Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / POWER OUTAGE: How concerning is Mike Trout's second-half production drop?

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POWER OUTAGE: How concerning is Mike Trout's second-half production drop? · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What to make of Mike Trout's 2026 season? 35-year-old center
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: fielder burst out of the gates with 10 homers and
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: 21 RBIs in his first 31 games in March and April.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: But over the final three months of the season, Trout
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: had just five homers and 18 RBIs in 68 games.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Where has all his power gone? Here to help us
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: make some sense out of this all and to discuss
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: some other Halos-related topics is Jeff Fletcher, the longtime Angels
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: beat writer for the Orange County Register. Fletch, how you
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: doing today? Welcome to the show. Appreciate you coming on.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: I'm good.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Thanks for having me. And I'm not nearly a long
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: time compared to you.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I'm no longer, so that's no time. So, Fletch, what
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: do you think happened to Trout in the second half
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: of this season and how concerning– Is his drop off
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: in production, I'm talking about a guy with four years
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: left in his contract.
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: Well, he's 35, so you got to start there. And
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: if you look around the majors at guys who are
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: that age, there's not too many of them who are hitting,
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: being really productive. I think the most homers anybody of
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: that age or older hit was Nolan Arenado at 30.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: And then there's a few other guys that hit like 25, 26, 27,
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: but they also played more games than Trout did this year. So,
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: I think there's no getting around the fact that he's
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: getting older. He's also talked about kind of a mechanical
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: tweak that he's been or mechanical flaw that he's been
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: trying to fix for years. It seems like where he
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: and Mark probably understands this more than me, but he
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: says he gets ahead a little too early and then
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: he loses his head, loses his sight of the ball.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: And so then he's just not recognizing the pitches and
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: he's not, you know, barreling them up. So he says
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: he's got this little foot thing that he does to
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: try to fix that sometimes where he steps back a
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: little bit with his back foot. I asked him in
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: August because he started doing it again, and he hit
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: some balls really hard. And I just said, well, why
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: don't you do that all the time? He said, well,
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: I've thought that too. But then it turns out that
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: it causes some other little thing that bothers him. So
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: it makes him uncomfortable. So he doesn't do it all
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: the time. He still does it some of the time. Anyway,
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: he's going to have to.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Figure it out.
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: Or he's just going to keep being this player or worse. But,
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: you know, who knows? I don't have the answers, unfortunately.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: How about you, Mark?
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: We've seen Max Muncy of the Dodgers do that step-back thing,
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: and I haven't watched him closely enough to know if
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: he's doing it consistently, if he's doing it all the time.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: But it seems like when you're going back and forth,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: it's like going back and forth might seem worse than
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: trying to, you know, have a temporary fix. You're the
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: big league hitter here, Mark. What do you see from
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Trout in the second half especially?
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Well, it wasn't as strong as this first half. And
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: I think that I see the adjustments and I know
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: that they are fun to point out on the broadcast
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: and everyone thinks, or for some reason kind of clutches
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: to it. Like, Oh, this is going to be, if
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: he does produce and integrates it this is, this is
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: here to last. I mean, this is his new swing.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: This is everything. It's a bandaid in my opinion, Max
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Muncy does it a bit too. It's a rhythm drill.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: You would do it in the cage generally when it,
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, I guess I will kind of piggyback what
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Fletch was saying. What I think has really gone on
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: is his timing has been inconsistent. And I've thought that
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: for a while now. He's talking about getting stuck on
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: his backside and the head movement and everything. When I watch,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: if you're late getting started, you have to make up
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: for that. And what happens is you're going to have
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: to cut out some parts of your swing because your
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: brain knows the ball is coming in 96 miles an hour.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: And you don't have much time to get there. And
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: so I think what he does is he will use
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: a lot of lateral tilt, therefore dropping his head. But
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: all of it is an effort to kind of get
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: on plane and make up for lost time. Normally he
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: hits with a bigger leg kick. And if you go
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: back and look at, and I have, when he first
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: bust onto the scene, a rather unique swing. It's changed
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: over the years, but extremely direct and punchy, especially early
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: on with almost an abbreviated follow through chase Utley kind
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: of had a similar thing, but over the years, I
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: think it's changed as, as his, uh, maybe mindset more
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: balls in the air. I think for him, he's a
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: great candidate to, it's hard to turn it off entirely,
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: but try and limit the mechanical thoughts. Um, you don't
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: want to go the rest of your career chasing your
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: tail with, uh, something that you're maybe never really able
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: to define. So, uh, That would be my thoughts on that.
