Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / SLUMPS: Angels' win over Tigers can't mask struggles of several key hitters

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SLUMPS: Angels' win over Tigers can't mask struggles of several key hitters · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Hey, Angel fans, and welcome back to Halo Territory. I'm
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Mike D. Giovanna, former Early Times Baseball writer and host
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: of the show, joined by Mark Trumbo, the former Angel slugger,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: and my regular co host, How you doing Today?
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Mark enjoyed that game. Today we're recording after Sunday's marathon.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Almost a three hour one, but the Halo's got it done,
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: the scrappy Halos.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: You to like what you saw, party. There are some
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: things I like today. I'm not gonna lie. The Angels
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: did lose two out of three to Detroit. Kirby Yates
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: blew the save Friday night, gave up two runs on
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: the top of the ninth inning of a two to
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: one loss. Saturday night, the Angels just got Derek schoolbald.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Let's face it. They didn't have any answer for the
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: two Times say An Award winner. And then Sunday they
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: did just enough little things to eke out a three
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: to two series salvaging win over the Tigers. Uh. You know, yeah,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: I did like today's when I think the reason I
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: liked it is they did some of the little little
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: things that they really haven't done a good job of
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: this year. Primarily bottom of the six. I think it's
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: a two to one game. Oswald Perozzo leads off with
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: a single steal second base and backup catcher Tyler Heineman,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: whoa ground ball the second base advances the runner with
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: a a productive out and then Netto hits an Arbahi
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: single for a three to one lead that turned out
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: to be the winning run. And then the other thing.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: You know, I don't know much about this Tyler Heineman guy.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I don't know what his short term future is of
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: the team because Travis Darnault's on a rehab assignment, I believe,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: but he did he made a really uh clutch challenge
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: in the Was it the oh when look at my scorecard? Here?
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Bases loaded, fifth inning, one one game? Uh the all
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: star there? Uh, Dylan Dingler is up and uh what
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: was it would have been a two to oh pitch
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: challenges gets to strike one one that changed the whole complexion.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: At bat, Ryan Johnson punches out Dingler with a nice
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: sweeper to end the inning and the end this afternoon,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: and they end up going on to win. What did
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: you think about today's game? Did you not that this
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: is some you know, great indication of this team turning
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: things around. But at least they could take some satisfaction
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: and and and a you know, pretty well played win.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: I think that it was overall a nice game for
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: the Halos. I read a quote for the OSCI Register.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: It wasn't from Fletch but manager Kurt Suzuki. I think
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: it indicated that the Angels were just one big hit
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: away from uh kind of breaking through. And and maybe
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: big hit was Zach Nettle going the other way driving
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: in that insurance run. They needed it, they made it.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Or the Tigers tried to make it a little bit interesting,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: but that was really They weren't able to do much today.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: They didn't get any momentum going, not many hits, and
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Miz did not do a good job with his pitch
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: count and then came out with an injury. It looked
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: like on the comebackers. So yeah, credit to the Angels.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Mys when he's on can really deal. But the they
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: fought through some of bats, saw a lot of pitches
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: and got him out of there.
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: The other thing I think you can give him credit
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: for today was they you know, Kurt Suzuki hold the
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: right strings with his relief pitching and that has not
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: as we know, has not been the case for much
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: of this season. Sammy Natara throws a scoreless six Chase
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: silsis the seventh Sam Bachman, I think it was a
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: one two three eighth, and Ryan Zephyr John and the
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: clothes gives up a homer, a leadoff homer to Riley
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Green luckily had the two run. Cushion then gets the
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: next three outs for his third save of the season.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: We Kurt was asked after the game if Ryan Zephyr
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: John is his closer now. He said, they're gonna look at,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: you know, go buy matchups. Wouldn't commit to anything like that,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: But do you think we've seen the last of Curby
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: eights in the ninth inning, Mark, I know you're pretty
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: high on him, you know, coming out of the All
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Star break, But bottom line, he's still throwing about ninety
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: two and you know, if he can't bury that splitter
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: for an out pitch, it's going to be tough for him.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: I don't have an answer. I let the defer to
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: the manager of the ball club, but I think Kirby
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: said that he struggled to get the leadoff hitter out
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: and that's led to some of these games that have
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: gotten away. I don't think that he can't throw some
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: quality innings moving forward. I know he's not a fan
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: favorite right now, but I don't think you want to
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: necessarily cut Bait. I don't know what they're going to do,
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: but I think he does have some value or a
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: lot of value if he If he continues to mow
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: down the writings but can't keep blowing the saves, it's, uh,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: it really is hard to build any momentum with that
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: going on.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: We actually did ask Kurt before today's game and before
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Saturday's game just about his process. So I want to
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: play you a couple of videos that we took over
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: the last two days. It's sort of where we're asking
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: him because remember early in the season he did say
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: that Mike Maddox was making a lot of the pitching decisions.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: And we're up there scratching our heads a lot. You know,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: when when these key situations come up later in the game,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: and you know, Bachmann's not being used, Sill sets not
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: being used, Kirby Yate's probably being overused. So let's take
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: a listen real quick to some Kurt Suzuki, the Angels manager.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: We said earlier this year that Mike Maddox was making
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: a lot of the in game pitching decisions. Is that
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: still the case or have you taken that over more so?
