted some things about his
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: sprint speed, and it's easy for people to make jokes
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: about that, like who cares about his sprint speed? But
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: the fact is, if he feels good enough to be
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: running that hard, that is significant because, as Mark will
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: tell you, you need your legs to be able to hit,
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: you need your your knees are hurting, it's probably hard
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: to hit. And if he can run, just on a
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: spring training ground ball faster than he's running two years,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: that that means he's probably feeling pretty good. Also means
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: he can probably play center field, which is an important thing.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: So I think that's been a positive. I think some
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: of the pitchers have looked pretty good. George Classon is
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: probably the numbnumber one riser, I would say from spring
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: training of a young guy who is probably not even
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: going to make the team this year, but in terms
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: of like the future, he's really looked good so far.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: And Zach Ntto was doing his normal zach Nanto thing.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Oh and the most positive probably Logano Hoppy Logan Oppi's
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: been killing the ball and he's actually been striking out
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: less too, So I'd say those are some of the
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: positives so.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: Far, Mark, I know we don't. We've talked about it before.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: We try not to put too much emphasis on numbers
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: in spring training. But what are you seeing specifically from
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Logan o' hoppy that gives you an indication that maybe
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: these numbers are actually reflective of a better approach at
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: the plate.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: For Logan? And I think it's been fortunate the few
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: TV games that have been accessible, he has played in
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: a lot of them, so I've seen a few of
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: the home runs. I think it is three now from
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: a technical standpoint, not certain, but it appears he might
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: be standing closer to the plate, which is a much
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: better matchup. We commented on some of the off season videos,
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: one of them in particular, and I know that I
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: was a little bit intrigued by it. It looked very
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: pole oriented. But if you're going to be a poll hitter,
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: the matchup that works best is to crowd the plate
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: netto does it. The trade off is you're going to
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: wear some pitches, maybe a lot of them. But if
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: that is kind of your mindset, and if Logan feels
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: like he's best pulling the ball and obviously in the
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: air is great, He's so far so good. I'm interested
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: if Fletch can maybe talk about his work with the glove,
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: because we it seems like some of the starters have
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: had decent outings. I'm not, but we noticed that there.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: I commented on one of the other shows, I did
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: see that glove movement that I'm not a huge fan
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: of personally, the late movement trying to get underneath the ball,
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: and it's probably here to stay. So maybe pitchers are
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: not not rattled at all by To me, it looks
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: maybe a little dramatic, and I don't know if that's
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: even a story at all. But he's had a very
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: very good start, and that's very encouraging.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Really speak much to his receiving, because first of all,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: even the games, I'm mad, I'm watching from behind him,
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: so I'm not even seeing, you know, the way he's
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: receiving the ball, and I'm certainly not an expert in
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: it any way, But I do know that he's got
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Max Stassy working with him every day and he was
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: a great receiver, and Kurtzuzuki is now the manager, plus
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: even Travis Darnaut. So I think if any group of
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: people can can get Logan on the right track as
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: far as the defensive stuff, I think it's those guys.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: One guy who's impressed me so far is Oswald Perrazza.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure he's going to make the team. Is
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: a utility guy, and once again numbers of numbers in
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: spring training, but he entered Wednesday hitting three twenty one
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: with a one forty six ops, two homers, four doubles,
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: seven RBIs, and he's looked pretty good defensively at short
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: I'm just wondering, Fletch, could you know Joann mccott Moncatta,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: he's always he's injured often, so there's a good chance
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Paraza can get some time at third base, but I
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: don't think his splits are that great from the right side.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: Could you envision a possible platoon at third base with
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Paraza getting a little more playing time than he might
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: normally get in in a utility role.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, if Marcatta is healthy, I think he's going
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: to play every day. But there's obviously he's not healthy
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: a lot, and in that case they do have kind
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: of a conga line of guys lined up to replace him.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: Christian Morris played third, Grison has played third, Parazo's obviously
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: played third, Jehimer Candelario has been playing pretty well the spring.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: He also can play third, so I think they're sort
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: of getting ready to replace Moncata for when he gets hurt,
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: and that could be any of those guys.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, where are we at second base right now? I
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: saw a story yesterday that projected Adam Frasier as the
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: starting second baseman. Where is Christian Moore in the mix?