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: It's not really a question. I guess this was arguably
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: about as optimized, in my opinion, as Trout's going to
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: be at this age and the multiple surgeries, which are
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: a bigger deal, in my opinion, than everything else. I
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: guess moving to left field was something he had considered.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: I had asked Mike if he had any thoughts why
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: left field over right field. And then I guess second
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: part of that is who is in consideration to play
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: center field if If Mike does move to a corner.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: Well, that's a great question. I think that left field
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: is a lot closer to the dugout for one. So
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: that could be part of the part of the equation.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: I'm not I'm being totally serious. I think that he
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: just realized he hadn't played that much center field in
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: a long time. And in the offseason, when you're thinking
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: about what you'd like to do, that's what's in his head. Like, hey,
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: I'm a center fielder. This year, he actually did it.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: And so maybe his, his head caught up to reality, go, wow,
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: this is a lot of running and this is a
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: lot of work. And if I did something else, I would,
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: you know, feel better. I'm a little bit skeptical that
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: it makes that much difference because, you know, I think
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: the left fielder is still running to, to back up
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: some things and he's chasing after every foul ball. The
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: center fielder is not chasing her and he's got to
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: worry about the foul, the walls on the foul balls
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: and stuff like that. So, who knows? I think it's
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: all just trying to just try something different. You know,
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: that's basically when they moved into right a couple of
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: years ago, Perry basically said like, you know, I don't
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: know if this is going to work, but we have
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: to try something different. So I think that's what they're
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: doing again.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Fletch, do you think the next center fielder for the
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: angels is in the system right now, or are they
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: going to have to go outside if they really want
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: to upgrade at that position?
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Well, I don't know who there is. If you go outside,
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: there's not really, a great option. I mean, there's other
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: guys that have flaws or, you know, I wish that
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: Bryce Teodosio could, could learn to hit just a little bit.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: You know, I'm saying if he could just get a
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: 600 OPS, which is bad, but it's playable for his
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: ability to play center field, you can bat him 90.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: And if the rest of your lineup was good, he
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: would just catch everything. And I think it would be
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: a huge help to their run prevention, but you can't have,
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: you know, a 480 OPS. That's just not doable. But,
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: you know, if he could bunt for some more hits,
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: if somebody could teach him how to just be a
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: little better, then I think that could be, you know,
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: a nice solution for at least until they're able to
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: develop a, you know, a long-term guy who can hit infield.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: Does that mean Nelson Rada is not ready?
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm not sure Nelson Rada is a whole lot
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: better hitter right now than Teodosio. I think he's got
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: a lot of problems too. And if you look at,
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: is in the PCL is producing like a 750 OPS, 780,
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: something like that. And the PCL, you got to be
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: like a thousand to be, you know, Christian Moore was,
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: was like a thousand down there and we saw what happened.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: So they all are. I mean, that's why it almost
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: gives me some hope to seeing modest. Like it, it just,
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: I mean, all the big numbers seem to have a
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: hard time translating. Maybe it's the, the guy that's a
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: little more under the radar, but we've talked, and I
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: think I have a question later about the, the PCL
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: has become, I don't know if they're going to have
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: to figure it out, but go ahead, Mike.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, let's talk about a player who's more on
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: the rise and on the decline. Zach Netto was clearly
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: their best position player this year. He hit 239 with
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: a 766 OPS, led the team with 27 homers, 31 doubles,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: 77 RBIs, 102 runs. Zach, 70 walks is pretty darn
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: good for him. 215 strikeouts is not. But he also
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: had 24 stolen bases in 157 games. So he posted.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: He played all year. But we've mentioned this on the show.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Throughout the year, we did notice a discernible difference in
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: his demeanor and his focus from the first half to
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: the second half.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: What do you think?
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: It seemed like something was bothering Zach early in the season,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: especially those first two months. What do you think happened?
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: What do you think was going on then? And what
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: do you think changed?
