Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / GONE, NOT FORGOTTEN: Jo Adell, Logan O'Hoppe reflect on careers with Angels

Transcript

GONE, NOT FORGOTTEN: Jo Adell, Logan O'Hoppe reflect on careers with Angels · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, Angel fans, and welcome back to Halo Territory with
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Mike DiGiovanna, former LA Times baseball writer and host of
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the show, and Mark Trumbo, the former Angel slugger and
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: our regular co-host.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Mark, good to see you. How are you doing today?
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Everything's good.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: It's school orientation for our daughter, and I am here
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: with you. We're going to discuss a few topics that
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: we didn't get to on the previous episode and some
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: new topics, including the first game of the series against
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: the Guardians.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, the Angels welcome Joe Adele back to Anaheim with
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: a really nice video tribute in the first inning of
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Monday night's game. Joe, of course, was traded to Cleveland
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: for catching prospect Jacob Cozart on August 3rd. And Joe
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: showed his appreciation for all the love by hitting a
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: tie-breaking RBI single in the fifth inning of the Guardians'
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: 4-2 win over the Angels in the series opener. Well,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: we caught up with Joe before the game yesterday. Let's
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: have a listen to what he had to say about
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: a number of topics.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: What's the adjustment period been like for you?
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: Honestly, the coolest part about being over here is just
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: jumping right into games and being right in that playoff race.
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: That's where we are right now. We're expecting to come
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: out here and win every game. really to step in
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: the middle of the lineup and be a guy to
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: help a team do that i'm i'm really honored and
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: glad for a chance to be able to be a
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: part of this and do this so really just playing
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: baseball and trying to win a game honestly that thinking
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: about that made the transition that much easier what has
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: that been like i know here you didn't really get
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: a chance to play meaningful games late in the year
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: was that like over here it was it was huge
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: i mean it's huge just showing it to the park
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: and um you know, taking those bats that are unselfish,
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: you know, every time you get up here, it's like,
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: you know, we're trying to move a runner. We're trying
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: to make something work. We're trying to find a way to, to,
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: to leave the game with a W. And I feel
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: like when the focus is about how to win and
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: how to do that, being in the best version of
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: yourself every day is easy.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Adjustment in the direction of your swing here. And how
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: did that happen? Um, Honestly, I kind of kept a
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: lot of the things the same.
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: When I first got over in Cleveland, there were some
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: things that we wanted to discuss as far as timing goes,
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: about how to kind of get that timing back where
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: I wanted. I was kind of really starting to feel
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: through some of those things right before the trade deadline,
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: but really kind of feeling better as far as the
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: timing goes, being more consistent on my timing. So not
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: really a whole lot of directional stuff, just more of
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: how I'm getting ready to hit pitches.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Now that hit gave Adele 13 RBIs in his last
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: six games and 18 RBIs in his first 18 games
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: with the Guardians. He also had an 861 OPS, four homers,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: and five doubles in those 18 games. Now we heard
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Joe say he didn't make any major adjustments to his swing,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: but what do you think, Mark? Are you seeing anything
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: maybe a little more subtle in there?
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: I looked at it extensively, at least I could, and
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: tried to compare and contrast before You had even spoke
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: to him, so that question about had he changed anything
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: direction-wise came from me. I think that he is staying
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: more square. Why I thought it was possibly the direction
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: part of it, I think we may have a.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Graphic, too, that we can throw up at some point.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Yes, if you're watching on YouTube, we have two pictures
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: here in the top one with the Angels. He's clearly,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: I don't want to say bailing out, but his weight
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: has definitely shifted forward and to the left side. And
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: on the one below the Guardians, the stance looks rather perfect.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Mark, why don't you pick it up from here?
