Latest / Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast / VERY MIXED: Season's first month features highs, exposes weaknesses

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VERY MIXED: Season's first month features highs, exposes weaknesses · Halo Territory: A Los Angeles Angels Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Blay Angel fans, Welcome back to Halo territory. I am
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Mike D. Giovanni, former Ela Times Baseball writer and host
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: of the show, joined by my regular co host Mark
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Trumbo and Sam Blam of the Athletic. Welcome back. Good
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: to have you, Sam Well, good to be Angel. Thanks Sam.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: It's Angels had a decent road trip in Cincinnati and
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: New York. They went four and three. They could have
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: swept the Yankees in four games if not for two
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: late game late bullpen miltdowns. Then they return home, they
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: play the Padres and the Blue Jays and they lose
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: four to six, and they started a road trip in
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Kansas City in Chicago against the White Sox one and
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: a half games back of the Athletics and what is
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: shaping up as a very mediocre la Al West right now,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Oh guys, how would you sort of assess this first
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: month of the season.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: I would say that, you know, this was a gauntlet
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: of a schedule that they kind of had to start with,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: so to go twelve and fourteen probably exceeds my personal
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: expectations of where they would be.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: I think you can kind of like parse out who's
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: performed well, where things are. I would say that the
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Angels are in a very good position to win once
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: every five days when Jose Soriano pitches, and every other
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: game it will you know, probably be less than likely
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: that they'd win. So, you know, that was what we
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: saw a playout over the homestand Jose Soriano was two
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: to zero. The rest of the team was zero and
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: four when he didn't pitch. So you know, you have
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: a guy who's looking like he might be a Cy
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Young caliber ase, maybe one of the best pitchers in
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: the game. That being said, beyond that, you know, you
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: see flaws in the roster. I think you see a
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: lot of strikeouts, you see not great defense at times.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: You know some the bullpen has come in and kind
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: of been a serious issue at times, especially over the
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: last couple of weeks. You know, some of the usage
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: and decision making with like how many innings some of
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: these relievers are getting I question at times. So yeah,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: I mean I think that they're probably overperforming generally, twelve
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: and fourteen is probably a little bit better than where
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: I thought they'd be, but especially given who they've played.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: But overall, beneath the surface, I definitely think there are
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: still some serious concerns that will play out long term
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: over the course of a very long season in my opinion.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Mark, how do you feel about the first month
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: so far?
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: Very mixed and there have been some the highest of
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: highs at times, and then some of the time you
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: really see the glaring weaknesses and we can touch on
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: a few of those later. You know, the last handful
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: of years they've started about like this. I think one
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: of the years they were under five hundred, but most
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: of them they're competitive, and then it just kind of,
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: you know, goes the way that we've seen it, and
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: I don't know, I to keep it brief. I don't
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: really see a ton of proper regress. Sorry, Oto outstanding,
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: huge jump forward beyond him. I don't know if I'm
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: really seeing. I think Read Detmers has also done a
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: nice Jobby Kahanowitz too. Both of them have matured. I
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: think they each touched upon their most previous outing. You know,
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: some of the things that happened in previous years might
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: have spiraled on them and led to some beginnings, and
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: they were able to kind of get that dialed in.
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: But beyond that, you know, we can talk about the rest.
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: I think Peraza and Fraser have been bright spots, and
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: the record is I guess it is about what I've seen.
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: But you know, I prefer the ballgames that are that
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: are a little tighter, the routes are. You know. I
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: guess maybe some fans love it when the Angels pile
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: on the runs and that that is fine too, But
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: I like the more competitive games where you really get
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: to see some of the strategy by Kurt Suzuki. You
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: get to see the depth tested a little bit more.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: Darnault never plays and I'm a little bit intrigued by that.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: And the bullpen not strength, I would say so far,
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: some a little better than others. But question mark.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a couple of numbers of the rotation has been
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: pretty decent. A three point five to nine ERA going
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: into this road trip that's twelfth, ranks twelfth in Major
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: League Baseball. They have one hundred and thirty eight strikeouts
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: that ranks fourth. They have walked sixty seven batters that's
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: the sixth most in baseball. And we've talked about these
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: three true outcomes. Angels ranked third in baseball and home runs,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: first in walks with one hundred and nineteen, and first
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: and strikeouts two one hundred and fifty five strikeouts. We
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: saw a season high eighteen k's the other night against
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: the Blue Jays. That was not good. But let's talk
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: talk about some of the things that are going well.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: We mentioned Jose Soriano. A couple of his numbers leeds
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: baseball and ings pitch with thirty seven and two thirds,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: e er zero point two, four second in strikeouts forty three,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: second and batting average against one forty three first and
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: slugging percentage against one seventy five and eighth in fastball
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: velocity ninety seven point two. And I'm not sure if
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: this was a Matt Birch special, but after his five
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: shutout innings the other day, he's the first major league
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: pitcher since nineteen hundred to allow no more than one
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: run in the first six starts of a season. Now, sorry,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: only went five innings in that last game, guys, and
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: his pitch count got up there any signs of fatigue.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's only the first month and he's been dominant,
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: But yeah, when you look at that pitch count and
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: he did give up a few hits. Uh, he didn't
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: give up a run, but it seemed like he took
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: a little step back against the Blue Jays.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know if I think, to me,
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: the issue with Soreano's usage is, you know that they
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: pushed him so much to start this season and like
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: a lot of these games that in some like a
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: lot of the games that he pitched in, I mean,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: they've been very comfortably ahead. You know, you trump Mark
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: mentioned those those blowouts and a lot of those have
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: been in his starts. And then last night or yesterday
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: afternoon or Wednesday afternoon rather he's you know, in a
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: much closer game, and you know that sixth inning clearly
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: would have been quite valuable to them. But I think
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: part of it is, you know, you don't want to
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: push this guy into an extremely high innings count in April,
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: and you know, we've seen the way he kind of can,
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: you know, later in seasons struggle and lose some of
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: the you know, that ability to dominate a game. I
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: think that when he you know, we've seen from from
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: him early this season, so they're trying to be careful.