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Is it a combination?
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: I think we're always you know, I don't want to
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: say he makes a lot of all the in game decisions,
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: but I think what we do is we collaborate as
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: a staff. Right. I go to my pitching coach and
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: we we bounce ideas of each other and give you
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: the bench coach and bounce ideas of him.
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: And he's managed, you know, a long time, so.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: You know, I think it's a collaborative effort and we
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: you know, come up with the best solution, you know
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: for the team.
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: Good, Yes, you do you mention that, you know, it's
• 6:32
  Speaker 5: very collaborative process with you given uh, you know, in
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: terms of figuring out pitching decisions stuff like that. Who
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: makes like, uh the final call, like relief decisions go.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: It's me.
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: I'm making a final call. But like I said, it's
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: a collaborative effort. And you know, obviously I'm the manager.
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: You know, the decisions are made are from me in uh, well,
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: it goes a lot, a lot of it goes in
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: a way which you know, opinions and suggestions from the
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: other coaches.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Mark, do you I don't know if Kurt had the
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: final say early on in the season. I got the
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: hunch he was getting a lot of information either from
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: the front office, from Mike Maddox. You know, we do
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: think Peram and in the former GM was pretty heavy
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: handed and a lot of a lot of these things. Uh,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: what do you think of what kurtis said?
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: And and.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: Moving forward? I mean, he has to take some response.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: He has to take he's the final he's the manager.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: You know, he has to take responsibility for this. So
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe this is a good sign moving forward.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Well, obviously you know he's the manager, so you know, uh,
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: he's going to make those calls. Well, we at least
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: think he is. I wonder if I don't know if
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: the guy made in the former GM, if Perry made
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: you know, all the decisions in the draft, who's to
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: say it didn't make the pitching decisions too. I don't
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: like to speculate. I assume that it is collaborative. Mike
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Maddox I think is qualified to do it. I mean,
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: it's not the manager. It's a little bit unorthodox, but
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: the insistence on using certain guys maybe in situations when
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: it just doesn't make a lot of sense. You wonder,
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: I really don't know. Part of me wonders too, And
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: the news going around the Mets. I think we're maybe
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: the most guilty of it, using AI in the dugout.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: But some of these decisions, and especially the pinch hitting
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: down five seven runs and automatically you know, hey, we're
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: gonna pinch it here, pinch it here. It's just kind
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: of like it's a formula that I don't know. It
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: doesn't always feel human to me, and I'm not you know,
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: I have no clue what's going on in those dugouts.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: I don't think anybody needs those iPads for what it's worth.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: I don't think you need to be watching because I
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: mean this is say it's a boomer take, I don't know.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: But if you're not watching it on the top step,
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: we talked about it with Butcher, you're not in tune
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: with the game. Your head's buried in an iPad looking
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: at a breaking ball you hacked out in the dirt.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's no value in that. So I wouldn't
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: mind if all that stuff went went, you know, the
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: way of the Dinosaur, and I don't think it's good
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: for the game. And it's a slippery slope because you
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: never know how how much is being used. You know,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: very these devices can do it all. And uh, you
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: know this is a game that that's athletic, you want
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: to you want to watch and some you know, the
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: human element that's what makes it interesting. So there's a
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: little segue or a segment on it. But I think
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: at times it Kurt's just I think he's played so
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: long that kind of is hard to rationalize because you've
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: seen so much baseball. He knows he caught some of
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: these guys. I know he referenced touching silset. He knows
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: what these guys have, and he also knows what it
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: looks like when they're not going as well. So I
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: think just tapping into that a little bit more and
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: kind of staying in tune. But today was a good
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: for them.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I wouldn't worry too much about taking that
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: boomer role on this show mark scene as I got
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: you by about twenty four years here, Hey, we're going
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: to take a quick break for a word from our sponsors,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: and when we come back we will talk a little
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: bit more about the offense and some hitters who are
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: in some definite slumps.