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, I think there's no question that, you know,
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: the trade deadline, which was a little after, you know,
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: the period you're talking about, that was in his head.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: And I asked him flat out about it. He denied it. But,
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: you know, the numbers are unmistakable. Between the all-star break
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: and basically like right after the trade deadline, he was
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: not a very good baseball player. he was doing a
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: lot of things wrong and he admitted it was the
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: most stressful time of his career. And then I said, well,
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: was that affecting your performance? He goes, no. So, you know,
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: I don't know how those two things can be true
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: at the same time. But I think once he got
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: past that, once Mo talked to him, it's kind of
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: settled him down. I think he relaxed. He got back
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: more into, the kind of player he was. I also
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: think that, you know, I was looking through his month-by-month
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: stats this year, and the month that he had, like,
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: the lowest batting average and most strikeouts was also the
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: month that he had the most homers, and that was June.
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: So a part of me is wondering if he got
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: in this little homer binge and then started to get,
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: you know, ideas in his head, like, hey, I can
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: hit 40 homers. And then he started just like selling
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: out totally for that. And that made him go into
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: a little slump. And then trade rumors followed that. And
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: I think he just needed to take a step back,
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: realize the kind of player he is, what he does best.
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: He doesn't have to hit 40 homers. You know, he
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: can hit 25 to 30, play good defense, try to
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: not strike out all the time. And, you know, I
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: think he just got kind of back to himself at
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: the end.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: Mark, you didn't see Zach selling out at all this year,
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: did you? What do you mean sell it? Oh, for
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: the power? I saw a lot of things from him.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: I mean, early in the year, it was this barrage
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: or binge of walks out of nowhere virtually for a
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: guy that's very aggressive. To me, looking, you know, in hindsight,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: I think that was somewhat of a response maybe to perceived,
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: you know, criticism of his game or, you know, his
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: offense as a whole. You know, you don't walk enough,
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: your own base isn't high enough and he kind of
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: looked like to me he was out to show somebody
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: uh that he could in fact do that um and
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: then he kind of overdid it was too passive uh
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: the bottom line is his swing if you look at
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: like savant and they do a great job with the
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: illustrator and the metrics he is extreme in categories the
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: most in baseball as far as his contact point almost
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: two feet out in front of home plate um where
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: you have certain like trout catches it behind home plate
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: so that's an enormous gap zach's got to match up
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: uh his swing with his getting the front foot down
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: early causes his head to drift too so when you
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: see those wild swings and he chases especially those sliders
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: and he really had a hard time with pitches that
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: were moving down this year the strike to balls that
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: kind of fell off the table he wasn't able to
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: really match up that well in that regard so I
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: would assume over the winter I mean he had a
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: huge leg kick when he when he first came on
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: and now he's kind of a foot down early guy
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: I think he would probably benefit from watching some guys
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: who got the foot down early, really well. Uh, Nelson
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: Cruz comes to mind, Ian Kinsler, um, a few others, uh,
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: but all the while Zach still had a fantastic season
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: in many regards, uh, tons of extra base hits and his,
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: and his defense and improved. And I think that's why
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: when we kind of did our little thing of MVPs,
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: I said, I like to see improvement and I guess improvement, um,
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: kind of piggybacks to what Fletch, I was wondering, uh,
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: Kurt Suzuki, um, obviously he's gotten, uh, uh, Fair share
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: of criticism, the one loss record being a big deal.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: But things got a lot better after Mike Maddox departed.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: We can only surmise that Mike Maddox was kind of
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: set in his ways, especially with the technology. It seemed
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: like they said that. And Kurt had a little more
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: breathing room in some ways. What do you think Kurt
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: improved upon the most throughout the year as a manager
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: of this team? Obviously a challenging year, but I think
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: he got better in some ways, too.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's a tough one. I think that it's all–