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: This is what I clued into, and it looks like,
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: especially for those that aren't watching, the top graphic is
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: it Joe with the Angels, the pitches, probably some sort
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: of slider, but it's going to most definitely be on
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: the corner. It's away, it's elevated, and his lower body
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: is already opening up. So the intent to me, it
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: looks like he is looking to hammer this ball into
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: left field, left center field. With the Guardians, I'm seeing
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: a guy that is giving himself a far better chance
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: to hit to all fields. And it looks like someone
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: that's not trying to help the ball into the air.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: That is a concept that can be very tough because
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: And especially in today's game, you want to hit the
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: ball in the air. But when you try and do
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: it artificially, it usually ends the exact opposite. And a
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: lot of foul balls, a lot of whiffs, a lot
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: of ground balls, actually hitting down and through it. Do
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: you want to chop down? No, you're not looking to
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: chop down on the ball. But the swing is going,
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: you know, do you swing up? Do you swing down?
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: Ted Williams, slide up, swing, all these things. There's elements
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: of both. The hands start higher. They're going to have
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: to come down. They're going to have to level out.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: What everybody really wants is length in the hitting zone.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: You don't want an extreme. On the broadcast, they've talked
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: about Netto not having as dramatic an uppercut. With Savant,
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: it's very easy to go and see where things stand.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: They have done an excellent job if you're into that stuff.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: And Zach has attempted to level out his swing, I think,
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: a bit. And Joe, his production speaks for itself. And
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: hearing those comments, I guess a question for you, hearing
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: him talk about coming with the mentality of just trying
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: to win every game, that's got to be a stark
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: contrast compared to being.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Out of it in what month? June.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: You did say that they had some hot streaks and
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: showed some signs of life at some point, maybe that
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: New York series, but it's.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Been a while. Well, yeah, that was sort of our
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: next topic with Joe.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: You know, the Guardians entered Tuesday night's game two and
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: a half games back, the Chicago White Sox in the
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: central and a half game ahead of Houston for that
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: third wildcard spot. Now, Adele certainly, as Mark mentioned, seems
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: energized by the move from a last place club to
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: a contender. Now, I couldn't remember the exact circumstances, Mark,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: of your trades from Anaheim to Arizona to Seattle and.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Did you have a move like that?
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: If not, could you see in other players who came
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: to or left losing situations, went to winning situations, you
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: circled back with them when you faced them later in
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: the year? What can a move like that do for
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: a player? And how does it change your outlook? Because, man,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: it did sure seem like, you know, we saw a
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: lot of guys trying to put up a lot of
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: numbers in the first half for the Angels when they
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: were pretty well out of it by then. it's a
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: little different of an approach when you get to the
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: park every day, when you're just focused on winning a
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: ball game. And I saw that with the Dodgers as
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: good as they are and have been for so long.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: That was Dave Roberts' focus. You know, how can we
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: win this ball game today? What can I do as
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: a player, as a coach, whatever, to help a team
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: win a game today? And that way you don't worry about,
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: you know, August and June or July. And it's a
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: concept you would think everybody has, but As an individual player,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: I'm guessing that's not always the case.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: Are you referring to me being on the competitive version
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: of the Angels, circa 11, 12, and 13, and then
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: going to the 100 lost Diamondbacks?
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: I didn't remember exactly what the Diamondbacks' status was at
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: the time. I knew they weren't exactly contendant.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: The Dodgers were dragging us around. I think we played
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: them 19 times and they've won at least 17. It
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: felt like maybe more. I think the better example is
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: getting traded from Seattle. Uh, when I was there for
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: about a half season and a 500 club, if I
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: ever saw one, um, the definition of win one, lose one,
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: win one, lose one.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: We really couldn't get anything going.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: Not to say we didn't have some talent, but I
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: got traded to the Orioles the next year, the lone
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: playoff team. I was on wildcard game one and done, but, uh,
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: It was a fun game. It was in the Rogers Center.
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: It was rocking. And I contributed a little bit with
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: a home run early and not much after that. The
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: Blue Jays were deeper on the pitching side, but that
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: is what it is. However, the mindset of playing for
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: a team that is going places is completely different. The
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: focus really does become bigger than yourself. You want to contribute.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: You want to put up big numbers. But when the
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: team itself is not in any kind of race– You're
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: playing for yourself, essentially. You can try and say all
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: the right things, but if it's not a playoff appearance,
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: then you have to be a bit selfish.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: There's no other way around it. Is there any.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Way in these last five weeks of the season for
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: the Angels, even though they're out of it, that they
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: can try to at least incorporate some of that mentality,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: considering they do have a few new players in the lineup?