• 10:20
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• 11:22
  Speaker 1: And welcome back to Halo Territory with Mark Trumbo and
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Mike di Givanno. Well, Sunday's winning couldn't wipe out some
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: ugly numbers for a couple of hitters in the Angels lineup.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Joe adel Oh for twenty three with seven strikeouts and
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: one walk in his last six games, or his sol
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Theres seven seven for forty five. That's a one fifty
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: six average, eighteen strikeouts, six RBIs in his last twelve
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: games of that's July. And Josh Low five for thirty
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: four that's one forty seven and eleven games in July. Meanwhile,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: our old friend Wad Meckler is hitting three h five
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: with a seven eighty seven ops. On the season. He
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: has two homers and seventeen RBIs and forty five games.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: And we ask Kurt Suzuki about a lot of these
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: things before today's games. So let's take a little listen
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: and we're gonna get some input from Mark on the
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: other side.
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: With Mozeylac on things like mineup decisions in game strategy
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: stuff like that.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: Is he part of that process at all or is
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: he more a big.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: Picture There's a little bit of both. We talk about players,
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: we talk about the situation, we talk about mine up
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: and stuff like okay, but he doesn't never comes down
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: and say, hey, you gotta play this guy. It's just
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: the conversations that we have. But I think it's more
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: obviously getting to know each other and stuff like that.
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: But yeah, he comes around. He doesn't come around a lot.
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: He's really busy, you know, doing a lot of stuff upstairs.
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: But you know, when he has time, he comes down
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: and we talk for you know, a good amount of time.
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: He's got a lineup flairs in a little bit of
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: a slub.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: I think he's saying, like one seventy this morning.
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: We thought about all maybe we were not that clean
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: up spot at all.
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: I thought about it. I just, you know, with him,
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: there obviously the threat that he has, the professional you
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: know that he is. You know, you you give him
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: an opportunity to come out of it, and you know
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: he's still you know, like his last at bat last.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: Night, you know it was really good.
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: So you know, I think, you know, just him just
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: kind of getting get into it and kind of getting
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: himself out of it, and then you give those guys
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: more of an opportunity.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Certain reason Meckler hasn't started against the two righties in
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: this series.
• 13:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah you got you know Adele and right and Low
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: and left and Mike and center. So you know, like
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: talk to him and say, we're gonna do the best
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: to you know, we have what five outfit and I
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: think on the rusher, so we got to do our
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: best to mix and match and get guys in.
• 13:40
  Speaker 8: With the Solaire Like how long how much leash does
• 13:45
  Speaker 8: he get?
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: That's I mean they take a game by game right
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: and you know, like I said, the guys earned the
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: right the workout of a slump, you know, and he's
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: earned that right by his career that he's had, so
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: you know he's he's going to get a little bit
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: more leash than you know, some younger guys.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Smart. Let's start with hore Soilaire, the veteran. What are
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: you seeing from him in the box and is there
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: a danger sometimes? And Kurt was that veteran player not
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: that long ago, and a manager giving maybe too much
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: difference to a veteran player in this situation I think
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: I want to first ask in that scrum, it was
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: very direct in his answer to your question, no hesitation,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: definitive about Meckler. And then I was at Fletch that
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: asked about Jorge's leash. Yes, I was that's you could
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: tell like that answer was, I mean, it's a tougher
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: topic and and I was just it's very curious as
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: to why you were answer your question, which I think
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: came from I mean maybe both of us, maybe me
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: a little bit, uh, but you there's honestly you wonder
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: and you know, Donovan Walton was was cut loose and
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: he was very much contributing. So uh, it seems like,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: unfortunately for Meckler, it's quite obvious to at least the
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Angels that they're going to prioritize the playing time of
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: these other guys. Now, Orge, you asked about him. What
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: do I see?