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: Why just got to pick your spots. And when you're
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: gonna be careful yesterday would in the day to get
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: the sixth inning when I think Friday's game, when they
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: were up like seven or eight nothing would have probably
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: been the time to pull them more quickly. And then
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: we saw what happened. The bullpen came in and blew
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: the game. Yesterday they ended up winning, but they blew
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: it when he didn't go sixth inning, so that that
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: was an important factor. I think they have to be
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: smart about this and pick and choose the spots went
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: to push him, And a game against the Blue Jays
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: that's close, where you're trying to avoid getting swept is
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: probably the time you push them, when some of the
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: other times are probably the avenues to, you know, have
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: opportunities to be more judicious with his usage.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Mark you see anybody better in baseball right now is
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: a starting pitcher. There's sorry number one in your mind?
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: I asked to answer on previous shows many times. I
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: still don't know the ranking from you know, but I
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: will Sam, that's your homework, say thirty seventh ranked pitcher
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: a baseball Come on, he knows clean that stuff up?
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: You say stuff was that?
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Was that? Something like that? Not?
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Even that doesn't pan out. There's nothing that I can
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: see that would other than maybe track your you know, history,
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: But I just think it's maybe I don't want to say, well,
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: you know, he knows has covered a lot of the
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: West Coast stuff, so it's not the West Coast bias.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: But maybe maybe it's just taken going to take a
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: little bit longer for a guy on this ball club
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: to you know, have his name, you know, known across
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: the country. But people should be watching because I'm pretty special.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, numbers speak for themselves exactly.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: And you know when Jeff passing a guy his stature
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: starts tweeting out that, you know, his numbers and pure
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: dominance with his million plus followers, people will definitely start
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: taking notice. Another guy who's pitched really well and uh
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: we sort of referred to him as a swing guy
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: in that rotation, Jack Ahanowitz two and oh with a
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: three point one zer a and five starts, nineteen strikeouts.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: The walks are a little high seventeen and twenty nine
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: and ings. Buddy's managed to pitch through some traffic and
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: got some pretty good results. Either of you guys, is
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: is this surprising right now? Can he sustain this?
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: We saw I think he had one strikeout the other night.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: I think it's interesting, like it's not a typical profile,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: but I mean this is what I mean. He was
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: a striking guys out in twenty twenty four, and I
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: think he tried to do that more last year and
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: that backfired on him. The question is, you know, I
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: mean his start the other night, obviously the result overall
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: is good. I think, you know, it's just like I said,
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: there's not a lot of strikeouts. There was some lot
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: of like hard contact in that game. But he's you know,
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: he's able to navigate hard contact. I think because he
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: generates a lot of ground balls, so you get some
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: guys on base and he will turn double plays.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: I mean that is you know that.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: I mean we saw with Soriano as well. I mean
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: that's what he he does. Like these guys, if you
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: allow singles, you can generally not have a crooked number
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: against you. The issue with the Honowitz is the walks,
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: the home runs. If he can really limit that, I
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: think it can be a pretty effective big league picture
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: without striking guys out.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Mark, any thoughts on Jack. I think he's looked
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: good so far.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: I still am trying to figure out what He's kind
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: of hard to put into a box. Stylistically, he was
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: a big sinker guy when he first came up, and
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: you know, he's not really that anymore. He's got a
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: refined repertoire. He's a guy I think that it is
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: going to really benefit off of improving his command. Walks
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: are one thing, but just overall quality of his locations,
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: especially against left handed hitters, because the stuff, while he
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: does throw very hard, doesn't really play, doesn't seem like
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: he blows it by anybody.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Yea, which is a lot of content.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, which is true. So he's a power pitcher, and
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: well what with all the you know, maybe we can
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: get Tim Salmon to talk a little more about the
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: velocity increases, but you know, it's it's everybody throws hard
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: and maybe his ninety seven is it plays a little
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: bit less, but doesn't mean he can't be effective and
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: get outs. You know, I don't care if he doesn't
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: strike a ton of guys out if he gives you
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: what I what I would really like out of him
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: is to eat a lot of innings. I think you
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: see what happens when you know some of these guys
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: go to a third. You know, those short starts are