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Like we said, we've seen some improvement
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: in Zach Netto's approach. My goodness, if he can carry
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: this approach where he's not trying to hit everything 430
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: feet to the pull side, that's going to be a
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: huge benefit for the Angels.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: I'm still trying to get a gauge on Mo Baller
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: and what he's.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: Going to bring to this team.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Sean Wells hurt right now, but it just seems like
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: there's got to be something the Angels can do to
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: maybe set some kind of tone for going into spring training,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: that this is going to be a different team, more baller.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: more contact, fewer strikeouts than we've seen for the last
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: two years.
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: I'll give you a couple options quickly. I'd say one
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: option is to play spoiler and do what you can
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: to relish the opportunity to ruin someone else's playoff chances.
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: Or like the Halo honk Roger Lodge, the season starts
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: anew whatever day. you want to pick tomorrow the next
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: day half joking but wipe the slate clean and it's
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: a very new looking team there's new guys in the
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: lineup there might be more and probably will be and
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: start looking ahead for the future as if this is
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: almost next season already You're auditioning for a starting job.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: You have a new boss in town, in Mosaic, and
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: he evaluates talent a lot different than his predecessor did.
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: So I think these guys, take Netto, for example. It
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: seems like he's tightened it up. I think you would
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: probably agree. Why exactly is that? I think part of
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: it is he knows that there's a different set of
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: eyes on him and the expectations might be different.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: True. Hey, we're going to take a quick break for
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: a word from our sponsors. We'll come back.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: We'll finish up our conversation about Joe Adele and talk
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: a little bit more about another ex-angel, Logan Ohapi.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Bella, Bella, Bella, where?
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: I don't know where Bella is, but I know how
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: to take care of my pup.
• 11:05
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• 11:57
  Speaker 1: And welcome back to Halo Territory with Mark Trumbo and
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Mike DiGiovanna. Well, Joe Adele had one of the greatest
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: defensive games in Major League history. When he robbed not one,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: not two, but three homers, and the Angels won nothing
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: win over Seattle on April 4th. The Angels planned a
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: bobblehead night to commemorate that game when the Mariners returned
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: to Anaheim in September, September 16th to be exact. And
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: they will still go through with that event despite the
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: trade of Adele to Cleveland. And on top of that,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: they're also giving away a Joe Adele football jersey on
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Sunday when they play the Philadelphia Ravens. phillies i almost
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: said eagles uh and i just thought that was funny
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: so we did ask joe about that uh before monday's
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: game see what he had to say.
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: Still giving away your bobblehead and they're also doing a
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: joe adult jersey what are your thoughts on that well yeah.
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: It's kind of crazy i guess the jerseys may give
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: it away next series here at home and um I
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: was kind of glad maybe it wasn't while I was
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: here because I felt like that might have been a
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: little weird.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: But it's cool, though.
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: It's a tribute to me and the bobblehead of that
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: crazy moment that we had, that crazy game against Seattle.
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: It's pretty cool that they would recognize that and do
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: that for me here in Anaheim. So, like I said,
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: it's crazy to see how far I've come as a player.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: You know, where I was, I remember where I was
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: when I was younger and trying to figure out how
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: to be in the big leagues, how to stay, and
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: all those memories and great things of moments where I
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: wasn't my best. Every time I come here, I'll be
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: reminded of being the player I am and how I
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: was able to become who I am today.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Well, as awkward as it may seem to give a
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Joe Adele bobblehead away in September, kudos to the Angels
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: for following through on this giveaway event. Obviously, they probably had,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: you know, all the bobbleheads were ordered soon after that game, shipped,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: sitting there. What are you going to do with, what, 20,000,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: 30,000 bobbleheads? And I think, you know, the jersey seems
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: a little weird to me, but the bobblehead, that was
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: one of the more memorable games I've seen in Angel Stadium.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: I've seen most of the memorable games in there. And
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: I guess for me, it's like, Yeah, Joe Adele maybe
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: didn't have the career we all thought or hoped he
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: would have in Anaheim. He had one really good year
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: in 25. But this guy spent almost 10 years, I
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: believe it was, with this organization. Mark, what did you
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: think of this whole decision by the team?