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: basically his managerial job is entirely how he deals with
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: the players. I think that you can dice and slice
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: all the little X's and O's and when did he
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: bring in this reliever or when did he pinch hit
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: for that guy. The bottom line is the team was
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: not very good. So none of that was going to work.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: There was no way that he was going to manufacture
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: a good bullpen out of the pitchers that he had
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: in the bullpen. So I think the longer he went
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: as a manager, he just– got more comfortable with the
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: player relationships and talking to the media and all that
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: kind of stuff. So I think that that's, you know,
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: and not being so afraid to say the wrong thing,
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: which I think was a big problem at the beginning
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: of the year. And I think that sort of changed
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: a little bit, not entirely as the year went on. And,
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: you know, but as far as this like strategic stuff,
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: I don't think it changed too much. And I think
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: it was only so much you could do.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Now it's time for On Deck, presented by Fox One. Well,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: we want to first remind viewers and listeners that every
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: National League Division Series, Championship Series, and World Series game
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: will be available on the Fox One app. Well, Mark,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: it was quite the opening day to the playoffs on Tuesday.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: The Atlanta Braves came back with a late Austin Riley
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: three-run homer to beat the Phillies. The Chicago White Sox
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: coming off three, three 100-loss seasons, won their playoff opener
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: against the Astros. I don't know about you, but I'm
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: rooting for these White Sox. I love their story. The
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: New York Yankees beat up on the Boston Red Sox
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: in their opener, and that was behind two Massachusetts natives
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: in pitcher Cam Schwittler and Ben Rice, who had a
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: huge night. And in San Diego for the nightcap, Joe Musgrove,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: big fan favorite of the Padres, the right-hander, the big right-hander,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: hadn't pitched in two full seasons, comes out of the bullpen,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: throws a scoreless ninth to wrap up their win over
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: the Cubs. Real emotional moment down there in Petco Park. But, Mark,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: I think you had your eye on another pitcher for
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: the Padres named Michael King. Right-hander had seven scoreless innings,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: gave up one hit, eight strikeouts, three walks in the
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: win for the Padres, and a performance that might actually
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: have some ramifications for the Angels.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: Tell us how. Michael King, he has a potential opt-out
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: in his contract. He signed a three-year at 75. And
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: I suspect that he will, in fact, opt out. And
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: why wouldn't he? With the performance that he put on
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: last night, a very strong season, he can easily best
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: that deal with something five or six years, maybe more.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: I'm sure his agent would advocate for more. But for
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: a team like the Angels, who have a new owner,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: have a new philosophy, have a new everything, I don't...
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Can't see a better way than reinforcing their strength. They're
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: starting pitching with a guy like this, who you can
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: slot in as a co-number one, clear number one, whatever
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: you want to do. I think Reid Detmers would challenge
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: just about anybody in the league, and Walbert Urania as well.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: But for a team like the Angels, they might have
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: to pony it up, but that's the way the game goes.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: And I think he's just an outstanding pitcher. In addition,
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: one of my favorites, Chase Mydroth, I believe, just did
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: a three-run home run for the White Sox. Another scrappy
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: player in the vein of Wade Meckler. So we are
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: keeping an eye on all these things and thinking about
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: your halos.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a guy you really like going into
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: the season for the Angels before he signed with the Padres.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: And they got a really, I think it's a team-friendly
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: deal because he missed about half the 2025 season with
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: a knee injury. But Michael King this year went 12-10
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: with a 3.21 ERA and 32 starts, 185 innings, 66
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: earned runs, 70 walks, a little high, 159 strikeouts. Not
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: a huge swing and miss strikeout guy, but a really
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: nice sinker changeup mix.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: A lot of weak contact. I don't know.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: What do you think it's going to take to sign him?
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: I mean, really, the better he does in the playoffs,
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: isn't that, as Mo Vaughn once said back in the
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: mid-90s after some big games, the price keeps going up.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: What do you think it's going to cost to get
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: a pitcher like this this winter?