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: just absolutely terrible. So if Jack can be a reliable
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: guy that can you know, reasonably give you six innings
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: keep you in the ball game.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, let's talk about that bullpen a little bit.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Two guys who have done pretty well. Sam Bachman two
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: point six three ERA and nine games. Chase sil Sith
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: two point eight nine and thirteen games. We talked a
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: little bit about his over usage and that's a concern
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: for me. Brent Sooner to the left hand or two
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: point one two ERA and nine games. He's cleaned up
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: a couple of games, and I love how fast he works.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: He's great fun to watch. But boy, as a whole,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: the bullpen has a four point seventy four e RA
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: that's twenty second in baseball. Fifty four walks, six most
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: in baseball. Not a lot of depth the Jordan Romano.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure he's even the closer anymore. And Drew
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Pomerance was pretty good until he gave up those three
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: against the Blue Jays the other night. I'm not seeing
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: a lot of help on the way. Kirby Yates really
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: struggled in his first triple A rehab the Parents, I
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: believe it was Wednesday night, gave up three runs. Velocity
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: down I'm not sure he's going to be a savior here,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: Ben Joyce, I'm not sure he's even on the horizon.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: What what can this team do outside of some kind
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: of acquisition. You don't see many trades in April, but man,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: there's just not a lot to pick. And I know
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: Kurt's taken a lot of heat for a lot of
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: his pitching changes and his bullpen management, but you know,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: you got to have something to work with down there.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: I'm not seeing that, what are you, guys?
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: San?
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, I think that. I mean, you know,
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: when you see teams really have bad seasons, it's not
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: always because they have horrible offenses or terrible pitching staffs
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: or even really bad defense. I mean, I think that's
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: all contributing, But I mean the big thing I think
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: you see is blown leads. Like if you can't hold
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: on to a lead, or hold onto a tie, or
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: play a close baseball game, you're gonna lose a ton
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: of games. And so I think it's the risk with
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: the Angels. I'm not saying that's where they're at, because,
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: like you said, there are some guys who are performing well,
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: but I would be concerned when you have a bunch
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: of guys in their mid to late thirties, who are
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of being asked to throw two or
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: three innings like twice a week. And you know, especially
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: like someone like Suitors just getting used a lot in
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: these situations. I know he's had some days off, you know,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: sil Seth's a guy who's really never in a full
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: year reliever and he's had his injuries, he's had his issues.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Like they're using him a ton, you see, see the
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: ups and downs with that. He gave it up last
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: night or Wednesday afternoon. And so yeah, to me, like
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: that's this is going to be the big thing for them, Like,
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: you know, even if their offense ends up over before me,
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: even if there's that starting rotations, keeps that sub for
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: e R and even if all these things kind of
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: go well, I have a hard time seeing how this
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: bullpen over the course of a whole year is gonna
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: be really effective. And you know, and I just don't
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: think they really put themselves in great position. You know,
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: in sign Kenley resigned. Kenley, they traded brock Burke, who
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: was one of their more steady, reliable guys. So I'm
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: not saying, you know, that's the difference in a good
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: bullpen or a bad bullpen. But I wonder where this
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: is going to go over the over the course of
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: the season. I'm not we don't know, but I would
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: be concerned about it.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Mark. Is the heat Kurtsuzuki's taking warranted or has he
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: been dealt a pretty bad hand here?
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: I think he's probably well, He's done the best he can.
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: I know some of his decisions have been questioned by
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: some of the uh you know vocal X users, one
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: in particular, we know who that is, uh, but I
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: there's just not not enough depth. At the end of
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: the day. They're a left handed pitcher short Rock Burke
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: has a point nothing. You know, he's given up something,
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: but he's really taken off And I've said, uh, this
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: probably won't be the last time I say it, but
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: I really did like his arm. Now you have to,
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: you know, give up something to get something. Unfortunately, the
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: player that Josh Low that we acquired has yet to
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: really get it going. We can talk a little more
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: about him, but you know what do they do? Call
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: him up? Bremner, Dana, who else? Urania class and shores
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: you like? I mean, Sam, would you agree?
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Some of these kids are put in the booth. You
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: don't agree with that, Yeah.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: That's kind of been my that's been my home bit
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: with this, with this covering this team.
