Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / RISPy BUSINESS: Angels go 4 for 49 with runners in scoring position on a 2-4 trip to Baltimore and Miami

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RISPy BUSINESS: Angels go 4 for 49 with runners in scoring position on a 2-4 trip to Baltimore and Miami · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

0:08
Speaker 1: Well, hey Angel fans, and welcome back to Halo territory.
0:11
Speaker 2: I am Mike D.
0:12
Speaker 1: Giovanna, former Early Times Baseball writer and host of the show,
0:15
Speaker 1: joined by my regular co host Mark Trumbo, the former
0:18
Speaker 1: Angel slugger. Well, the Angels another rough road trip. They
0:23
Speaker 1: went four for forty nine with runners and scoring position
0:26
Speaker 1: while losing four of six at Baltimore in Miami, Mark,
0:32
Speaker 1: is that just a lack of focus? Is it a
0:34
Speaker 1: lack of preparation on the box? What did you sort
0:37
Speaker 1: of see on this trip along those lines?
0:41
Speaker 3: I saw they played a team that is exceeding expectations
0:45
Speaker 3: in the Marlins. They're a team with a very low payroll.
0:50
Speaker 3: They innovate, they do a lot of things quite well.
0:54
Speaker 3: They were mocked and have been mocked by some for
0:58
Speaker 3: I think their general manage may not look like the
1:02
Speaker 3: macho athletic type. But may you know, you'll get the
1:07
Speaker 3: last laugh if you're winning two of three. And they
1:10
Speaker 3: did a very nice job despite not really leaning into
1:15
Speaker 3: some of the things they do well now on the
1:16
Speaker 3: Angel side, with the runners in scoring position, that's a
1:20
Speaker 3: topic that teams taught. It comes up and then it
1:25
Speaker 3: kind of spirals on you. And when you're struggling. How
1:29
Speaker 3: do you improve it? How do you get better?
1:31
Speaker 2: That's it, and.
1:33
Speaker 1: That's a good question. I was my next question. I mean,
1:35
Speaker 1: this has been a season long problem for the Angels.
1:37
Speaker 2: They're hitting.
1:38
Speaker 1: Actually they were in twenty eight in the major leagues
1:41
Speaker 1: with a two to twenty nine average in six eighty
1:44
Speaker 1: four ops with runners in scoring position. We often hear
1:48
Speaker 1: about players having to bear down in the box in
1:51
Speaker 1: those situations.
1:53
Speaker 2: What does that even mean? Mark?
1:54
Speaker 1: As a big league hitter, how if at all, does
1:58
Speaker 1: the mindset change in the box when you're up there
2:01
Speaker 1: would say runners on second and third, two out or
2:04
Speaker 1: even you know, one out, no outs.
2:08
Speaker 3: It comes down to knowing what you want to do
2:11
Speaker 3: and how you're going to do it. The game has
2:15
Speaker 3: has changed. For instance, the sacrifice fly when I was
2:19
Speaker 3: coming up was I think, far more value than it
2:22
Speaker 3: is today. If you look at it from a selfish standpoint,
2:26
Speaker 3: the team is getting around, you're getting an RBI. RBIs
2:29
Speaker 3: aren't viewed like they once were, but they are absolutely
2:33
Speaker 3: necessary to win baseball games. So the hitter is going
2:37
Speaker 3: to suffer on base percentage points, but somebody's got to
2:43
Speaker 3: do it, and it's the easiest way, I think with
2:45
Speaker 3: a runner on third, less than two outs to get
2:47
Speaker 3: that guy in. Really, what you're looking to do is
2:51
Speaker 3: get a pitch, hopefully early in the count, although you
2:53
Speaker 3: can do it with two strikes too, but the pitcher
2:56
Speaker 3: is going to try.
2:57
Speaker 2: And punch you out.
2:59
Speaker 3: Bottom line, they are trying to prevent contact and the
3:02
Speaker 3: hitter is trying to make contact. The worst case scenario
3:06
Speaker 3: is the punch out, and we've seen that too many times.
3:09
Speaker 3: In this series alone. The Angels struck out thirty two times. Mike,
3:14
Speaker 3: you might agree that that's just too many.