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: I think it will be the going rate for an ace.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Maybe not quite as much as Scooble, or it won't
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: be as much. I mean, that's pretty certain, but He's
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: going to command something with a two in the first
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: digit and then, I don't know, a five, six, seven
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: in the second. And it's just, more than that, it's
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: about the number of years, unless you want to do
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: one of, he just took a three-year deal. He may
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: decide to opt in as well. I suspect he will not.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: He is the most likely candidate to explore the free
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: agent market. But outstanding arm, 31 years old, so quite
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: a few very good years left in him. And if
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: the Angels want to make a splash, there it is.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: MLB on Fox is streaming on Fox One. The postseason
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: is here and we have your front row seat to
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: the wildest walk-offs, lights out pitching, and clutch plays all
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: playoffs long. Stream each NLDS and NLCS game, then the
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: 2026 World Series live on Fox One. At home or
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: on the go, live or on demand, never miss a moment.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Stream now.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Start your Fox One three-day free trial today at fox1. com.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: And welcome back to Halo Territory with Jeff Fletcher of
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: the Orange County Register, Mark Trumbo, the former Angel Slugger,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: and Mike DiGiovanni, the former L.A. Times baseball writer. Well, Mark,
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: I really like how you said scooble there. That was me.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Want to butcher it? No, unlike me, you did not
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: butcher it. You just said it with pizzazz, and I
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: think our listeners will appreciate that. So let's turn to
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: the first baseman, Nolan Shanawale, a.k.a.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: Shanawale.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: It's no secret I'm not a huge fan of the guy.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: I do think he's a very solid overall player, really
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: good bat-to-ball skills, but a low ceiling who will not
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: hit for enough power to warrant sticking at first base. Fletch,
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: what do you think his long-term future is with the Angels?
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Maybe even a better question, does he have a long-term
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: future with the Angels?
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, they don't have a better alternative at
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: this point. I was, you know, when he was first
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: in the big leagues, he was 23 years old. I
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: was right there with the optimistic thing that, oh, you know,
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: he's going to grow into some power. Now, as we've
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: gotten into, you know, three full seasons, I'm a little
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: skeptical that I think there's probably still some more, but
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: I don't know that he's ever going to really have
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: first base power. But I think that that's, you know,
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: we've seen what happens with the angels when they're just
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: like trying to hit home runs and they even actually
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: hit a lot of home runs last year and they
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: still stunk. So I think you do need some guys
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: in your lineup who are actually going to hit the
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: ball and not strike out. And especially left-handed hitters, which
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: they really have been, you know, mostly lacking. That's gotten
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: a little better lately. But I think there's certainly value
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: in having him. And until you've got some better alternative,
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: until you've got some guy who can play first base
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: and hit 30 homers, I think you just leave him there. And,
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: you know, ideally, if you get some other big hitters
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: at maybe other positions, you don't have to have him hitting,
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: you know, third. If he's hitting sixth or something like
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: that and just moving the ball, not striking out, I
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: think we saw when he was out at the end
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: of the season, you go, wow, they really miss him
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: because even though he wasn't doing a lot, he was
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: hitting the ball and you do need somebody. I've said
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: this about 40 times in the last minute to hit
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: the ball. And I think that that's a, you don't
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: want to just throw that guy away.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: I think that young and controllable. I mean, that's the
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: part that it's, And to Fletch's point, I mean, him
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: and Vaughn Grissom did form a bit of a platoon
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: over there. I don't know if they're going to continue
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: to platoon a lot of these guys that seem pretty
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: set in stone this year with a guy like Meckler, too.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: I don't think Wade should be platooning. I think he
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: can hold his own against both sides. And Nolan, likewise,
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: I've seen him hang in there against lefties, too. I
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: have a couple different questions, but. I'll give you an
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: easier one, Fletch. Uh, I'll take the hard ball off
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: the table, um, pertain to the former owner, but, uh,
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: obviously this team needs, uh, more offense, but, uh, their
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: defense ranked, I think 29th in the league. And if
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: you look around the, the playoff teams, at least when
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: I'm watching these teams play premium defense, you saw Harper's
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: gaffe and right field. Um, he was able to make
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: up for it, but the angels just cannot get away. Uh,
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: even with as strong as they're starting pitching, playing, uh,
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: this kind of defense. Now they did improve immediately with
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: Nolan or Logan Ohapi, excuse me, departing, but they will
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: need to make strides. And I think that maybe they
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: can tackle that issue easier than finding some of these
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: bigger bats. But would you say the defense as a
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: whole was a, it was a disappointment this year to
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: me at least.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. And I think that there's two spots
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: in particular. I think center field is a very important
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: defensive position. That's why I mentioned Ted Osio earlier. that
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: even just those last few games when he was playing,
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: you saw all these balls that were getting caught that
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: wouldn't have been caught. And, uh, you know, I think
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: that they need, if not him, they need somebody out
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: there who's like, uh, an above average center fielder. And
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: I think moving trout gives them the opportunity to do that.