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: No, I do not.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: Agree with that. I think that's what that's the that's
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: the issue they continue to fall into. But I think
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: it's probably what will happen. Now you get it. Maybe
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: I would change my tune on this. If the Angels
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: are like in a wild card hunt, like a legit
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: wild card hunt, you know late in the season. Teams
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: will do that, they will bring players in because you
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: only have so many opportunities in this life to get
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: to the playoffs and win a World Series. But I
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: wouldn't do that for this team, at least not where
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: they're currently situated now.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a Ryan Johnson, that's a great question, right, or
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: did he come back and get optioned? I can't even remember.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: No, he's not gonna he had like he was from
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: what we saw. He was like pitching in Arizona and
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: came out with a hammy or something like that, but
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: I don't.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, viral thing and then the next tweaked the hamstring
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: in Arizona. Sims right, I'm not sure when he's gonna
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: come back. I'm going to.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: They said, is going to go on a rehab, But
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know what they're gonna do with him.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, like you said that if your Rainy's gonna
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: stay in this rotation, I mean, right now, they kind
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: of have five guys I wouldn't really pull from at
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: least give another start to Urania. After what he did Sunday,
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: I think that was a worthy of another shot. But yes,
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: I mean all took was putting on some glasses.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: I guess.
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: With with with Manoa, I'm like, I know they're paying
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: the guy, but really he wasn't good in spring, and
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure exactly where he fits in this. I mean,
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: is he a long reliever? Is he you think he's
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: an option left? They coul put him in Triple A.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: I I it was interesting when they had him up
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: like on the on the billboards inside the stadium, and
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: they like took those down after the Freeway series, So
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: I think they're they're kind of walking back to their
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: own commitment to him in some capacity when you see
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: that happen.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna agree with Sam on the prospects I think
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: you got to leave these kids in the minor leagues,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: let him develop as starters. If by some slim chance,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: this team is competing for something in August, yeah, and
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: then you can look at bringing them into that bullpen.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: But I think you have to at least keeping early
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: All Star break. Step on the glass, let's see it,
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: step on the gay Mark says, just being a stepping
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: on the gas. We will talk a little bit about
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: the offense, which has been, you know, pretty decent in
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: some aspects. I think zach Netto's having the year we expected.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: We've talked about Jorge Solaire's power, oswal Perrazza having a
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: really nice year at the plate. But the guy who's
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: been sort of the X factor and we didn't know
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: going into season, Mike Trout goes into the road trip
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: hitting two thirty nine with a nine to seventy four ops,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: eight homers, seventeen RBIs, twenty five runs. I think he
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: leads the major leagues twenty five walks, twenty three strikeouts,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: so walk great way up, strikeout rate way down. He
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: had a huge series in Yankee Stadium, and we know
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: when you do anything you do in New York on
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: that stage. Is it going to be bigger? I saw
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: a lot of headlines Mike Trout is back. What do
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: you guys think is this is he back? I mean,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: I still don't think he's ever don't know about I
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: don't want to say never, but I don't. I don't
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: think he's back to that Mic Trout we saw, you
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: know in those first five years that was otherworldly. But
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: he's pretty darn productive player right now. Is this a
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: level he can sustain for for this year, for a
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: couple of years.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: I think back would be what you saw in twenty
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: twenty two, right, like just a lot of home runs,
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: you know, effective getting yeah, getting on. I mean he
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: was a news top ten MVP finisher that year. I mean,
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: he was a good player. I agree with you. I
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: just don't. I don't think it's like that's his game.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Is what we saw when he was the greatest player
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: on the planet. You know, just tons of on base,
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: tons of you know, just hit right like all fields
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: all the time. Uh, he's walking a ton, I mean
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: that's that's what's kind of opening things up. And the
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: other thing is and all credit Jeff Flescher on this,
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: I think he said suiteted out something like he had
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: made content like try to make contact, like on sixteen
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: consecutive fastballs above ninety five miles an hour that he
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: swung at, and so like that's a great sign he's
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: not His issue was swinging miss on high velocity. I
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: mean that that has always been the problem. If he's
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: if he's even minimally cut back on that, it will
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: help him significantly. But I don't mean I just want
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: to see more hit for him, like actually being able to,
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: you know, just spray the ball over the field, get
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: you know, sharp singles here and there. I think, you know,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: it's it's it's been a lot of all or nothing
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: still with a ton of walk and that is sustaining
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: his offense. That's why he's banning. Average is so low
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: and his ops is yar a thousand. But you know
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: it's it's I don't know where that leads him over
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: a longer term. I mean, you know, again we've seen
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: it in the last few years. He's gotten hurt. At
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: the end of April, he's got to cross that threshold,
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: in my opinion, stay healthy, get into may like these
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: are these are important things that are coming up for him,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: And you know he just has the last few years.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: He hasn't really gotten past that point. And I'll be
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: curious to see where. You know, we're playing the field
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: every day, we're hitting every day. I mean, I don't
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: think he's had more than one off day this whole season.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: So yeah, and he's playing center field a ton mark,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: Where do you think Mike's at right now? This is
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: offensive game especially, and do you see this as being sustainable?