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: Is that? Is that what you want to know?
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: That was the first question, What do you what do
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: you see?
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: It's the same thing every time, It's irregardless of the
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: pitch location. He and and part of me is a
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: little bit envious because as a hitter, I was always
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: trying to do the opposite. I changed all the time,
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: too many adjustments. Almost he never changes. That's why he's
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: my pick for the Daily Dinger, because I think he's
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: that he's going to catch a hanging slider and belt it.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: But he never deviates off his plan. I think his
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: plan is to pull a home run. If you see
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: anything different, let me know. But that's what it looks like.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm trying to remember the It was a manager
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: or a general manager way back in the day he
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: described that approach as brain dead hacking, and I can't
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: remember who it was. I wouldn't say Jory is act
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: quite at that level. I'll give him credit. He the
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: bases were loaded in the fifth inning today and he
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: got enough of a two strike pitch to roll aground
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: or the shortstop and ended up scoring the go ahead run.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: So he at least made contact in that at bat.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: But yeah, too often, how many times, I mean the
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: scouting report, there's probably no you don't have to deviate
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: from it. You bust them high with the fastball and
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: then you go down on the way with a slider
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: and you get your punching, your punch outs. So it's
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: a strange approach. It doesn't keep the line moving too
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: many strikeouts. And one thing this came up to today
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: has come up. I hate, I hate even thinking that
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: the Angels would do this. But is there any chance
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: they're just trying to get him some more at bats
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: and get him hot so they can maybe find some
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: value in him in a trade or does he really
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: have any value at this point?
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: Well, why are you talking about it like it's so
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: far fetched. Of course that could be a plan. He
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: gets as a hot week and somebody says, hey, big
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: righty with experience and not count they probably wouldn't count
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: on him for everyday playing time, but playoff contending team
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: he could. He could be a good fit. When he's hot.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: He's really hot. I mean, he's still capable. He just
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: kind of goes into these prolonged cold periods. And and
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: yet at the same time, if you look at his
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: numbers and a hundred less of bats, his production is
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: equal to Joe Adell's, if not a little bit better,
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: not quite with the home runs and the RBIs. But
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Joe said, you know, he's played I think almost every well, actually, no,
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: he did have the day off and post day off.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: If you described it in the numbers earlier, it's not
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: been pretty Yeah.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: Uh, you know, so Laire was a World Series MVP,
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: if my memory serves me, not that long ago. So yeah,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: he when he's hot, he's fun to watch. But man,
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: these these uh, these empty at bats are really adding
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: up for him. You mentioned Joe Adell, He's a bit
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: of a head scratcher for me. You know, you can
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: see his frustration on Sunday's game, I forget what che
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: bat he grounded out maybe with a couple of guys
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: on and the inning slammed his helmet into the turf.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: Can you see him sort of really scuffling and is
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: it starting to get to him maybe? You know, mentally,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: there's no doubt.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: I think he's also, on the positive side, done a
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: real nice job filling in some leadership holes this team has.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: He was there for Christian Moore to provide some support
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: in that regard. I know the first rounder Grid Layer
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: the other day out at the field, and it sounded
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: like Joe Adell was the main one that kind of
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: was showing them the ropes and giving him some advice.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: So I think those those things are really good. As
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: far as this on field play, he's still rating his
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: below average defensively or minus some outs above average, and
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: he has all those home run robberies, which means that
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of other plays that may not you know,
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: or it's the range, and I think the range in
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: the outfield as a hole for the Angels is not
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: a strength. It's not a strength at all actually. But
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: so okay, here's what I my take on watching Joe hit.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: I think his stance is not doing him any favors.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: He is way down in the legs. He's got a
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: lot of flex in his knees. Some guys can really
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: make it work, but you need to stay down in
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: there if you're going to start down there. I think
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: the overwhe home intendency if you start in a in
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: a heavily neflex stance, is to pop up out of it,
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: and you're going to top a lot of balls. So
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: when you you know, I look at it from a standpoint,
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: and I haven't worked with Joe. I haven't talked to
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: any hitting with Joe, but I would probably encourage him
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: to get a little more upright in his stance, uh
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: and then work down into his legs as opposed to
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: starting down and working up because I think that launch
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: angle that he's missing is probably some of it can
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: be accounted for because he's losing it kind of coming
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: up and out of the swing.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Now it's time for Daily Dingers presented by FanDuel.