3:18
Speaker 1: It's been too many all year. You know, they lead, Actually,
3:21
Speaker 1: I don't think they lead in the major leagues. I
3:23
Speaker 1: think the Pirates. Yeah, somebody overtook them, which was surprising,
3:27
Speaker 1: but yeah, I guess I've seen that game. The game
3:31
Speaker 1: change at exactly what you're talking about. The not cutting
3:35
Speaker 1: down on the swing with two strikes is probably one
3:39
Speaker 1: of the biggest fundamental changes in the game we've seen
3:41
Speaker 1: in the last five to ten years. I'm not sure why,
3:45
Speaker 1: because you know, RBIs used to be the biggest, the
3:49
Speaker 1: most important stat in the game for what eighty ninety
3:53
Speaker 1: one hundred years, and all of a sudden that changed.
3:55
Speaker 1: I don't understand it, but yeah, the acceptance of the
4:00
Speaker 1: strikeout in almost any situation. I don't want to say
4:05
Speaker 1: it's ruined the game, because there's a lot of things
4:07
Speaker 1: that are still great about the game. But I don't
4:10
Speaker 1: understand it. All Right, we're going to bring back a
4:14
Speaker 1: segment by popular demand, and it's.
4:18
Speaker 4: Called I can't believe it.
4:21
Speaker 1: I can't believe the viscal reaction to my stating last
4:25
Speaker 1: week that I would like to see Mike Trout be
4:28
Speaker 1: traded to a playoff team because I think it would
4:31
Speaker 1: invigorate his career. Check Out some of the responses we
4:34
Speaker 1: got on X to our show last week from a
4:41
Speaker 1: guy named Damien. Actually, this is two from Damien. How
4:45
Speaker 1: hard is it to understand that he's old school and
4:48
Speaker 1: he's sticking with one team. No players do that nowadays.
4:52
Speaker 1: He's different. Give it an effing rest, Jesus Christ. And
4:56
Speaker 1: that apparently was not enough for Damon. Actual Angel fans
5:02
Speaker 1: want to see Trout leave.
5:03
Speaker 2: He's our guy.
5:05
Speaker 1: Yet fed Mike, And this one was one Mark got
5:10
Speaker 1: in response to his quote that if the answer is
5:12
Speaker 1: simply the simply that he wants to play for the
5:14
Speaker 1: La Angels of Anaheim, people are going to have to
5:16
Speaker 1: wrap their heads around that. Hey, Trumbo, bro, just st
5:21
Speaker 1: f you shut the f up. Well, it's nice to
5:24
Speaker 1: see the passion from our Halo Territory listeners. I guess,
5:28
Speaker 1: but listen, Trout is he just turned thirty five years old.
5:31
Speaker 1: He's clearly on the decline. The Angels appeared at least
5:36
Speaker 1: two or three years away from playoff contention. If at
5:40
Speaker 1: all you know him staying for two or three more years, Mark,
5:44
Speaker 1: it might not even make the difference in the Angels
5:46
Speaker 1: making or missing the playoffs. And if he leaves, it's
5:50
Speaker 1: gonna have no impact on his legacy in Anaheim, where
5:53
Speaker 1: he has won three l AL MVP awards. He's finished
5:57
Speaker 1: second I believe four times. You know most fans, judging
6:02
Speaker 1: from the reactions on our Halo Territory comments page, I
6:05
Speaker 1: would like to see Trout leave it play in October,
6:08
Speaker 1: and I for one would love to see that just
6:09
Speaker 1: to see how he respond. I think it would be
6:12
Speaker 1: invigorating to his career and to him personally to play
6:16
Speaker 1: with that adrenaline of October baseball. Look at show, Hey
6:19
Speaker 1: with Tani Okay six years in Anaheim, he doesn't sniff
6:23
Speaker 1: the playoffs. We're all thinking, you know, this guy might
6:27
Speaker 1: be the greatest player we've ever seen, but what has
6:29
Speaker 1: he ever done? You know, what does he ever won?
6:32
Speaker 1: He goes to the Dodgers, he wins World Series first
6:35
Speaker 1: two years, has that one playoff game last year he
6:38
Speaker 1: gets three homers, throws six shot at Annings. And I
6:42
Speaker 1: don't want to say he elevated his game in October,
6:44
Speaker 1: but at times he did. I mean some of the
6:46
Speaker 1: stuff stuff he accomplished on that October stage are memorable
6:52
Speaker 1: and some of the greatest performances we've ever seen. I
6:56
Speaker 1: started on the Angels beat when in nineteen ninety five,
7:00
Speaker 1: and for seven seasons they competed. For a couple of
7:04
Speaker 1: those years. In ninety five they blew an eleven game lead,
7:07
Speaker 1: pretty big choke job, as people of a certain age
7:10
Speaker 1: will remember. But they didn't make the playoffs once. So
7:14
Speaker 1: two thousand January, before two thousand and two season, I
7:18
Speaker 1: get called into the office in La, Hey, we want
7:19
Speaker 1: you to cover the Dodgers. I go to the Dodger beat.