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Is there anyone else in that mix right now? Who's
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: sort of that seems to be the one spot that's
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: sort of off for grab.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: Still, Yeah, I mean it is very interesting. I probably
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: going into spring, I thought it was going to be
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Christian Moore, and then about four or five days ago,
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: I thought it was going to be Adam Fraser. And
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: then lately I really looked into Christian Moore and his
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: numbers are not very good, but he'd been hitting some
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: balls really hard, and I started to think, man, it
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: seems like maybe he's hitting balls better than his numbers.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: So I looked it up and his exit velocity, I
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: know you guys can laugh at this too, is like
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: one of the best of the majors and a way
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: better than it was last year. And you know, you
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: talk to some other people and they go, yeah, he's
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: really made some improvements offensively, it's just not showing up
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: and hits yet. So I do think that they feel
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: like he's hit a lot better than his numbers, and
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: considering that he was sort of the guy that started
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: off off, I think with the position, I wouldn't be
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: surprised if he ends up with it. Plus, we still
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: do have two weeks to go before they have to
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: make the decision. But Adam Fraser is looking like a
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: great safety net and he's a very good defensive league
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: and Perry likes to say he's one of those guys
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: that won't lose you games and they need, you know,
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: some kind of guys like that. So I think it's
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: probably gonna be one of those two guys. And right
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: now I'd probably go sixty forty for Christian Moore.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: Wow, Mark, are you, from what little action you've seen
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: on TV, anything about Christian Moore's approach that you've noticed
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: as being an improvement over last year.
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: I haven't seen much coverage, unfortunately, but you know, earlier
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: we had talked about it, what stat line well or
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: in a mo roster spot starting spot, and I think
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: I threw out two fifty could have been even a
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: little lower if there was a floor, But it's kind
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: of in that area now. If you are going off
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: the stats, which most teams, it's probably a blend.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: I'd like to think that there are some jobs, you know,
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: maybe on most teams available, and this team definitely, you know,
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: nothing set in stone. Moncano's salary is also not excessive,
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: so it's not as if you're having to, you know,
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: eat some huge amount if somebody out plays him. But
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: as far as track record, he is, you know, has
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: the strongest track record there more. The ex velocity is
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: not something to laugh at. It that's the way the
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: game is evaluated now. And if he's squaring balls up
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: and I need to look a little bit closer admittedly
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: aware he's squaring them up, and how you know are
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: they line outs? Is he hitting it on the ground.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: I saw Tiodosio had a really high exit vealo the
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: other day and it was it was a smothered ball.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: I think you got to hit on it. But you know,
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: it's good to see. Solid contact is really good to see.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: There are a number of guys that I haven't seen
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: much of that from, and I did look at you know,
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: a lot of at bats there and we can talk
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: about that. But Fraser's also a left handed bat, so
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: in a lineup that can be a little bit right
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: handed heavy. You know. That's that's very good. And it's
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: the first time I've heard the quote about he won't
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: lose you games, which I guess there's a if there's that,
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: there's probably the other side of it too, And hopefully
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: that label you know, was never attached to yours truly,
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: but so it goes all right.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: We're going to take a quick break for a word
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: from our sponsors, and when we come back, we'll get
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: a little more into the pitching side, and we'll talk
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: a little bit about first year manager Kurt Suzuki and
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: what his impact on the club has been so far.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: So we'll be right back with more Halo Territory.
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• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Halo Territory. I guess is Jeff Fletcher,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Angels beat writer from the Orange County Register. Before we
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: get into the pitching, we do need to bring up
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: some of the nice, not so bright spots on the
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: offensive side, and we talked about Mike Trout's sprints, Spury,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: speed and A. I agree with Fletch. I think if
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: he feels good, that's at least an encouraging sign, But
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: at the plate doesn't seem like he has looked that good.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: What are you seeing from him at this point, Fletch?