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• 21:56
  Speaker 1: And welcome back to Halo territory with Mark Trumbo and
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Mike Dgivonno, let's get to Josh low You know, I
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: personally think you could easily make a case for Meckler
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: taking some at bats from Adele, maybe even so there
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: right now. But the guy who's obviously impacting him is
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: the left handed hitting left fielder Josh Lowe. Mark, you
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: didn't see him really impressed with a sacrifice bunt in
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: the second inning, but he did get a guy over
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: and did lead to the first run. What'd you make
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: of that call? First of all, if.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: It was a bunch for a hit, then I'll give
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: him more credit in that situation. If you're going to
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: have him in there over Meckler, you're probably trying to
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: tap into some of his power potential, and with nobody
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: out such an early point in the ballgame, early in
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: account as well to take no shots downfield into the
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: gap and just lay down a bunt.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: I mean, that's.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: In a lot of people's minds pretty aniquated baseball. I'm
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: not against manufacturer runs, but the point in the game
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: kind of matters, and that could be a big rally
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: that kind of gets paired down a little bit because
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: you're giving it out away. What you seem to really
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: like the play? Did it just remind you of old
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: school baseball? I mean that normally you'd have a pitcher
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: doing that. I know, feel there that's in the middle
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: of the order or a little.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: Bit under This old boomer can remember a time when
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: buns for every time a guy got on first, he
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: almost could count on a sackbund. That's how old I am.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: I just thought, Josh Lowe is not hitting very well.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: At least you do something positive to help the team.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Maybe it helps his confidence. Yeah, I think in the
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: second inning, especially in this league, especially gets a Tiger
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: team that's been hitting pretty well, it's probably a little
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: too soon to be playing for one run.
• 23:49
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Josh had some pretty good games when he came back
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: from Triple A, and I think he probably earned the
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: nod over Meckler in some of those games, but just
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: the way he's hitting now, I just struggle. I don't
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: understand how Kurt is continuing to make the case for
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: playing him. It's funny. We got to the field today
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: and Sam Blumm and I were talking and we both
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: like said at the same time, and we're like, it
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: seems like when we looked at the lineup, it was
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: Pery that Perry was still the GM. You know, he's
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: playing low because he traded for the guy. He keeps
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: playing Solaire and and and and Adele because they're his guys.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: You know, you saw with Kirby Yates for a long time.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: You know we got him to be our closer. I
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: still don't understand that quote, but that's what it seemed
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: like when we got to the park. Can you any
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: other reason that you're seeing for why Josh Lowe continues
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: to play over Wade Meckler.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: I don't have any good ones. I don't think it
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: makes sense to me. I think Wade Meckler so there
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: might be a comparison to Walton, Well, they're both slightly
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: undersized guys that it left handed, but there's a big
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: age difference there Meckler, I believe, is twenty six and
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: Walt he's thirty two. So Mecklair, if you look at
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: his track record, now, a lot of it's going to
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: be in the minor leagues, but he's got tremendous on
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: base capabilities and he's produced. He's hitting over three hundred.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: He doesn't have the power potential, but he does have
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: power and he puts together amazing at bats. No, he
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: didn't challenge the other night on the strikeout, but he
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: took that count deep into it. That wasn't a strike anyway,
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: So you know, in a perfect world he wouldn't have
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: had to challenge, but to justify him riding the pine
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: and potentially going cold with the bat in favor of
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: Josh Lowe, who, yeah, he had some success in Triple
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: A and kind of few good games, But would you
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: say low and Adell are both guys that have kind
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: of drafted off of one strong, singular season in their
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: careers and the rest have maybe not been as great.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: I hate and I know the Angels aren't the only culprits.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: This happens all around the game, but they do seem
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: to have a knack for signing guys or trading for
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: guys based on one big year we saw with Robert Stevenson,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: the raised reliever, and we saw with Josh Lowe, and
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: as you like to remind us all the time, they
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: gave up a pretty good reliever in Brockburg to get
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: this guy and he just has not produced. You know,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: certainly Angels aren't the only ones who are guilty of that,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: but it does seem to bite them pretty often. But
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: I want to jump to the other big news of
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: the weekend was the first pick, Jared Greenliger grin Linger,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: signing for nearly six million. Any other thoughts though on
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: the weekend series that you want to do bring up Mark, Yeah, that.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: Was a nice effort by you, right there. Let's get
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: to the other news.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Jared Grimlinger, the Hunting to Beach High School to
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: a standout first round pick twelfth overall in last weekend's draft,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: signed for I think a slot was five a little
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: north of five point nine million. Pretty good payday for
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: a kid to just turned seventeen. But we caught up
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: with him before the series started, and let's take a listen.