7:22
Speaker 1: For two years, what do the Angels do? They win
7:24
Speaker 1: a World Series? But I remember that year. You know,
7:27
Speaker 1: of course I still lived in Orange County. I followed
7:29
Speaker 1: the Angels from Afar, had a couple of interleague series
7:32
Speaker 1: with the Dodgers and Angels, so I was able to
7:34
Speaker 1: catch up. And then October rolls around, and I always
7:37
Speaker 1: remember thinking, all those years on the beat, how would
7:40
Speaker 1: these guys respond if they ever got to a playoff,
7:43
Speaker 1: you know, a playoff series.
7:45
Speaker 2: What would they do? And what happens?
7:48
Speaker 1: I mean, you can almost point to every guy in
7:50
Speaker 1: that lineup, from catcher Benji Molina hitting a triple in
7:53
Speaker 1: the World Series, handling that staff, that bullpen throughout October,
7:58
Speaker 1: Scott Spezia, the first base Humong his Game six three
8:01
Speaker 1: run homer, ak Adam Kennedy three homers in the a
8:05
Speaker 1: CS clincher, David Eckstein, just an absolute force in the
8:09
Speaker 1: leadoff spot all October, Troy Gloss game winning hit in
8:12
Speaker 1: Game six, World Series, MVP Tim Samon two homers in
8:17
Speaker 1: Game two of the World Series, Darren urstadd another big
8:21
Speaker 1: homer in Game six, Garrett Anderson bassis clearing double in
8:26
Speaker 1: Game seven, Troy person of the closer, closing out so
8:29
Speaker 1: many of those games in that whole bullpen. And Mike
8:33
Speaker 1: Soosha as a manager, you know, he always stressed, even keel.
8:36
Speaker 1: Nothing changes. I don't care if it's a Spring Trading
8:38
Speaker 1: game or World Series game. We're gonna play to win,
8:41
Speaker 1: and that's what he was all October is about as
8:43
Speaker 1: even keeled as they come. Did not change his personality.
8:48
Speaker 1: I just thought that was one of the coolest things
8:50
Speaker 1: I've ever experienced as a writer, and it was pretty
8:53
Speaker 1: amazing to see. And that is why I would love
8:57
Speaker 1: to see Mike Trout playing in October. I just I
9:00
Speaker 1: think it's different. You know, I know, Mark, you played
9:02
Speaker 1: in one playoff game and I don't know what that
9:05
Speaker 1: was like in terms of you getting that taste and
9:08
Speaker 1: wishing and wanting to go back. Mike Trout had the
9:11
Speaker 1: three in twenty fourteen, they were swept by the Royals.
9:15
Speaker 1: Can you envision this kid, well, this kid, he's a
9:17
Speaker 1: kid to me, but he's thirty five years old. Now
9:20
Speaker 1: do you just think that would have some kind of
9:22
Speaker 1: positive impact on him as a player.
9:26
Speaker 3: I think it would be exceptional if given the opportunity.
9:29
Speaker 3: I don't know if there's a fit, And I think
9:34
Speaker 3: that the reason that you're bringing it up, you know,
9:38
Speaker 3: and I understand and the fans want to say. I
9:42
Speaker 3: think it's not from a selfish stage. It's getting the
9:46
Speaker 3: opportunity and the ability for Mike. It's selfish in a
9:52
Speaker 3: good way for Mike to be able to experience those things,
9:54
Speaker 3: to be able to put those on his achievements, and
9:59
Speaker 3: be able to talk about those experiences because once, once
10:04
Speaker 3: he is retired and talking about you know, the game
10:07
Speaker 3: with friends and stuff, he might look with some of
10:11
Speaker 3: his peers who have many, many rings, and he has
10:15
Speaker 3: many trophies and MVP Awards and you know, a dozen
10:20
Speaker 3: All Stars and all those things, but you know, he's
10:23
Speaker 3: he's just lacking in in the uh well, the winning
10:26
Speaker 3: and the you know, world series. And it's a tough
10:30
Speaker 3: thing to do. There's there's many players have had fine
10:32
Speaker 3: careers that have no World Series. I certainly don't have any.
10:35
Speaker 3: But the Angels it's it's you know, who knows. But
10:41
Speaker 3: it's a few years away at least from being a
10:44
Speaker 3: really competitive team most likely that can go at least
10:47
Speaker 3: to the playoffs or deep into the playoffs.
10:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, I'm sorry to get in the soapbox
10:53
Speaker 1: for that long. Promise to stay off it for a while. Hey,
10:56
Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break for a word, from
10:57
Speaker 1: our sponsors, and when we come back, we're gonna break
10:59
Speaker 1: down this weekend series in Miami.
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12:05
Speaker 2: And welcome back.
12:05
Speaker 1: To Halo territory with Mark Trumboll and Mike d Givanna. Well,
12:09
Speaker 1: the weekend started pretty well for the Halos, who held
12:12
Speaker 1: on for a four to three win on Friday Night.
12:15
Speaker 1: That game started with Mike Trout homering on his birthday
12:18
Speaker 1: for the sixth time in his career and included a
12:22
Speaker 1: short but promising start from rookie right hand or George Clausan,
12:26
Speaker 1: who gave up one run and four hits and four innings. Now,
12:30
Speaker 1: young George was not very efficient and he died eighty
12:32
Speaker 1: three pitches to record twelve outs, but he did escape
12:35
Speaker 1: eight first and third no out jam the third that
12:39
Speaker 1: was pretty impressive. What else did you like about his start? Mark,
12:43
Speaker 1: do you see some promise and some reason for optimism
12:46
Speaker 1: when watching this kid?
12:49
Speaker 3: Absolutely, he had three pitches great out exceptionally. Well, it's
12:55
Speaker 3: about putting it together and I think the next step
12:57
Speaker 3: is going to be trusting that he can get out
13:00
Speaker 3: in the strike zone. The Marlins are a contact oriented
13:06
Speaker 3: team and they are pesky. They're going to put the
13:10
Speaker 3: ball in play. They did a good job laying off
13:14
Speaker 3: a lot of pitches, and some of the pitches that
13:17
Speaker 3: make great out nasty. But our balls out of the
13:20
Speaker 3: hand are really not effective at the major league level.
13:23
Speaker 3: I think George has done a much better job looking
13:26
Speaker 3: at the body of working salt Lake. Unfortunately, it wasn't
13:31
Speaker 3: able to translate just yet. He's still as young. He's
13:35
Speaker 3: a To me, it looked like the energy was really
13:37
Speaker 3: ramped up. His delivery is toward the max effort side
13:42
Speaker 3: of things. A lot of head snap and there's a
13:45
Speaker 3: there's a decent amount of movement, potentially a little bit
13:49
Speaker 3: of extra movement going on mechanically, and I think that
13:53
Speaker 3: at some point maybe reducing some of that would be
13:57
Speaker 3: in his favor. I think it's also a hard thing
13:59
Speaker 3: because that's probably what allows him to get the velocity
14:04
Speaker 3: readings that he does. You know, he's kind of a
14:07
Speaker 3: I haven't seen him in person, but he seems on
14:10
Speaker 3: the slender side. Athletic, but you know, not not a
14:13
Speaker 3: big bodied guy. Alcantara would be the opposite. You know,
14:18
Speaker 3: a workhorse gets guys out in the strike zone. He's
14:22
Speaker 3: coming at you, he's looking to get rid of you
14:24
Speaker 3: in three pitches are less and I think a guy
14:27
Speaker 3: with Georgia's stuff should absolutely look to lean into more
14:30
Speaker 3: of that style and not the Mickey Mouse two to
14:36
Speaker 3: three to two type things. You know, take the easy way.
14:41
Speaker 3: They put it in play and you don't get the
14:42
Speaker 3: punch out and they make a week out. That's great too.
14:45
Speaker 3: Your pitch count stays down and you're able to go
14:48
Speaker 3: deeper into the games. So I'd like to see that
14:51
Speaker 3: from George. But you know, just looking at the pure
14:56
Speaker 3: raw stuff, it is there.
14:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, agreed.
14:59
Speaker 1: The Angels winning rally that night, and the seventh inning
15:02
Speaker 1: was keyed by the hustle of none other than Mike Trout,
15:05
Speaker 1: who tapped to come backer to the mound that got
15:07
Speaker 1: under the glove of reliever Josh Ecknes. Trout beats the
15:11
Speaker 1: throat at first and the tying run ends up scoring
15:14
Speaker 1: on that error. Nolan sean Well follows with a two
15:17
Speaker 1: run homer for a four to two lead. Once again,
15:20
Speaker 1: Mike Trout, thirty five years old getting down that line.
15:23
Speaker 1: Just another example of how important it is to run
15:27
Speaker 1: these hard nineties. Mark, when you saw that, is it
15:31
Speaker 1: just do you just kind of is it an admiration thing?