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: Sustainable is always often asked, and you know it's just
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: a who knows, but this does seem okay, you want
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: an answer sustainable. I do believe that that he can
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: sustain this production. It's and I think he could actually,
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: as Sam said, the batting average could creep up now
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: three hundred. I'm not sure about that. But you know,
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: he has stealing bases again. I think that some of
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: these things like stealing bases, playing center field, that's more
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: to do, and I think it gives them a lot
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: more confidence, you know, upstairs between the ears. I think
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: he feels like a you know, a better athlete when
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: he's doing that. It's been well discussed the DH position
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: and it's difficult. I did a lot, and it's not
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: for everybody, especially if you're somebody who you know enjoys
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: taking swings and working on things and stuff, you really
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: have to get used to as a DH putting the
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: bat down and going and doing something else, because if
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: you're just hyper focused on that previous at batman, that
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: just didn't And Mike, I think can get a little
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: bit into the weeds on the mechanics the last few years.
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: He's doing a much better job this year. And I
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: think that, you know, I'm probably going to go out
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: on a limb and say these tweets and stuff about
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: him not whiffing on fastballs and velocity. It wouldn't be
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: my favorite thing. I'll just speak for myself. It's kind
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: of a you know, point of pride amongst ball players.
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: You're gonna be able to hit, you know, a guy's
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: fastball balls blown by you, But his his swing is better. Mechanically,
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: his timing is better, and his production is better more
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: walks than strikeouts. He's playing every day. I think the
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: defense is probably where I see a little bit bigger
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: divide between I don't know if you were referencing the
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: MVP years or not, but the range seems good, but
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: that's to be expected. I think this is about his
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: optimized version, given the injuries and the age and the mileage,
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: as you know, you can hope for so it's been
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: really promising.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: I agree one hundred percent on Mike playing defense contributing
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: to his overall game. He's always prided himself as an
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: all around player, and gosh, early in his career the
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: catching Camden yards, some of those home run robbers, he
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: was doing some pretty acrobatic stuff out there, and I
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: think I think more of it. It's a more mental
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: thing for Mike. He I think when you play defense,
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: it gets your mind off that last crappy hat bat
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: or whatever happened where he didn't come through, and it
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: refocuses him. And I think he's just a better all
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: around player when he's playing the outfield. Let's turn to
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: a couple of guys who are not doing very well,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: and no one should well redeemed himself quite nicely, and
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: when say his game with a home run and tie
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: breaking three run double, but before that, he was really scuffling.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: In his overall numbers right now two thirty nine with
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: a six eighty eight ops, three homers. He does not
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: have eighteen RBIs, which is pretty good, but He had
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: a rough ending to the game the other night where
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: he Angels scored a run in the ninth to trim
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: the deficit to four to two. They had the basis
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: loaded swings at a first pitch from Louis Varland Grounds
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: into four to six to three double play, and this
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: was how he went in head first to first base.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Mark how many times you go head first in the
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: first base as a player, same amount as you and
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Sam combined. Also, what we hear it, so many times
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: you're slower getting to the bag when you dive head first,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: and it just does not get.
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: It looks look, it's a looks thing. It looks like
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: you're really doing every edge. You know what that was
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: for him an exceptional effort. You know, we say, oh, yeah,
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: I'm not criticizing the effort at all, No, I know,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: but you know, the strategy was poor.
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: The bat was poor. First pitch, yeah, against the new pitcher,
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: and it wasn't hard hit. He's been very groundball prone
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: this year, exit velocities low eighties. Usually, his hits have
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: generally recently come on going the other way. The bat
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: speed really has not improved. The overall exit velocities have
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: not improved. He had some comments. I think Jeff Fletcher
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: covered it or somebody else with the Register. Okay, Doug,
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: thank you. Cited an ankle injury that we didn't know about,
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: so I guess maybe he's been battling through that and
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: said some interesting comments coming from a player. Seemed a
• 25:58
  Speaker 3: little more like what a fan might say. But he said,
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: I think it'd be cool if I hit like maybe
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: like fifteen home runs and like thirty doubles, paraphrasing a
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: little bit, but not all that much. It was a
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: little bit interesting wording. But I think he kind of
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: is relegated to the fact that the home runs are.
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: You know, he's not a home run hitter. He's not
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: Nick Kurts, He's not Glad Junior. That's not a good
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: comp But Kurtz is left handed, he's young, better comp
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: different players. So you know, Nolan's got to figure out.