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: Does he show any signs of returning to the mic
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: is something resembling the Mike Trout we all knew and loved.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Well, He's not striking out as much as he did
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: last year, so I think that that's something to take that.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: He said that the problems he was having last year
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: when he was striking out so much was because he
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: wasn't really seeing the ball well enough because his head
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: was getting all out of whack with his swing. And
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: so if he feels like his head is back in
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: the right place, he's seeing the ball and at least
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: making contact. So I'm not too worried about Mike Trout.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: I don't think he's going to be thousand ops Mike Trout,
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: but I definitely think he could be eight thirty Mic
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: Trout again, which would be better than anybody else they have,
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: So I think he'll be all right. Mark.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: What are you seeing from Trout and what do you
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: think about his sprint speeds at first base?
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: On the surface of positive for a guy that has
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: battled injury, is that represented I'm assuming that's one hundred
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: percent effort, and if there are balls he's looking to
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: beat out, then that's you don't have time to think,
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: and you're not going to think when the game, you know,
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: is happening, especially during the regular season. If you're sniffing
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: a hit, you're going to go for it. So that
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: is that is really nice. I haven't seen well too
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: many abouts again, but the solid contact, it doesn't appear
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: to have really arrived yet that he has a strong
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: track record. I will say this and I've hesitated, but
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: mechanically speaking, he has cited some things that he believes
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: are the culprit for some of his struggles. I think
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: he's his leg in particular. At times he has mentioned
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: as kind of one of the one of the biggest culprits,
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: and I think that he's right about that. But part
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: of it too, I think his timing hasn't been as
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: good as it has been in the past. Last year especially,
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: I noticed he was late getting his foot in the air.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: He usually uses a bigger leg kick and you know,
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: as a player, he's light years better than I ever was.
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: But certain things like that I can spot and I
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: have thought for a while. And the thing is when
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: you're late those swings. Because you're late, you're going to
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: have to make up ground very quickly, and some things
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: are going to either be expedited or cut out of
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: the swing. So in order to get the bat to
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: the ball, if you are late, you're going to do
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: some funky things sometimes. So I know when he's mentioning that.
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: Sometimes it's kind of vague, I do know what he's
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: getting at, and it creates kind of a at times,
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: a little bit of an excessive curvature back getting geeky.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: But the trout I like is the one that you
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: know is line to line and is taking his singles
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: as well. That's boring. Nobody thinks that, you know whatever,
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: but that that represents a very tough out at the plate,
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: a guy that can shoot it in the four hole.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: He used to hit a ton of doubles, rockets down
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: the third baseline. I know he still does to some degree,
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: but I'd like a little more emphasis on balls on
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: the line. He's going to hit his home runs as
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: strong as they come. But the high, you know, the
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: really high excessive launch angle. I think, you know, we
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: could bring it down a little bit and he's going
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: to have a fantastic season.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: Nolan shan Well came into camp hoping some improved bat
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: speed would lead to more power. So far, the numbers
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: aren't reflecting that a five forty ops, zero home or
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: zero RBI is going into Wednesday. What is going on
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: with him, Jeff? Any reason for concern there?
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, I haven't paid that much attention to Shanwell.
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: He played a few games in Vegas which I didn't
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: even see, and it's still so few with bats, and
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: I think everybody top to bottom admits that he's maybe
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: the best pure hitter that they have, you know, not
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: just power, but like being able to put the bat
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: on the ball moving around the field. So I don't
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: think anybody's really worried about twenty plate appearances so far
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: on spring training. If we're having this conversation on May first,
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: maybe it's a problem, but I think he'll be all right.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: And what about show Adell numbers not great eleven strikeouts,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: zero walks going into Wednesday's game. As he looked how
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: does he look to you? And what are you seeing
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: from him right now?