15:34
Speaker 1: Do you just really respect the guy when he's doing
15:38
Speaker 1: stuff like that.
15:41
Speaker 3: I think it's how Mike plays the game. Whether or
15:45
Speaker 3: not it was a situation that would impact the game
15:50
Speaker 3: as much as it did. I mean, he would give
15:51
Speaker 3: that same effort with nobody on and down by four.
15:55
Speaker 3: And the reason I say that is because I was
15:57
Speaker 3: brought up under the same system. That is the effort,
15:59
Speaker 3: that's the only effort you give in your mind, there
16:03
Speaker 3: is no lesser if that seed is planned early. When
16:08
Speaker 3: it becomes a choice whether or not you're going to
16:12
Speaker 3: give a good effort, that's where the issue lies.
16:15
Speaker 2: But Mike was.
16:17
Speaker 3: Able to change the game hit the home run, But
16:19
Speaker 3: then this play was just as impressive and you know,
16:24
Speaker 3: really gave him a boost. I think it's an excellent
16:27
Speaker 3: example as well for his teammates.
16:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, agreed.
16:30
Speaker 1: So thirty year old reliever Blake Wyman through a scoreless
16:33
Speaker 1: seventh and his major league debut at that age. Ben
16:36
Speaker 1: Joyce with another scoreless inning, and Jose Fermen not his
16:41
Speaker 1: first major league save, but needed quite a bit of
16:44
Speaker 1: help from Jose series one top throw home cut down
16:47
Speaker 1: the potential tying run at the plate to end the game.
16:50
Speaker 1: What a play that was so for me. Gives up
16:53
Speaker 1: a run, it's four to three. Marlins had as Leo
16:58
Speaker 1: him Andez on first base hoavier. So Noah lines a
17:00
Speaker 1: single off the glove of third basement Denzer Guzman that
17:04
Speaker 1: slows the ball a bit down. The ball kind of
17:06
Speaker 1: rolls and foul territory him and as a scent from
17:10
Speaker 1: all the way home and Siri, you know, when I
17:14
Speaker 1: first saw the throw, it almost looked like he didn't
17:16
Speaker 1: really cut loose on the throw, and then you realize, well,
17:19
Speaker 1: he had to get it right on a perfect spot.
17:23
Speaker 1: He had to throw inside the line so the ball
17:25
Speaker 1: wouldn't hit the runner in the back. Tried to one
17:27
Speaker 1: hop his throw, which was smart and credit to Tyler Heineman.
17:33
Speaker 1: Tyler Hyeman, the catcher made a real nice catch and
17:36
Speaker 1: swipe tag that seemed like one of the We've seen
17:40
Speaker 1: a lot of ups and downs from Jose Siri at
17:43
Speaker 1: the plate and in the field, But was that Jose's
17:47
Speaker 1: best play of the season mark.
17:50
Speaker 3: On the defensive side. Yes, it literally won the game.
17:54
Speaker 3: I think he made a very smart decision to as
17:58
Speaker 3: you said, is the accurate route. This is the thing
18:02
Speaker 3: and for the maybe we have some young viewers too
18:06
Speaker 3: that are still in players high school or otherwise. The
18:09
Speaker 3: throws from the outfield if they are strong, but inaccurate,
18:13
Speaker 3: they are useless. It Maybe you know, you might get
18:18
Speaker 3: a pat on the back from somebody who said, hey man,
18:20
Speaker 3: you got a cannon out there. But if they're not accurate,
18:23
Speaker 3: they're no good. Siri over threw a cutoff man in
18:25
Speaker 3: one of the other games, allowing two runners to advance.
18:28
Speaker 2: That is no good.
18:29
Speaker 3: But in the play that we're talking about, perfect throw,
18:35
Speaker 3: accuracy above power. He does have a strong arm and
18:39
Speaker 3: it was a stronger throw than I think it may
18:42
Speaker 3: have looked. I know what you mean by the release
18:45
Speaker 3: and everything looked. It was almost a little more infielder
18:47
Speaker 3: like than you know, the outfielder like. It was a
18:50
Speaker 3: dark but absolutely perfect one hop and great tag at
18:54
Speaker 3: the plate that that was a well executed play by
18:57
Speaker 3: the angles.
18:58
Speaker 2: Yeah.
18:59
Speaker 1: Hey, we're gonna take another break for word from our sponsors,
19:02
Speaker 1: and when we come back, we'll talk about the rest
19:05
Speaker 1: of the weekend, which did not go that well for
19:08
Speaker 1: the Halos.