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: The Angels have to figure out what is the best
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: version of Nolan. I think it's it's probably not doing
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: him any favorites. Sam, maybe you can talk about it
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: to keep talking about his power. It may not he's maybe,
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: you know, he's not potentially going to be a big
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: power hitter and as somebody had mentioned winning the batting title,
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: probably Kurt or Perry.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: I think it was, Yeah, one of those two guys
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: in spring training.
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: That type of hitter. It wasn't declaring it was going
• 26:53
  Speaker 3: to be, but they thought he could hit for a
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: high enough average to compete for one. That's so that's
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: more Luis Arraya's territory or well they.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: Need him to.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I just think that's the thing. I mean, listen
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: that it doesn't surprise me that wasn't there for those comments.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: I'm rarely there for comments made by the team these days.
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: But what I would say is that, like, he's not
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: going to be at least as when we know about
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: him now. He's not going to be a big power hitter.
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: He's not going to be fast. You know, he's not
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: necessarily going to be an elite defender. I think he
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: can certainly hold his own at first base. I think
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: the thing for him, if you're not going to do
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: those things, then you then the hit, the hit tool,
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: the on base tool needs to be very high. And
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: he's right now is his walk rates down, His ground
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: ball rate's pulling, pulling the ball just kind of on
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: the ground quite a bit what we saw I think
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: in that game winner that he had on Wednesdays. You know,
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, he could say it's a bloop to left,
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: but that's when he's at his best, is kind of
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: spraying the ball and like being someone that can just
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: bloop the ball down the left field ball line. And
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: I think, you know, that's what he needs to be
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: doing more of. And you know, this is a guy
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: who's just he doesn't have every tool. He's not a
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: five tool player. He needs to have one real elite tool,
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: and that tool needs to be getting on base and
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: we haven't seen it this year. And so when you're
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: not doing that, you're just kind of like a pretty
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: mediocre to not great baseball player. I think there's more
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: in there with him. I don't think that's the case.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: I don't the key is necessarily not good enough to
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: be at this level, but he hasn't played like it
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: so far this year. And you know, maybe what we
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: saw on Wednesday, we'll turn the child a little bit,
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: because I've watched him playing off baseball to feel like
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: he can e can hold his own here. It's just
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: a matter of like what's the ceiling, And I think
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: there is maybe a ceiling on his overall capability, but
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: you know that ceiling may still be above average or
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: at least above replacement big league ballplayer.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Defense not an elite tool for Nolan either. We
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: saw him failed to scoop a one hop throw from
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: Perraz at third the other night Tuesday that cost him
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: a run in a close game lost to the Blue Jays.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Another guy is really scuffling, and this has really seemed
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: to draw the ire of Angel fans. As logan o
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Hoppy the catcher. He goes into this road ship hitting
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: two to eight with a five ninety ops, one homer,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: eight RBIs, twenty two strikeouts. A lot of people seem
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: to think this guy needs to be optioned to triple A.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: My question to them is who you bringing up? Who's
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: your replacement? They have two catchers down in Salt Lake,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Sebastian Rovero, who's twenty seven years old, kind of a
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: journeyman guy, pretty good defender, no power, zero home runs
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: and thirteen games. And then they didn't get this guy,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: Omar Martinez on a minor league deal from the New
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: York Yankees. He was once a pretty good catching, power
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: hitting catching prospect for them. He's sitting two twenty with
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: a seven to twenty eight ops and pour RB, three
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: homers and four RBIs in twelve games a little more pop.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure what he brings defensively, but I mean,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: what would you do with Logan right now? And obviously
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Travis Darnaut is not the answer because he's hardly even
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: played as the backup.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: I think whatever they decide to do with Logan whoever
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: they have in Triple A, should be irrelevant. This should
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: be all about what is best for that player, and
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: Logan O happy is a part of your if he's
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: going to be a part of your future, like you
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: got to find that out this year in my opinion,
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: and so you know, will sending him to Triple A,
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: if they decide to do that, will that crush him mentally?
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: I think you got to assess these things. I mean,
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: right now, I'm not sure sending him out there every
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: single day, including like a noon game after playing the
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: last week or whatever. I mean, he never gets a
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: day off. I think Travis has played like the max
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: of like four or five games that they have to
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: just decide, like what do they think is going to
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: work for him? Because you know this is it's not
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: working great right now. I mean he's just swinging and missing.
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: Is that he was striking out a lot less until
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: he's faced Mason Bellow the first time where you're going
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: to really bad at bad and is like struck out
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: almost every time since then. A couple hits on Wednesday,
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: but overall just really really scuffling. So if I'm the Angels,
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking less about what does this mean for our
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty sixth season and if we have Sebastian Rivero
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: here or if we have Logan o' hoppy here, the
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: question is is Logan o happy better served in Triple
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: A where he can reset in a less pressurized environment,
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: And because for him, I mean I sometimes think those
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: things are overblown. But with Logan, I think a lot
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: of this is mental and I think a lot of
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: the corrections are, you know, for him to make and
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: seeing it in a real game in an environment where
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: nobody's really caring how you perform might be.