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he has looked a little out of sorts him.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: I have seen a little more. And you know, because
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: it's funny because he was really of the whole team
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: last year maybe the only guy that really overperformed what
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: you expected. Everybody else was at or below and so
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: he's maybe trying a little too hard to take the
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: next step and get even better. And you know, I
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: think that again, it's not very many at bats, but
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: he is still he has not looked quite right this spring. Mark.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: What is that next step for Nolan? I mean, can
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: you just improve your bad speed by a significant significant
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: amount in one offseason? Is it going to be more strength?
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: Shadow all we're talking about? Correct?
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah Nolan?
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like he's somewhat caught in the middle.
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: This rhetoric is he continues and you'll carry it for
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: a long time. Now. He did say something that made
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: a lot of sense, is hitting more doubles because he
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: is a first baseman, he doesn't run well and his
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: biggest strength plays better at other positions. To be honest,
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: he first basement are generally count going to drive the ball.
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: He could get to a twenty home run bat, I think,
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: but it's going to take some tweaking with the approach.
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: He's going to have to take more shots downfield and
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: be willing to cut it loose, which can be you know,
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: it takes away from some of the things he does well.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: That low exit velocity and slower bat speed is also
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: more precise, and I think that's one of his biggest strengths.
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: So finding that happy medium is going to be interesting.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: I watched the other day he got hit by a pitch.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: Maybe he has some history with the pitcher, but he
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: fired the bat down, looked like he was ready to fight.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: But he also crowds the plate big time, and he
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: made an error on defense. And it hasn't been a
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: great camp so far, and coming from a former player,
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: spring is not you know, is it important? It is? You?
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: Lighting the world on fire is great Kyan Paris. I
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: believe last year had I had an unbelievable spring, and
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: some guys every year have a great spring. Solaire seems
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: to be a strong performer, but you don't really want
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: to be hitting that poorly, so I think Nolan's probably
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: hoping for a you know, a two three hit game.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: With so few of bats, those numbers can change very quickly.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: But I'd like to see a little bit more out
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: of him, and I'd like to see a lot more
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: out of Darnault with the bat. It's been very slow going.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: He did not have a good season last year. I
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: think with the glove he still brings a lot of
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: value there. But you know the years he's produced with
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: the bat. Last year wasn't a good one for him,
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: and so far in camp a lot of offers a
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: lot of case. Maybe Fletch's something I don't, but that's
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: kind of what I see.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Let's turn our attention to the pitching staff. Now, you
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: say Kokuchi away from the team with the Japanese team
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: in the World Baseball Classic. Other guys, projected rotation guys,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: the numbers aren't looking great. I wanted to focus, especially
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: on Reid Detmer's big transition for him going from the
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: bullpen back to the rotation. How does he look so far,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: Fletch and as he hit any bumps in the road
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: with that's with that move.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: You know. I would say for each of these pictures,
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: especially like Demurs and Grays and Ardriguez, each of their starts,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: they seem to have like one inning where things are
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: not together, and then the rest of it they settled
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: in and they finished really strong. So I think it's
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: just they're trying to figure out, you know, how to
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: get rolling. You know, I think that stuff is there
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: for all of them. They all have shown really flashes
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: of good stuff. We'll see what Mike maatics, the impact
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: he can have on them and getting them refined. But
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: I think they've all got the stuff there that they need.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: It's just a matter of consistency and maybe, you know,
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: the wrong pitch. One wrong pitch can easily end up
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: with the two or three on board, and you just
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: can't do that. So they're gonna have to clear those
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: out a little bit.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Do we still see Alec Manoa holding down that fifth
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: rotation spot at this point?