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: And also at first base, you know, when they didn't
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: have Sean, well, uh, Vaughn Grissom is not first baseman. He's,
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: you know, not even, didn't even play it very much, uh,
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: at all in his life up until this time he
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: got a chance. And, uh, He gave it a shot,
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: but he's just not really, it's not really him. I
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: think you got Neto and Guzman.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: They're fine.
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: Second base, like who knows what's going to happen at
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: second base. And catcher, you know, at best, if Ballesteros
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: is the catcher, you know, you can, if he's average
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: and can hit, then that's, you know, the best case scenario.
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: So I think those are really the spots where there's
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: the biggest room for upgrade, I think, is having a
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: real center fielder, figuring out second base and having Sean
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: well over Grissom at first base.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: Kind of piggybacking off of, uh, that last defensive question
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: in the press conference, it was a little bit buried, but, uh,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: John Mosaic referenced a couple of players needing, potentially needing
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: more seasoning, uh, development wise. And the guys that came
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: to mind first were, were the young players. He talked
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: about Denzer Guzman. Uh, you know, I can't, um, you know,
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: not be acknowledged at 20, you know, he's a college
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: senior college, I guess that was, was Mo's analogy and
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: incredibly young player that was forced to play third base. Uh,
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: I guess that would be because Yohan Mankata, uh, got
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: injured and, uh, Denzer was thrust into the position. I
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: think he held his own, uh, although the bat didn't, um,
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: you know, it wasn't able to translate. Similarly, Christian Moore's hitting, uh,
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: lit it up in Salt Lake and, uh, you know,
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: Guzman better than Moore, but, I think if there's is
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: there anyone beyond those two that Mo could have been
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: talking about? And is your interpretation of his answer more seasoning?
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: And I guess it would be on the minor league level.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: But Salt Lake is just such a strange fit for
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: I said winter ball would be the best fit. And
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: I assume Guzman might, you know, not stereotyping, but he
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: would be a candidate. But Christian Moore, where is he
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: going to get more seasoning if that was one of
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: the players he was referencing? Yeah, that's a great question.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: I kind of lumped three guys together, which is Guzman,
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: Christian Moore and Moises Ballesteros. Those were sort of the
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: three guys who were in the majors who were really
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: just barely major leaguers, that they were guys that probably
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: was nothing left for them in the minors, but they're
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: not really ready for the majors. And I think you
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: just kind of have to hang with them, with those
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: guys and just let them take their lumps in the
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: majors and hope they get better because I think they're
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: at the point where sending them back to the minors,
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: especially to Salt Lake is not really productive. So you
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: just need to sort of let, you know, winter ball's
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: a good solution too. I don't know if that's on the,
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: on the table for any of those guys. I think the,
• 26:26
  Speaker 3: another thing that Mo referred to was, you know, the
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: younger prospects that we've not seen in the majors that
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: he really made a point of how we're not going to,
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: rush these guys. We want these guys to get as
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: much time as they need to be, you know, impact
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: major leaguers and not just rush them up at the
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: first sign that they might be ready. So those are two,
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: two things that he did talk about.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Do you think Guzman is the closest to being that
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: solution as opposed to a question at his position?
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, probably, uh, of, of those three guys, I think
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: he's probably the best combination of hitting and defense that,
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: you know, as far as being ready, I mean, he's
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: shown a lot of signs, you know, for weeks stretches
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: where he looked like he's a regular, you know, above
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: average major leaguer, like right then, you know, for a
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: short time. And then he would kind of go back
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: and he would slump for a little while, but you know,
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: he's 22. So let's just see what happens next year.
• 27:24
  Speaker 3: The other two guys also had some ups and downs
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: Christian Moore, not nearly as many ups, but by steroids
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: had a really good September. So, you know, I think
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: you just kind of have to let those guys play
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: and see what happens.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: All right. Hey, we're going to switch it up a
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: bit and have a little fun. Fletch, what is it
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: like being the only Angels beat writer, especially on the road?
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Mark was sort of speculating and wondering, is there more
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: pressure being like the only guy out there and so
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: many fans are relying almost exclusively on you for information?
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Is it less pressure because there's not maybe as much
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: competition on the beat? And do you miss having guys
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: like me and Sam Blum around to keep you on
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: your toes?
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: You know what, Deej, I really miss you.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: I miss you a lot.