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: You like it? You think it's a good move on
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: their part?
• 14:32
  Speaker 6: Great.
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: Not a hot topic for me. I think it's a
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: nice thing. No doubt already you've got to do something
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: with them, so the timing works here. I think more
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: than that, Joe is a very classy guy. We've said
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: that before, but hearing his comments, I don't think a
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: professional PR person could script a better way to talk
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: about your tenure with a former employer. He said things
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: that I think resonated. Well, if they don't resonate, then
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: I don't know what to tell you because. No bitterness,
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: no animosity towards his old club, just gratitude. And it
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: seems like he is well aware of his career arc, struggles, improvements.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: And he was another guy, we've said it many times,
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: as have others, a bit rushed and developed at the
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: big leagues and took his lumps. There were some of
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: the ugliest plays, unfortunately. But to his credit, it doesn't
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: seem to really bother him. It doesn't seem like he
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: was all that embarrassed by some of these things. And
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: I think each person's individual tolerance for things like that.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Might be different.
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: I would probably still be dreading some of those, but
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: it wouldn't be for the better. It's best to move on.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: You know, you shank one and golf. Hey, Ben golfs,
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: by the way, that insurance ad just for you. But
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: I'm sure, Ben, you've shanked one or two in your
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: golfing career, but you got to move on from it.
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: If you dwell on it, it's no good and joke.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: Has done a very good job, and Cleveland's getting the
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: best version of him. I don't like saying who lost
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: the trade, but I do know that Cleveland was hoping
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: for some thump from a right-handed hitter, and it sounds
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: like his defense has been sharp, too.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Steven Vogt, their manager, mentioned that before Monday's game,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: that they really haven't had a big right-handed thumper in
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: their lineup.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: And, boy, he goes there.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: They stick him right in the three-hole, the cleanup spot,
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: and 18 RBIs, 18 rebuys in 18 games.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: Man, nothing wrong with that.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, I think as long as Joe continues to
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: make more consistent contact, stay away from that sweeper off
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: the plate. He's going to be a nice addition for
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: the Guardians. Well, another player who has moved on from
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Anaheim and seems a little happier about it was catcher
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: Logan Ohapi, who was traded along with reliever Chase Silseth
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: to the Texas Rangers for minor leaguer infielder Angel Arredondo.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Ohapi was optioned to AAA right after that deal and
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: recalled by the Rangers over the weekend. He had some
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: interesting things to say in a Dallas Morning News article
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: written by Evan Grant, my longtime colleague.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Here's the headline.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: Logan Ohapi got a spark back after trade to Rangers.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Now can he add to the offense? And here's what
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: we're going to have a couple of excerpts from the story.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I'll read the first one. Quote, not only was I willing,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: but needed is the word I'd use for it. Ohapi
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: said of being optioned to the minors where he slashed 328.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: with a 1037 OPS over 15 games, quote, I was
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: very confident with what I was doing, wasn't convicted in
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: really anything I was doing on the field. But I
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: knew that what I had done in the past was
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: in there. So when I was told I got optioned,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: I was excited for it. I was actually more excited
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: than if I just came over here. I got that
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: spark back in me, like waking up in the morning
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: and feeling really excited to get to the field again.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Enjoying the game again is what I got out of it.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: That may not.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Sound like a lot on paper, but it's a pretty
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: big deal to me. Now, Mark, we heard a lot
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: about Logan and all that pressure and tension that seemed
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: to be building up in him maybe a month, six
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: weeks leading into this trade. And it almost seemed like
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: somebody stuck a pin in that balloon for him when
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: he got dealt and goes right to AAA.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: Is that what you saw in him? I think so.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: Just to clarify that first sentence, I believe, Red, I
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: wasn't very confident. If you said I was very confident.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: I don't think you were.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: To make sure people scrutinize every last detail of what
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: we do for some reason. But I think in contrast
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: with the way Joe handled things and the things he said,
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: A lot of fans have not been in love with
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: this part of it was probably due to some of
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: the words being clipped and taken a bit out of
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: context by that sleeper angels. I don't know if it's
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: AI or some guy, you know, in the mom's basement,
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: but it, it usually, I'm going to say it's some
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: sort of aggregate thing. It picked the worst part of it.