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: You know, that's a great question. His first two starts
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: were pretty good and then the last one was disaster,
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: and Jack Kahanowitz actually pitched very well, so I would
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: say that he's making up some ground on him. And
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: as we speak here with you know, two weeks ago,
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: Manoa is pitching today. You know, right after I get
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: done talking to you guys, I'm gonna go watch him pitch,
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: so that'll be a big indication of how things are going.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: But I would say definitely those two guys probably are
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: in the running for the number five spot, and Mania
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: he can be options still, he could be in the bullpen,
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: so I don't think anything's a foregone a conclusion with him.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: In terms of the bullpen. Where do you see that
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: pecking order right now? It seems like, you know, on
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: an encouraging note, Robert Stevenson appears healthy. There's a good
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: chance Ben Joyce might be back early in the season.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: What's sort of the order higher leverage spots from those
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: two guys as we start the season.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: Yes, Stevenson I would expect for opening day. Joyce I'm
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: gonna probably say is going to be like three weeks
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: into the season, maybe, just kind of based on the
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: trajectory of what he's doing so far. He hasn't faced
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: hitters yet, but he's throwing bullpens regularly. I think they're
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: just trying to be really cautious with him. They don't
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: want him to blow up again. And then after that,
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: you know, Yates, Romano, Pomerant, Suitor, all these guys. I
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: don't really think they needed to see much in spring
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: training because they all have pretty long careers that you
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: know what they are. And in the case of Romano
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: and Yates, they just need to be healthy and you
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: know what they are. Last year they were not healthy,
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: so so far they seem to be, so I think
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: they'll go into the season kind of I'm gonna guess
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: Yates is the closer and the season starts, but the
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: bullpens shuffle around all the time, and if somebody slumps
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: and somebody else will get a chance, Stevenson could get
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: a chance. I think by the end of the year,
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Joyce should be the closer. He better be the closer
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: or something wrong, And I think that's it's still the
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: long term answer.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Are there any emerging arms in that bullpen? It seems
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: like every year some young guy jumps up, some guy
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: you didn't expect, maybe a non roster invite any arms
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: that could win some spots and you know, be a
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: factor early in the season.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think Nick Sandlin is a guy that
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: I don't know if he'd really call him a young guy.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: He's a guy that they've gotten a he'd been with
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: the Blue Jays and he's coming off elbow surgery. And
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: he's a guy who was winning's healthy with the Guardians
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: and Blue Jays has always been good. He's just had
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: a lot of health problems, but he's also faced hitters
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: and has a good chance of being ready sometime in April.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: And if they get him, you know, I think he
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: should be a part of the bullpen. As for like
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: the prospects, there's really nobody that's jumping up and doing well.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, the two probably best young pitchers so far
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: in camp have been Ryan Johnson and George Closson. Both
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: those guys could be really eventually, but I think for
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: now they still want them to be starters. Oh, Sam Balkan,
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: as you mentioned Sam Ju, Yeah, he's actually looked really good.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: He's looked really good out of the bullpen. I'd say
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: he's probably gonna make the team at this point. And
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: he's definitely a guy that could have been a starter.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: At times they thought of him as a starter. I
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: think now they're just he said, so many health problems,
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: they're just going to let him go in the bullpen.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: And he's had a great spring. Granted it's like four games,
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: but he's looked so far.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Mark, looking at the totality of this bullpen, any chance
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: it could be a strength, there's still some big concerns
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: for you.
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: I don't think it is going to be a bad one.
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: I think elite, probably not, but consistent is what I
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: think they are going for Sandlin. I saw him throwing
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: the other day, either Jeff's video or someone's video. That's
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: a a tough arm angle, especially on righties. I think
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: it was a nice pick up. His stuff looks good.
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: His numbers have always been good at the health as
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: it's the case great Ce Bachman doing well. I am
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: a fan of him. I like his repertoire. I think
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: he looks nasty and I think it's probably for the
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: best that we keep him in the bullpen. Starting it's
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: a different mindset. That's the part of the thing with
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: Debtmers too. I've watched at least two one for sure,
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: but maybe two. I think he's so I don't know.
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: The Deptmers came out of the bullpen last year attacked
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: and he went right after guys at least one of
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: the starts. It was in it's early in spring and
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: gatta YadA, but trying to mix the pitches and kind
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: of I don't know. Starting off with some curveballs. I
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: think he has possibly a new pitch, maybe a split
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: or something. It stinks having to speculate so much. I
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: wish I could say it greatly, but this is where
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: we're at. So I really am hoping Detmer's uh yeah,
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: takes off and does really well class and has huge stuff.