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20:11
Speaker 1: And welcome back to Halo Territory, Mark Trumbull and Mike
20:14
Speaker 1: dg Ivanawell. The rest of the weekend was pretty much
20:17
Speaker 1: a disaster for the Halos. They lost seven and nothing
20:19
Speaker 1: on Saturday. You mentioned Sandy al Contra well seven shutout innings.
20:26
Speaker 1: Angels rookie Walbert Uranio was knocked out of the game
20:30
Speaker 1: during a four run third inning, and that inning featured
20:34
Speaker 1: a little bit of a mental mistake from shortstop Zach Netto,
20:38
Speaker 1: who failed to cover third base on Xavier Edwards bases
20:41
Speaker 1: loaded two runs single of the left field. The runners
20:43
Speaker 1: advanced the second and third on the hit. Otto Lopez
20:46
Speaker 1: follows with a two run single for a four to
20:48
Speaker 1: nothing lead. That playmark if my cutoffs in relays one
20:54
Speaker 1: on one back in the day is correct, the shortstop's
20:58
Speaker 1: supposed to cover third on that right.
21:02
Speaker 3: In theory, Yes, the situation at least as I saw it,
21:06
Speaker 3: and the camera angles weren't exceptional, But there was really
21:10
Speaker 3: no play at home on there on that play, so
21:15
Speaker 3: Meckler ended up not even unleashing a throw that would have,
21:20
Speaker 3: you know, resulted in a play at home plate. And
21:23
Speaker 3: there was some confusion I think between Netto and Guzman.
21:26
Speaker 3: In my opinion, Guzman could have easily gotten back to
21:28
Speaker 3: the base himself if he was reading the runners and
21:31
Speaker 3: the kind of alert he would have probably clued into
21:36
Speaker 3: the fact that runner was going to score easily. You
21:39
Speaker 3: got a factor in the alfielder's arm too, I think. Wade, Yeah,
21:43
Speaker 3: he grades out about average, maybe a little below accurate,
21:47
Speaker 3: but not overwhelming arm strength yet, and I think that's
21:50
Speaker 3: an area he should work on a bit, if not,
21:54
Speaker 3: if possible, absolutely it is possible. Having a stronger arm
21:58
Speaker 3: is always an asset. So you know, Will McLaren on
22:02
Speaker 3: X says that I kind of need to chill on
22:06
Speaker 3: the young shortstop.
22:07
Speaker 2: I don't have half.
22:08
Speaker 3: The tools that he has, so I think I've tried
22:11
Speaker 3: to be transparent on that. But if it needs repeating
22:16
Speaker 3: for a guy like Will zach Neto has a tremendous
22:20
Speaker 3: amount of baseball talent, far more than I did, I
22:24
Speaker 3: guess I'll just keep saying that maybe sleeper angels can
22:27
Speaker 3: reposts such a quote, so we can get that out
22:31
Speaker 3: of the way. But on that play, I do not
22:35
Speaker 3: blame Netto. I think it was just a little bit
22:38
Speaker 3: of confusion, and I do think Guzman kind of covered himself.
22:41
Speaker 1: All right, Glad we cleared that up. So Brett Carey
22:44
Speaker 1: replaced Uranium throws ninety eight pitches over five and two
22:48
Speaker 1: thirds innings to preserve the Angel's bullpen. Great job by
22:53
Speaker 1: him got him a trip back to Salt Lake, as
22:56
Speaker 1: always happens in those cases, but that wasn't much benefit
22:59
Speaker 1: to the AI on Sunday when they were blown out
23:01
Speaker 1: twelve to three by the Marlins. That loss featured two
23:05
Speaker 1: Angels errors, several misplays, and another shaky start by Grayson Rodriguez,
23:10
Speaker 1: who threw thirty five pitches during a three run first
23:13
Speaker 1: inning and didn't make it past the fourth boy that
23:17
Speaker 1: previous start, what do you go seven innings just we
23:21
Speaker 1: thought maybe he had turned the corner and this was
23:24
Speaker 1: just a little more of the same mark. This seemed
23:29
Speaker 1: like that first inning really set them up for the
23:31
Speaker 1: entire day.