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: For the best. But I also would tell you it's
• 31:17
  Speaker 3: it's still early.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: And you know it's hard to fully assess the player.
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: He's just not hitting for any power and he has
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: it for almost a calendar year at this point.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he had some very non competitive at bats against
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: Mason Miller, has a lot of players do. But he
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: also had one against Jeff Hoffman against the Blue Jays
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: the other night, Mark, what a quick trip to Triple A.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: Do anything to clear this kid's head, benefit him in
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: every way, any kind of way. What do you think
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: was it?
• 31:43
  Speaker 3: This question posed on this show by someone that's talking
• 31:48
  Speaker 3: currently to YouTube. This was a couple of weeks ago.
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: I believe I floated the idea. It was turned down
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: immediately or shot down and said no way, no way.
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: But you know, it's not been good really. I guess
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: the throwing maybe well even.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: That he's had a couple of.
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: Good throws, I know, but there were some early plays
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: that we all you know, probably remember that that were
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: throwing away. It's the frustration. The Hoffman at bat, I
• 32:19
  Speaker 3: mean that was that was an auto swing. That was
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: a pull swing on a pitch that I don't even
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: know if it was registered in the box.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: It did not mention that in the press box. It
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: didn't even make I mean, yeah it was.
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: That's a player that has completely unfortunately checked out of
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: that ballgame. You know, you saw you know, some of
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: the words to himself as he was walking back to
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: the dugout, which not surprising. I know that that's in
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: the cards for him. Even in spring training. From what
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: I understand, he's very intense, uh and that's fine, but
• 32:56
  Speaker 3: there comes a time and he's getting to be that age,
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: you know, the team leader thing that they foisted on
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: him or whatever was ill advised. He is. He is
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: a guy that needs less, not more, in my opinion,
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: and he needs I don't know, he's got a lot
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: of voices I read or was hearing that that maybe
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: has less. It seems like there's he's got quite a
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: team around him, but it's going to be up to
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: Logan o'happy to figure it out for himself. And I
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: think that you can surround him with all these guys,
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: but I believe there's probably an element of a fear
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: of failure. We've talked about chasing the perfect swing. I
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: highlighted some of the things I saw with the off
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: season training. People disagreed at times, Well, what do you
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: see now, I mean, it's a it's a swing that
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: was chasing the ex velocity and this is probably going
• 33:51
  Speaker 3: to be another one clipped up and put out there.
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: Maybe maybe not, but you know, he got a couple
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: of hits the other way the other day. That is
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: really he is a guy. Yes, it's great when he's
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: pulling these home runs four hundred and something feet in
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: the air, but he can't survive just on that because
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: it's just nobody really can netto is a rare exception.
• 34:13
  Speaker 3: He does a very good job of pulling the ball
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: in the air. There's there's some guys throughout the league
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: to do it, but Logan. Logan is not one of
• 34:20
  Speaker 3: those guys. And I think the past Paul that that
• 34:25
  Speaker 3: preceded that pour it bat against Hoffman probably was the
• 34:28
  Speaker 3: catalyst that that. You know, he just looked like I
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: don't think he was even mentally he didn't know where
• 34:34
  Speaker 3: he was and that about just hacking at the rosenbag
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: and uh, you know it didn't didn't look good and
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: very frustrated, but yet again fired right back in there
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: the next day in the lineup. So I think that
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: Kurt does have a plan. But you know, in previous generations,
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: maybe somebody whatever since you know, a pretty firm conversation
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: with him, a one way conversation assault the old school,
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: but that may not resonate anymore.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: That maybe a boomer thing. Yeah, we will close this
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: y Hey, I'm the boomer of this crew. I did
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: want to close the show with a question for all
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: three of us, would you send Logano Hoppy down? Even
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: if just for two weeks? I don't know. I can't
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: remember Mark, if you came up and went down again
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: and came back up. I know a lot of good,
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: very good players have done that. Would you guys send
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: him down? You know, right right about now.
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: I'd give it a week to see. We're a couple
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: of weeks. I mean, it's just given a little bit
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: more time. I mean, I you know, for him, I
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: worry that sending him down is going to only exacerbate this.
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: The thing the Angels have to really decide is if, like,
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: is this guy going to be your dude moving forward?
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: Because I mean, like I said, this is a decision
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: that has to kind of be made this year. I
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: don't think you want to go into next year kind
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: of just hoping that he figures it out. If like,
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: if after six months of the twenty twenty six season
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: it's not improving you, then you have to really start
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: looking big picture at the future. Of your catching position.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: But for now, these next six months, this year, this
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: is about getting the most out of him and seeing
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: what what clicks what doesn't. So I think at some
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: point this year they may, you know, it was a
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: long time to decide if they want to send him down.