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: I mean that that if he can kind of I
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: think it's the base on balls that that he struggled with,
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: but his stuff is premium that looks really good as
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: Oh and the last thought I had watching Kohanowitz, I'm
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: not seeing the defined big sinker the other day. It
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: looked like a little bit of two scene but more
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: of a straighter pitch and then kind of a cutter
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: off of that sometimes labeled as a slider. So it
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: looked like a pretty decently decent change, at least as
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: far as the repertoire goes. Probably by design, but part
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: of what I thought meant him really good when he
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: was doing well was that that sinker that got so
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: many ground balls and a lot of double plays. So
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: interested in that? And is Bremner pitching today? What's the
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: deal with that?
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: Where is he is? He is pitching at some point
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: in today's game, So we'll see how that goes, all.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: Right, and look forward to watching.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: We are taping on Wednesday for listeners wondering, So Fletch
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: has now been around long enough where you're on your
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: what six or seventh manager? I've lost track and how
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: many years?
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: Sosia Ostmas, Madden, Nevin wash Montgomery, Suzuki?
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: Well six, yeah, okay, So how Kurtzuzuki first year guy,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: not very removed from his playing days, obviously, what has
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: he been like? What are you seeing in his first
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: spring of his manager? Is he putting his stamp whatever
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: that stamp is on this team?
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Well, there's really only so much a manager can do
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: in spring training. But I will say one thing. The
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: reason that I'm talking to you guys at ten thirty
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: of the morning on a Wednesday, is because they are
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: having a show and go, which means that they don't
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: instead of showing up at like seven thirty to do
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: a bunch of work, they can just show up, you know,
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: whenever they need to show up to get ready for
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: the game, which is you know, could be nine thirty,
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: could be ten, could be ten thirty. And that's the
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: kind of thing that Mike Sosha would never do, and
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: it's I think the players appreciate that he, being pretty
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: not far removed from being a player, really understands the
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: grind of spring training, and I think that the players
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: probably appreciate that. And it's a little bit of a break.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: I'm sure Mark can talk to the grind of being
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: at the clubhouse every day at seven when you're used
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: to playing night games all year, and it's probably not
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: fun for the players. So getting this little break, I
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: think it's just a sign that the Kurtsuzuki is still
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: bonds with them. And you know, as for really what
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: kind of managery is I don't think we are going
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: to know until they start playing some real games. But
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: so far people seem to like him. He's good to
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: the media if we like him.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Is he running what you'd consider a tight camp more
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: of a relaxed camp.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: It seems pretty relaxed to me, But I'm not out
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: there doing any drills, so I don't know.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: You're not Sam Blum out there working on your infield
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: and hands with Ron Watt. Yeah. Is there any particular
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: part of the game that Kurt is putting an emphasis on?
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: More focus on.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: I mean They always say all the same stuff every spring.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: They say, this is the year we're going to focus
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: on situational hitting. I think I've heard like twenty years
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: in a row that's like, we're going to get the
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: runners in from third with less than two outs. It's
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: funny that actually last year the Angels were one of
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: the better teams in baseball and getting runners in from
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: third with lessened two outs. But nobody knew that because
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: their problem was they couldn't get their runners third in
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: the first place, so they didn't score for them any runs.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: So people like to pick out like these little situational
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: things that you're bad at, when actually you're bad at
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: the big things, which is you know, hitting. So but anyway,
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: that's a tangent. I don't I don't think they're working
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: on anything especially new. It's just the normal baseball stuff now.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: Mike's Sosha, as Mark fondly remembers, was a master at
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: the spring training team meeting, bringing some levity, some humor
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: to almost every day. And I remember sitting outside that
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: clubhouse just hearing the walls just shake with laughter. Is
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: there anything Kurtzuzuki is doing to build chemistry? Maybe you know,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: whether it's those kinds of meetings, those kinds of pranks
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: that seem to loosen everybody up over the years when
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Social was here, anything you're seeing along those lines.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: I think Tim Buss is in charge of chemistry and levity.