• 27:19
  Speaker 8: All right, So obviously a very exciting day for the
• 27:22
  Speaker 8: Angels bringing in Jared, our number one born raised twenty
• 27:27
  Speaker 8: miles from here. Obviously the story is amazing. You know
• 27:32
  Speaker 8: what makes us so unique too, is his age. Someone
• 27:35
  Speaker 8: that's getting exposed to something you don't think about your
• 27:38
  Speaker 8: own lives. What you were doing at seventeen is probably
• 27:40
  Speaker 8: not thinking BP at James League Stadium. So there's impressive
• 27:45
  Speaker 8: how he's holding up through all this. But we are
• 27:47
  Speaker 8: really excited to welcome to the Angel's family. Jared.
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: Obviously you grew up coming to this Squallpark.
• 27:52
  Speaker 5: Now you're part of the system.
• 27:54
  Speaker 9: What has this day been like for you?
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Just from an emotional standpoint.
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: It's been surreal. I mean, I mean we're growing up,
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: we'd sit right above here, we had season tickets, and
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: I mean I remember getting yelled at for like putting
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: my feet on the dugout or something. So I mean
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: it's definitely nice to be on the side of the field.
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm imagining that Mike Trump was maybe your favorite
• 28:09
  Speaker 4: player growing up.
• 28:10
  Speaker 9: Yeah, batting practice on the field with him?
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: What is that like?
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, ma'am. And they huddled me around or like
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: who your two favorite players or favorite player growing up?
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: And I was like just Trout and Otani that's so
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: they made hugging them. So yeah, it's definitely a cool moment.
• 28:23
  Speaker 4: Experienced audience to be able to take it all in
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: with you know, club Alie and all the players.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: Otherwise, Well, I mean, I think he said it.
• 28:30
  Speaker 8: He grew up here being a fan, and I think
• 28:32
  Speaker 8: that's amazing how he has that connection. Obviously, where I
• 28:36
  Speaker 8: come from, we tend to take that first round player,
• 28:39
  Speaker 8: give them this experience.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Because we think it's something that's cool.
• 28:43
  Speaker 8: But more importantly, I mean if it was in your backyard,
• 28:45
  Speaker 8: how much better would it be. So I definitely wanted
• 28:47
  Speaker 8: him to experience this and he'll never forget it. But now,
• 28:52
  Speaker 8: once you signed this contracts, it's a job and go
• 28:54
  Speaker 8: to work. He and I talked a little bit earlier
• 28:57
  Speaker 8: and you know, expectations and how to manage that and
• 29:00
  Speaker 8: through it. But we're certainly excited for him to get
• 29:02
  Speaker 8: it going.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Well, can you elaborate a little on why you're starting
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: him out as a hitter and is it maybe better
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: to start him out that way as opposed to vice versa?
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Is there more of a benefit.