23:34
Speaker 3: Do you feel like his stuff was down? His stuff
23:36
Speaker 3: was down, nothing grated out well. And that's one of
23:40
Speaker 3: those times where the pitchers talk about having their A
23:43
Speaker 3: stuff their B stuff. I think this was, you know,
23:48
Speaker 3: less than that. So what do you do in those
23:51
Speaker 3: situations to try and make it work. The flip side
23:54
Speaker 3: is he struck out I believe eight hitters, and I
23:57
Speaker 3: was a little surprised by that. So when you're uugh,
24:00
Speaker 3: isn't maybe and don't I don't know. He could have
24:03
Speaker 3: felt like his stuff was tremendous, but he didn't get
24:07
Speaker 3: a lot of quick outs, he didn't give him length
24:09
Speaker 3: in the game, and his quotes. I've been very impressed
24:13
Speaker 3: with his ability to self assess. He said that there
24:18
Speaker 3: were some things that were good, but ultimately he let
24:22
Speaker 3: especially his bullpen down, making them cover too many innings.
24:27
Speaker 3: And usually if somebody has to go and eat the s,
24:34
Speaker 3: they have to also get sent down to and that
24:37
Speaker 3: is the role of certain players. You kind of realize
24:41
Speaker 3: that a guy like Sean Anderson probably has clued in
24:44
Speaker 3: by now that that is going to be what he does.
24:47
Speaker 3: And you're getting major league service time and and you're
24:50
Speaker 3: getting paid for being a major leaguer while you're up here.
24:52
Speaker 3: But that is kind of the shuttle and teams do
24:55
Speaker 3: need those what you're not looking for as position players pitching.
25:01
Speaker 1: This series, Yeah, Sean Anderson gave up six hits and
25:05
Speaker 1: six runs in the fifth and the game ended with
25:07
Speaker 1: Tyler Heineman on the mound for the second time this year.
25:10
Speaker 1: Looked pretty good. Uh, you know, we do want to
25:13
Speaker 1: be fair. Zach Netto made a superb play in that
25:17
Speaker 1: third inning. He backhanded Otto Lopez the grounder and auto
25:21
Speaker 1: Lopez can run, makes a long, accurate across the body,
25:26
Speaker 1: throw it at first for the out. But then Shanuel
25:29
Speaker 1: Shaun Wall commits a kiera in the first inning, he
25:31
Speaker 1: airmailed to throw way over the third baseman's head, allowing
25:34
Speaker 1: a runner to score. Guzman has played a routine grounder
25:37
Speaker 1: for an hour later in the game, and all just
25:40
Speaker 1: the whole weekend sort of led to this quote from
25:44
Speaker 1: Kurt Suzuki, the manager after this series, and this is
25:47
Speaker 1: courtesy Jeff Fletcher with the OC Register quote, at the
25:52
Speaker 1: end of the day, we are where we are, but
25:54
Speaker 1: there's ways to get better. When you have a young team,
25:57
Speaker 1: there's still a lot to prove, not just to yourself
26:00
Speaker 1: but to everybody else. You're still proving yourself every day.
26:04
Speaker 1: You're still working to improve yourself, to get yourself better
26:07
Speaker 1: on a daily basis. And I think that's kind of
26:09
Speaker 1: the messaging, keep working, keep getting better. It doesn't matter
26:13
Speaker 1: where we are on the standing, what part of the year,
26:15
Speaker 1: it is, just get better every single day. And Nedo
26:19
Speaker 1: also said the Angels should not be lacking any motivation
26:21
Speaker 1: despite the record quote, We're still a big league club.
26:25
Speaker 1: We've still got to play a lot to play for.
26:28
Speaker 1: We come in here every single day hoping to win.
26:31
Speaker 1: We just go out there and try to play our
26:34
Speaker 1: best and Mark this sort of gets back to what
26:37
Speaker 1: I think will be a common theme for the final
26:40
Speaker 1: seven weeks of the season in the wake of the
26:42
Speaker 1: trade deadline selloff. How do you respond when you have
26:45
Speaker 1: virtually nothing to play for. I got to say, you know,
26:48
Speaker 1: we've kind of criticized Neto a bit for his perceived
26:52
Speaker 1: lack of leadership and maybe accountability. I like what he
26:54
Speaker 1: said there, and I agree with Kurt. You know, this
26:58
Speaker 1: is the major leagues. Man, you're playing for money, you're
27:01
Speaker 1: playing for a family. I always remember Tony Phillips back
27:04
Speaker 1: with the Angels. He looked at that picture. That guy's
27:08
Speaker 1: trying to steal my cake. That guy's trying to steal
27:10
Speaker 1: my cake. He said that about every opponent. He hated
27:13
Speaker 1: every opponent. You know, there were years where he was
27:16
Speaker 1: there where they didn't compete for a playoffs. But he's
27:18
Speaker 1: trying to feed his kids, you know, he's trying to
27:20
Speaker 1: put food on the table. And I think you just
27:22
Speaker 1: have to look at it with a different mentality. And
27:24
Speaker 1: we've I know, you've been in this situation before with
27:27
Speaker 1: with you know, non contending teams. Just a personal pride
27:31
Speaker 1: just has to take over, and it just seems like
27:35
Speaker 1: as a player, there's something you can do to sort
27:37
Speaker 1: of motivate yourself every day.