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: He came over with Jill Madden, and Madden called him
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: a VP and chargage stuff, and now he's continued to
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: escalate in his job duties, but he's still kind of
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: runs before they stretch. They all gather together in the outfield,
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: and there seems to be a lot of laughter coming
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: from that, and I think that's a Timbuss production.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: Gotcha here. We'll close a show with the last question
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: about the regime change at the top of the organization.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: As we talked about in our last show or too,
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: Molly Jolly is replacing John Carpino as team president. Molly
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: was a chief financial officer for many years. Has there
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: been any Molly Jolly sightings in the backfields, Jeff, as
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: she made herself any more visible.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: No, she is not. But we also didn't really see
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: John Carpino in spring training either. So I think that
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: any fans who are expecting any sort of a change
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: in terms of the things that matter to them based
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: on this change, are going to be disappointed pretty much.
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: Artie Moreno was in charge of everything that matters, and
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: Artie Reno is still in charge of everything that matters.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: So whoever the number two person is, it's not going
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: to really make much difference. It's still going to be
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: what already wants. And I think that there's not really
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: going to be any change in terms of the day
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: to day, either the baseball operation or the operation at large.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Mark, were you a big fan of the Show and Go?
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: I know we saw that in the regular season often
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: when teams were slumping, but don't see much of that
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: in spring training.
• 31:29
  Speaker 3: It's a good way to mix it up, I think
• 31:31
  Speaker 3: at times we usually did it once in spring I know,
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: social like to put the work in, there's no doubt
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: about it, and that's the mentality I carried through the
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: rest of my career, and quite honestly, when we do
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: it some other places that I played, I worried that
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: I wasn't always prepared because whether or not, you know,
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: you get accustomed to this is what you do, this
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: is the routine. You know. I put this amount of
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: work in and then on days where show up much later,
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: but some guys advocate for I know Joe Madden was
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: saying some things, and you know, I didn't feel they
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: need to press back on his opinions. But workload management,
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: it seems like he's not a fan of on field
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: batting practice. I think there are a lot of benefits
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: to it, and I know some managers get you know,
• 32:19
  Speaker 3: that's how they communicate with their players as walk in
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: the outfield. Yeah, Buck Showalter did it, Kirk Gibson did it,
• 32:27
  Speaker 3: many others. You know, they just make their rounds, as
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: they call it, and that's a good way just to
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: kind of get some FaceTime because otherwise in the locker room,
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: people are doing their thing and you don't want to
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: interrupt her or otherwise. Caitaan Dana is mono nucleosis is
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: he's kind of back and starting to mix it up.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: He's been back and he's thrown some bullpens. He still
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: has a face any hitters yet. Obviously he's not going
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: to be ready for the start of the season, and
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: I think he was really a super strong candidate for
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: the Major League Rop anyway, So he's probably going to
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: get to be in the triple A rotation and maybe
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: just be a little bit behind the other starters when
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: the season starts, maybe not thrown as many innings as
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: those guys, but he'll have the chance, you know, when
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: when they need somebody, when the call comes in May
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: or June or whatever, that he should be one of
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: the guys on the list.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Any other health health concerns, Yeah, I was gonna mention
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: Josh Lowe. He hasn't played much at all this well.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Josh Lowe had an oblique and which is
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: the injury that he had for the last two years,
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: although he says this is his other oblique, so he's
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: not really that worried about it. He is supposed to
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: be getting in some minor league games this weekend and
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: just you can bat, you know, ten times a day
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: in those minor league games, and he's going to kind
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: of get caught up there, and you know, they seem
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: to be pretty confident that he'll be ready for opening Day.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: All right, we'll close our show with that. Jeff Fletcher,
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: longtime beat writer for the Orange County Register, Thanks for
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: joining us today. Thank you for joining us. Please like
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: and subscribe, and we will see you next time on
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: Halo Territory.
• 34:28
  Speaker 5: M HM.