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: And without, you know, more information, it sounded quite selfish.
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: It almost as if can't, you know, be happier to
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: be out of that place. What a disaster. Didn't help
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: me at all. And it's not exactly what he's saying.
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: Although there was a part towards the end of that
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: article where I think he basically said everyone with the
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: Rangers has been very helpful.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: Immediately, almost.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: I know that he talked about them coming up with
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: a plan for him as soon as he got there. Offensively,
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: it appears as if he, he said it's a very
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: obvious swing change. I think he's just a bit more
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: upright in the box, but that swing looked unchanged to
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: me as far as the path it looked to identical
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: to what we saw here pull happy uh the one
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: hit he got against the angels he smothered a ground
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: ball in the sixth hole so that's a pitch that
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: yes he got a hit on it but it's a
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: damaged pitch a mistake and with the way that um
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: you know he's really his off-season training uh rolling over
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: uh that that is well you're going to roll over
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: um it's it's right there in front of you so
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: Beating up on the AAA competition, said it last episode,
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: say it every time, AAA competition, I don't even know
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: what to call it. Everyone's numbers are huge and very
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: hard to evaluate what you're getting, at least.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: On the offensive side.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: All right, we're going to take another quick break for
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: a word from our sponsors, and when we come back,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: we'll continue this conversation about Logan Ohapi.
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: One of the things that I wasn't very good at
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  Speaker 5: was playing Major League Baseball. One of the things that
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• 21:56
  Speaker 1: And welcome back to Halo Territory with Mark Trumbo and
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Mike DiGiovanno for a little more of that story that's
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: a little more in context. And Ohapi is kind of
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: tired of putting pressure on himself anyway without blaming the
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: Angels organization. He said that he, quote, needed the change
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: of scenery that came with the trade. Quote, I didn't
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: like the dude in the mirror on or off the field,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Ohapi said. It was the hardest four years of my
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: baseball life over there.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: It taught me a lot. I'm really grateful for that.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: We had a lot of good people over there, had
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: a lot of good experiences, but it brought a lot
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: of challenges. And I'd be lying if I said that
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: wasn't true. I wouldn't change anything if I could, but
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: the bottom line is it was hard. I'm really happy
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: that I can use what I learned now and help
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: this team as much as I can to get in
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: the playoffs. And the part that we didn't clip that
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: was at the end of this segment, he said, quote,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: I really feel like I had a stroke of luck
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: when I got traded over here. Everybody here has helped
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: me take steps.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: In the right direction.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: Now, Mark O'Hoppy was batting 209 with a 565 OPS,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: four homers, and 23 RBIs in 75 games for the
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Angels when he was traded. We often hear that term,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: this guy needs a change of scenery. But is this
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: like one of the really classic cases where it is
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: pretty true right here?
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: How else can you? put it.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: He seems to be happy to be elsewhere and the
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: Angels fans are probably happy that he is elsewhere. I'm
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: not trying to be overly critical. He had some success
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: and then he didn't. And a lot of his comments,
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: unfortunately for me, don't sound terribly self-reflective at times, or
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: maybe too much so. It's somewhere in the middle. A
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: lot of me-I statements and I think that it's hard
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: to really judge overly critical on himself, but not always
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: owning up to some of the things he did. I mean,
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: he doesn't talk at all about the hitting changes that
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: I've covered and were put on social media. Um, how
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: did those work out? You know, and who you decided
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: to go there, you decided to buy into that. I
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: don't believe anybody on the angels told him to go there.
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: And I don't know how open he was. They, they,
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: so that maybe they overcoached him. They brought in too
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: many guys. He had too many managers, but all the
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: rest of the guys are subject to the same things. Um, that's,
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: that's part of it. I, how many hitting coaches did
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: I really resonate with a few and it's not their fault.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: It's just the nature of the game. You got to
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: find a way, uh, even if you don't feel like
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: the help you're getting is, is totally ideal. And if
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: you're going to seek advice from outside help and, By
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: the way, that happens all the time in season for
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: those that think it doesn't. It's not always as obvious.