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: It was a lot of fun having you out there
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: on the beat. Who else did you ask about?
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: Name escapes me.
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: Seriously, I tell you, the thing that stresses me out
• 28:23
  Speaker 3: every day is the story I have to write before
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: the game, which if there's nothing happening– you have to
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: kind of like find something yourself. And when it's basically
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: just me, that means that I'm not going to like
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: stumble into another reporter asking the manager a good question
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: and going, hey, that's an interesting topic. It's all me.
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: I'm going to have to figure it out for myself.
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: So that gets a little old. And it's also, this
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: has nothing to do with the other reporters, but when
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: the team is on the road, ABTV doesn't have Erica
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: go in the post-game interview.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: She does the postgame show on the field. So then
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: I end up basically doing the ABTV postgame interview for
• 29:07
  Speaker 3: them by asking all my questions, which just get shown
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: on TV, which is a little bit frustrating. And hopefully
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: under next year, maybe with a new owner, they'll have
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: a little more of a budget to actually have an
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: extra person on the road. So I'm not doing their
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: postgame show for them.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: What, they're not paying you a huge chunk of change
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: to ask their questions for them, Fletch?
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: I'm going to send them a big invoice.
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: I told you it was a good question. You doubt me.
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: Oh, no.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: I'm not doubting you. I was curious. I mean, it's
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: a totally different dynamic, and I think with a new owner,
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: I'd like to see people are caught off guard that
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: an ex-player would be advocating for more coverage, but maybe
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: the hard print paper copy is, you know, for a
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: certain demographic, but I think it is better for the team,
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: especially to have and better for the writers. And it
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: just seems a little lonely, but also I was like, man,
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: when you're the only person tasked with doing this, you know,
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: maybe there is a question like for instance, Denzer Guzman.
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: I know that he had worked on his swing. They
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: kept him out of some games. And I know that
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: you had, you had asked about it. I, I know
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: Brady Anderson. I'm not sure if you did talk to Brady,
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: but he, he generally is not going to share all
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: that much, but, What I think happened is he got
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: closer to the plate is part of the adjustment. But,
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: you know, things like that, you're tasked with asking, trying
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: to ask all of the right questions, probably not always
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: getting the answers. And being the only source for, you know,
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: we've used you. We should probably also come up with
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: a nice little, that can be your job, Deej. Compensation
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: for the help. But I know almost every other show
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: is constantly, your name is over and over and over.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: And that's, you know, there's a reason for it. Um,
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: so I thought that that might, that might be an
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: interesting one. Um, so you asked that, I guess it's
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: hard cause I watching some of these teams, the rays,
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: for example, when they played the halos, they didn't impress
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: me this year. Uh, they, yet they're the team on,
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: on a buy. Um, who would be some of your
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: playoff for your world series predictions, Fletch, which teams really
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: look solid to you this year?
• 31:23
  Speaker 3: I mean, just biased, the Padres have looked great, you know,
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: in their recent games. And they played great, really, in
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: the second half. So I think the Padres are kind
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: of my– I don't know if you call them a
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: sleeper anymore because they didn't win the division. But, A,
• 31:42
  Speaker 3: I think– you know, the two teams that I think
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: have the best chance to beat the Dodgers in the
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: National League, it's the Brewers, obviously, and then the Padres,
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: I would say, would be the next team. Over in
• 31:51
  Speaker 3: the American League, it's just like– American League is not good.
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: I mean, even the Yankees, when the Angels play the Yankees,
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: they don't look like they're anything, you know, magical. And
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: the Rays, even the Angels split against the Rays this year. So,
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: you know, it's just really hard to get too excited
• 32:08
  Speaker 3: about any team in the American League.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree on the Padres. I think Boston looked
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: excellent against the Angels. I mean, this is a real team.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: And then they just Totally steamrolled. I think a three
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: game series too is very tough. A team like the Cubs,
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: you play 162 and you run into, if you want
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: to say a sleeping giant is what I see. You got,
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: when they click and they fire and even some of the,
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: you know, Manny Machado, they all, you know, all hot
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: at the right time. You got Mason Miller coming in
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: and that stadium, why I bring it up so often is,
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: I mean, take a look, you know, or is it
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: Stan Kroenke and company going to be able to, do
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: something on that level or the angel fans. I think
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: they are passionate and you know, that's just down the freeway,
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: but talk about a fun environment to play in. Um,
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: as opposed to some of the criticism I saw from
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: an AL West club, the only AL West club to
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: make the playoffs, uh, and the, and the Astros and
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: they didn't last long. So, um, they didn't seem to
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: appreciate the fan enthusiasm either, which never goes over well.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: The AL West, it was, it was tough to watch
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: this year, Fletch. Yeah.