• 29:14
  Speaker 8: Well, I think hitting's hard and I think trying to
• 29:18
  Speaker 8: serve two is difficult. In other words like you look
• 29:22
  Speaker 8: in history, you see very few people that have been
• 29:24
  Speaker 8: able to do both. Obviously someone here did it. That
• 29:28
  Speaker 8: doesn't mean it's an easy path. I think just given
• 29:32
  Speaker 8: his age and where he's at, I think just getting
• 29:34
  Speaker 8: started on a positive note and not trying to have
• 29:36
  Speaker 8: to balance both something that I think will benefit everyone.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Our first impressions of this kid.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: High energy, very excited, happy for him. The story is great.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: A question for you, what would this have looked like
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: if Moe had not been hired. H Well, he wouldn't
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: have been out there hitting on the field, and that
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: I guess what I'm getting at is it's just such
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: a nice change of pace. To see that kind of honesty, candor,
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: like it's it's it to me. Signifies somebody who knows
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: what they're doing, has a plan for why they're doing it.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: Get them out there, get them experience with major league players.
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: Because first rounders make up the majority of major league teams,
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: you really count on these guys, and I think this
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: is a nice way to intro them to what pro
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: you know, professional baseball looks like at the highest level.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: He's very young, He's going to be many years away,
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: but at least he got to kind of soak up
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: what a routine looks like and pick the brands of
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: some of these guys, and I think, overall a very
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: very cool experience. At sixteen, I was starting on the
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: hill at Angels Stadium in the CIF Finals.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: I'm like, Yeah, to answer your question, I'm not sure
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: we would know, because I really don't think Perry would
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: have made a pay like this. First of all, at
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: that point in the draft. I also wonder, you know,
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: it's hard to compare what that you know, what Perry
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: would have done with this specific kid. But I did
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: want to ask you. You know, you, as we know
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: from our last show, you did have a little bit
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: of pitching ability coming out of the draft, and you know,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: some scouts thought you would excel on the mound. Do
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: you do you like the fact that they're starting them
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: out as a hitter, going to keep them, you know,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: in touch with pitching, throw bullpens every now and then.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: I just think, personally, you know, if you give up
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: hitting for like two three years, it just seemed really
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: difficult to come back, you know, at double a, say,
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: and start trying to hit that pitching as opposed to, Hey,
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: you know, we gave this hitting thing two to three years,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: didn't work out. You've still been pitching on the side,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: your arms in great shape, You've saved a lot of bullets.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Is this a good strategy for the Angels with this kid?
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: I think it's the right strategy. I'm almost and he's
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: not going to be throwing any bullpens. I don't see
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: any reason why you would throw bullpens when you're not
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: actively pitching. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: I think that the pitching is a fallback plan if
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: for whatever reason, the bat doesn't play. I think the
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: focus has to be on he is now an outfielder.
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: He is going to develop as an outfielder and a hitter.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: The pitching is something that, while very capable, is no
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: longer at the forefront. He needs to, in my opinion,
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: have the focus that he needs to become the best
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: position player he can possibly be. Worst case scenario, yes,
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: that will be in the back pocket. It depends on
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: who you ask. It can be a plus, it can
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: be maybe a little bit of a hindrance in a distraction.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: But I'd like, you know, personally, I did have that too,
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: But you got to put the focus on developing the bat,
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: the defense, the base running, all those things, and really
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: try and make it as as a true position player
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: an outfielder, hopefully an All Star outfielder at that. What
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: do you think?
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's uh. First of all, what is
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: high school coach told us he was two hundred pounds.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: I didn't see a two hundred pound kid. He looked
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: a little slight. Of course, he's six', two six.' three
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: he's got plenty of room. To grow what was the?
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: SCOUTING report i didn't get to watch a little pop in.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: The bat he did hit, one out he hit one,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: HOME run a lot, of line line drives to the,
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: both gaps a lot of foul balls into. The screen
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: he swung a. Miss once BUT if i was, so,
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: Young yeah i'd be. SO nervous, i, mean geez you
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: just signed practically for a six million. Dollar contract your,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: head spinning your, you know You Meet mike trout and all.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: These guys i'm sure it Was quite it was an
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: eventful day for. The kid he handled it, pretty well,
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: you know especially for a kid. His AGE so i
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: wanted to drop one plug before we go today shop
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: the twenty Twenty Six all star collection now at the
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  Speaker 1: the season in playoffs And At Foul territory shop. Dot
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  Speaker 1: com well that's going to do it for us Today On,
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  Speaker 1: Halo Territory, mark trumbo thanks as always for. Joining us
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: please like, and subscribe and we'll see you next Time On.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: Halo territory