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: Sometimes it is, and a lot of guys have their
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: own coaches, so that is not a strange thing. But
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: if he's happy to be where he is, and I
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: know that you like some Instagram posts of looking good
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: in blue, I guess why not embrace your new environment?
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: That probably will endear him to the Rangers fans. Maybe
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: not so much to the Angels fans, but I think
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: it was long overdue. The production was only going one way,
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: and he needed to go elsewhere to hopefully turn into
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: the player he sees himself as.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I hope that happens for him.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Let's turn our attention to George Clausen, the rookie right-hander. Now,
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Monday night's start, the numbers didn't look– they looked okay
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: on the surface. He gave up three runs, two of
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: them earned. Six hits, struck out three, walked three in
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: five and a third innings. But, Mark, do you notice
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: a slight difference in pitch usage and a pretty big
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: difference in how he attacked lefties and righties, I understand?
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Just looking at.
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: One of the reports that– It is AI generated, but
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: that is kind of what it takes to pump something
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: out this quickly. If you have the graphic and can put.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: It up at some point.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: I'm going to put this up and I'm going to
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: let Mark explain it.
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: It looks overly complicated. It's not as much if, okay,
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: let's take the top right. This is going to be a,
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: there's pitch grades. I don't look as much at the
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: stuff and the stuff plus. If you really know what
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: you're looking for, you don't need an explanation, but Just
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: looking at the pitch usage in the top right, he
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: threw 46% slider, 44% fastball. That's a lot of sliders. No,
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: he's got a good one. But if you're going to
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: lean on it that heavily, all of the hitters are
• 26:32
  Speaker 3: going to get a look at it. They're going to
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: know what to expect out of it. And you're going
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: to have to land a lot of them for strikes too.
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: And he's done a pretty good job of doing that.
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: His pitch efficiency for a guy that has struggled with
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: walks before, I think it's been pretty good so far. Now,
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: one of the issues, and this has shown up on
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: a number of these reports, is his accuracy and pitch
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: locations to left-handed hitters. This one graded out as an F.
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: Most of them have been a D. Not much better.
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: Maybe one was improved. And why they grade out as
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: some of these Fs and Ds, the clusters are not ideal.
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: He's not repeating locations. He's not living on the edges correctly.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: Some of these sliders are just balls out of the
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: hand and easy takes, not setting up anything that will
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: come after it. And some of the fastballs, well, a
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: lot of them in this case to lefties, caught the
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: heart of the plate. And the Guardians hitters were a
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: number of balls hit very hard. It's really hard to
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: reason watching how crisp they look with an identical record
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: to the Rangers, who I know that wasn't the best
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: version of the Rangers, but this seems like a much
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: better ball club Cleveland starter Messick has a fastball.
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: It's, it's an invisible.
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: If there ever was one grades out as ridiculous plus 26,
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: I believe. So it's tied with Dylan sees a slider
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: is probably the most elite pitch in the game. If
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: I'm wrong about that. Sorry about it, but it's the guy,
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: I mean, he has, well, you describe what he looks
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: like out there physically, but, um he's got.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: He works extremely quickly and i like that about him
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: and you know you can see i talked to him
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: after the game and that's part of his thing he
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: he never he said he does not question the i
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: guess i won't say the sign the finger the catcher
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: puts down but now it's the button he pushes he
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: gets the ball gets the call and he's literally when
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: uh starting his delivery uh that's the easiest night for
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: the guy running the uh the pitch clock, because there's
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: zero chance he's ever going to have a pitch clock violation.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: But I think that rhythm really helps him get into that.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: I think it affects his mentality when you're not second-guessing
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: the pitch decision, when you're going right into your windup.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: And you can see, I don't know that he's like
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: that classic bulldog on the mound. He just looked very
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: much in control, very competent, just really good rhythm. And
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: I think, yeah, that was really neat to see.