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I think the angels had, uh, like a 500
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: record or maybe even a little better in the division.
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: That's embarrassing for the division itself.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: Thanks for the White Sox to putting the AL West
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: out of their misery. No AL West teams left.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: You like them. You like them. You're rooting for them.
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: I do like the White Sox.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: I did get to spend a lot of time with
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: them last year and this year covering some series for
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: the Chicago Sun-Times and AP. I like Will Venable. He's
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: got a nice vibe as their manager. Fun, young clubhouse,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: a lot of youth, a lot of enthusiasm. I remember
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: even in their 100-loss season in 25, I think they
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: swept the Angels in Anaheim.
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: I can't remember if they swept, but.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: After every one of those games, they're like way out
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: of the race. They were having massive dance parties in
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: the clubhouse. You could hear the music blasting from the
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: Angels interview room. It's like, what are these guys doing?
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: They're on their way to another 100-loss season. They were
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: just having a blast. So good for them. I think
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: this Padre-Brewer series, I'm not going to say that's going
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: to be for the World Series because they'll still have
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: to get through the Dodgers probably. That, to me, is
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: a great matchup. Padre is not only the hottest team,
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: they have a great offense, and they have, if it's
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: not the best bullpen, it's pretty close. And I like,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: you know, look what the Yankees did. They crushed the
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: Red Sox without Aaron Judge, without Stanton playing. I don't
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: know if those two guys will be back. They have
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: a great, you know, with Schlittler. Man, you really have
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: to be careful pronouncing his name. You got to focus.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Max Fried and Garrett Cole in the rotation. That's a
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: pretty good three. But I have questions about their bullpen
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: moving forward. I think the Dodgers, they're going to really benefit.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: Whoever wins this Phillies Brave Series tonight is going to
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: be beat up. Their rotation is going to be in tatters.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: I don't think they're going to be able to recover
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: and beat a team like the Dodgers. So how about
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: another Dodgers, Padres, NLCS? And I love what Pat Murphy's
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: done with the Brewers. I don't want to shortchange them.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: They'd be great too, but what a Southern California rivalry
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: that would be.
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: I will say this about the Phillies because they had
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: to use Zach Wheeler in the last regular season game.
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: So he's not pitching the wild card series. So the
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: Phillies happened to win. then he gets game one of
• 35:44
  Speaker 3: the series against the Dodgers.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: But can Sanchez come back for game two? What did
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: he throw, 112?
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: There's probably Luzardo game two, and then Sanchez game three.
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: None of these things have anything to do with your angels.
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: It's so fun talking about the playoffs. I mean, baseball
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: isn't a good place. I know that we will tackle
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: to whoever said that, you know, wake up and there's
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: a CBA issue coming. Yeah, aware of it. And we
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: will try and tackle it. Part of the problem right
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: now is they're miles apart. And to have a show
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: and cover essentially just, you know, at some point, both
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: sides are going to have to get serious and start
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: presenting some solutions that make sense. I think everyone is
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: rooting for no work stoppage. It may be the case
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: that it does happen. Hopefully it's not. incredibly protracted. But
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: the subject as a whole is a lot tougher to tackle.
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: And it's very easy to say, hey, you know, bozos,
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: there ain't going to be no season. You're wasting your breath.
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: And it's like, all right, well, we got a job
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: to do. So we're going to try and do it
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: and keep it, you know, loose and informative. But we
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: will try and get to that. But I think baseball,
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: look at these teams, look at these, you know, these crowds,
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: look at the enthusiasm. There's some good things, some really
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: good things happening.
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So enjoy the playoffs while you can. baseball fans,
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: and Angels fans. And that's going to do it for
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: today's show. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for listening. Thank you,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Jeff Fletcher, the Orange County Register, for joining us. Please
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: like and subscribe, and we will see you next time
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: on Halo Territory.