27:39
Speaker 2: What is that as a player, Mark.
27:43
Speaker 3: I think it depends on where you are in your
27:45
Speaker 3: career arc. But for a young player, it's shoring up
27:50
Speaker 3: parts of your game that are weaknesses and that you
27:54
Speaker 3: need to improve on. For older players, it may be
27:58
Speaker 3: contributing more, you know, as far as team leadership goes
28:02
Speaker 3: and some other things. Sometimes the skills are not what
28:05
Speaker 3: they once were, but you can contribute in other ways.
28:09
Speaker 3: Just to highlight a little bit of the defense. I
28:11
Speaker 3: think Usmont has been He's made some really good plays
28:15
Speaker 3: at third base.
28:15
Speaker 2: Two.
28:16
Speaker 3: I think his bat has gone cold. He's lost some
28:21
Speaker 3: playing time. I'm not quite sure looking at the lineups recently,
28:25
Speaker 3: and I know Kurt said that he's kind of going
28:28
Speaker 3: off maybe his gut and they don't always make sense.
28:32
Speaker 3: I'm not sure. But Josh Lowe has not played well.
28:34
Speaker 3: He's not contributing with the bat. He should have been
28:38
Speaker 3: charged for then air and right field. He made of
28:43
Speaker 3: Kurt Gibson a little side here when I was with
28:47
Speaker 3: the Diamondbacks, Gibbie really for being a fiery guy, you
28:51
Speaker 3: know him. The only thing that drove him absolutely bonkers
28:56
Speaker 3: was outfielders bobbling the ball. Basically, when a stationary or
29:01
Speaker 3: just kind of dribbling, you pick it up cleanly. Now,
29:03
Speaker 3: sirih did that on the play that saved the game.
29:05
Speaker 3: Josh Lowe compounded his poor read on the angle and
29:10
Speaker 3: then bobbled it and the guy got to third hours
29:13
Speaker 3: possibly And that was a play that that needs to
29:17
Speaker 3: be cleaned up. I can understand at times it's a
29:21
Speaker 3: different field, uh and what, but to compound it that
29:25
Speaker 3: that he can do a little bit better.
29:27
Speaker 2: Job than that.
29:28
Speaker 3: And Nolan Shaannowell's defense has slipped as well. I think
29:34
Speaker 3: that something to monitor to monitor as the season goes on.
29:37
Speaker 3: I'd like to see improvement there because for the majority
29:39
Speaker 3: of this year he has done.
29:40
Speaker 2: A good job.
29:41
Speaker 3: He's done a great job picking baseball, is at first base,
29:44
Speaker 3: picking up his fielders, and you know, you know what,
29:47
Speaker 3: maybe a little bit more motivation him and shaanawall being
29:50
Speaker 3: Miami guys. But he had a tremendous play. You might
29:54
Speaker 3: have mentioned it trying to keep up, but going into
29:57
Speaker 3: shallow center field on the pop.
29:59
Speaker 2: Up, Oh yeah, that was amazing.
30:01
Speaker 3: And a number of players in the hole. And that
30:04
Speaker 3: is the the version of zach Net or the fans
30:07
Speaker 3: love to see. So hopefully these final eight weeks that quote,
30:11
Speaker 3: you know, great quote by him, and let's see if
30:14
Speaker 3: these guys can you know, keep it tight and win
30:16
Speaker 3: some games. Are going to need to win a couple
30:19
Speaker 3: series to avoid that one hundred loss record.
30:23
Speaker 1: That should be motivational enough. Young have never lost one
30:26
Speaker 1: hundred games in a season, Well, that's gonna do it
30:28
Speaker 1: for Halo Territory today, want to remind fans you can
30:32
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30:36
Speaker 1: We've got hoodies, t shirts, coffee mugs. I just bought
30:41
Speaker 1: a new onesie for my new granddaughter who was born
30:44
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30:49
Speaker 1: and get some merch And we want to thank you
30:52
Speaker 1: for tuning in, thank you for listening. Please like and subscribe,
30:56
Speaker 1: and we're gonna have a Halo mailbag for our next show.
31:00
Speaker 1: We'll be back with that later in the week, So
31:03
Speaker 1: I'll see you next time on Halo Territory