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: That's what it looks like getting hitters out in the zone,
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: coming right at them and trusting your stuff. So when
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: we're talking about Detmers and some of the younger guys
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: with some command issues, a great example is young Parker Messick.
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: I mean, he is going to throw strikes. He is
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: going to throw and work quickly. And as a hitter,
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: you better be ready to hit. You better be ready
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: to swing that bat. It keeps his defense sharp, too.
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: You're not going to get guys caught on your toes,
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: maybe like one of the Halos was, or on your heels.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: It's your heels speaking of that george clauston was not
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: helped by a fifth inning error by third baseman denzer
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: guzman who failed to glove abrian rocchio one hopper to
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: his right and did not appear to have much urgency
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: as the ball rolled in the shallow left field That
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: allowed Rocchio to get to second base to open the inning,
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: and he later scored on that. Joe Adele, two out,
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: RBI single for a 2-1 lead. Now, Denzer has made
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: some really nice plays this year. I have to give
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: him credit. He's looked very good at times, spectacular at times,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: and we know errors are going to happen, but, Mark,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: it seemed like you had a little more trouble with
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: what happened after the ball nicked off his glove than
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: the fact that it nicked off the glove in the
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: first place.
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: I said I would do it. Anyone that fails to
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: hustle is going to get mentioned. He failed to give
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: the effort that I and many others would have liked
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: to see. Looked like the play itself kind of, I'm
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: going to say an ole to simplify it, but he
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: didn't move his feet very well. He was kind of
• 30:39
  Speaker 3: in a shifty type position to begin with. Yeah, and
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: not a great fundamental effort on the initial botched catch
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: and then just kind of looked at it And I
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: didn't see an all-out sprint, and Rocchio took it to him.
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: Kind of an awkward slide on Rocchio's part, but that
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: ended up being a double, and Adele came through with
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: an RBI single. So it led to a run on
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: what should have been a very routine out. Overall, I
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: think Guzman has looked quite good at third base. His
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: hitting has gone cold. I believe he's gone 50 or
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: so plate appearances without drawing a free pass. And his
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: challenges need a lot of refinement. So he's a young guy.
• 31:26
  Speaker 3: We know that there are going to be growing pains.
• 31:30
  Speaker 3: You want to see a guy evolving and taking steps
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: in the right direction. This play last night, he hasn't
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: made a ton of errors, although he did have an
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: error the other day as well that cost him the game. Just, well,
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: I don't know how you want to phrase it.
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: He made the great stop and then the throw was
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: shanked into the right field.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know if that's maybe trying to rush
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: it a little bit. Who knows?
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: But the growing pains are many with these young kids.
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: And it'll be interesting to see with Christian Moore at second.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: He started a really nice double play Monday night's game
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: with a backhand flip to Netto.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: And he almost.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Hit a ball out of the park to tie the
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: score in the bottom of the ninth inning.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: Mark, did you think that ball was out of here?
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: I certainly think the person, and that's great. I know
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: that it seems the fans, they love it. What I
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: think doesn't matter as an ex-player, I think at times
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: it can be challenging to watch any broadcast. It's not
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: that I disagree with what's being said. Sometimes it's, I've
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: just seen a lot of baseball. So to hear that
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: kind of enthusiasm and, and you know what, I don't
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: know what vantage point Wayne and Gooby have. And I guess,
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: If I were broadcasting, I'd rather err on the side
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: of getting the dramatic call right than looking like I
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: got caught off guard on a play that has that
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: much impact on a ball game. But my ears are
• 33:04
  Speaker 3: still ringing from.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: What could have been. Another nice swing. Yeah, it was.
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: Christian was able to get things going a little bit.
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: But the Angels right now, not much thump in their lineup.
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: Very starved for power. And the bottom portion of their order, Darno,
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: you know, he's an older player, and I think he'll
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: finish out this season, and we'll see as we go.
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: But when you're talking about pieces for the future, there's
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: a few guys that, you know, this might be it
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: for them.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: And we will close the show with that. Hey, thanks
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: for listening. Thanks for tuning in. We appreciate the support.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: Please like and subscribe, and we will see you next
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: time on ALO Territory.