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: I would give it a little bit more time because
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: he had been striking out less, he had looked a
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: little better. I think that that Mason Miller at bet
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: like just kind of broke it off. I mean, like
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: he looked down. He looks like a lot of what
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: he did in the second half of last season, just
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: flailing it off speed, sliders, out of the zone. If
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: this is where, if this sticks to around, if he's
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: just striking out constantly for the next like you know,
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: few games, maybe that's when that conversation really starts to
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: eat up. But I give it, I give it a
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: tiny break before I make that decision.
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: Mark, you're the Angels, GM, what do you do.
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: I'm not so yesterday. We are filming Thursday. So yesterday's
• 36:53
  Speaker 3: game I believed, Yeah, on the two knocks, if I'm
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: not mistaken, and both I think you know, they weren't
• 37:01
  Speaker 3: hit terribly hard. They did go the other way. So
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: maybe that's the start of and he might be a
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: guy that just benefits from a ton of reps just
• 37:11
  Speaker 3: being in there constantly. I know he has a ton
• 37:13
  Speaker 3: of energy. He's talked about pairing things down. I know,
• 37:17
  Speaker 3: you know, a workout, big workout guy with the weights
• 37:19
  Speaker 3: and stuff, and you know, is that doing him any
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: you know, real positives? I don't know. You know, he's
• 37:27
  Speaker 3: a big, strong guy, but sometimes the mobility really matters too,
• 37:30
  Speaker 3: catching and other things. You got to be able to move.
• 37:33
  Speaker 3: I guess one question, Sam, you know, I think would
• 37:36
  Speaker 3: be nice to hear your opinion when he's really clicking
• 37:38
  Speaker 3: or when when you know they acquired him. What type
• 37:42
  Speaker 3: of player is he at his best? What is what
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: does that like?
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: Like?
• 37:46
  Speaker 3: Is there a comp that like is he will Smith
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: or that's not not a good one.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: But he had a pretty good year, right Sam? Yeah?
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: I mean the thing, the thing that makes no sense
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: to me is like the reason I like would be
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: so cautious about things like sending someone down or or
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: moving on from him. He's like, there is there is
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: evidence I've watched while Gonna Happy be a good baseball
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: player at the big league level, like I've seen it.
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: You know, as a catcher, he was perfectly fine in
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: his first couple of seasons. I mean as an offensive player,
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: I mean he would. I mean we saw it at
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: the start of the twenty three season. I mean the
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: guy was just clocking home runs left and right. It's
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: in there. I don't know if the leagues figured him out.
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: He's just got to chase that pitch and it will
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: be game over if you keep throwing it to him.
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's it doesn't well. The reason people have
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: clocked him as a leader is, you know, he was
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: he carried.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: Himself a certain way. I think.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: He's got to look at any and when he's when
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: he's confident, I mean, you see the difference in the guy.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: Like I think you talk about that frustration in the
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: and him yelling and cursing and things like that, Like
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: it's baseball is a really tough gaming, you know that, Mark.
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, it is, no matter how good you are,
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: to rumble you. And I just think he's struggled with
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: that humbling elements a bit at times, because when things
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: have gone well for him, I think he really handles
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: that really well personally. I think the success is something
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: he's good at.
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: The failure is.
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: Something I think he needs to work on.
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: And you know, for me, like.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: I don't know, it's it's hard to comp him. I'm
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: you know, but I mean he could he's started. I
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: think he could be one of the best catchers in
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: the game, at least offensively, if you know, if he's
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: able to figure some just I don't know what it is,
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: but it's just something just like just mentally, I.
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: Think what I was getting at it was like, you know,
• 39:27
  Speaker 3: Gary Sanchez kind of an extreme years ago at the game,
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: a huge hat and the glove was bad, and you know,
• 39:35
  Speaker 3: it's weird to see a guy regress on defense. That's
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: peculiar to me. Now he's doing some different things. We've
• 39:40
  Speaker 3: covered him, the one ne stance, you know, the glove
• 39:43
  Speaker 3: that he's trying to work down to up, which is
• 39:48
  Speaker 3: it's a thing. But the pass balls, you know, it's
• 39:50
  Speaker 3: really the only blocks in air. Quotes are coming on
• 39:54
  Speaker 3: glove glove saves, and to me, those are you know
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: a lot more similar to a first baseman kind of
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: dig in and out. Then you know, using the body
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: got hit in the neck the other day and I
• 40:03
  Speaker 3: think that was the result of the one knee stance
• 40:06
  Speaker 3: because you get down on one knee your head actually,
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: you know, you're not able to bury the chin. Now,
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: we can get a real catcher to talk technique. But
• 40:13
  Speaker 3: I know that that that is something that and the
• 40:16
  Speaker 3: and the you know, your thighs are exposed, not to
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: mention other things, and you know, but the Toronto's catcher
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: was doing it as well. So Logan's just you know,
• 40:26
  Speaker 3: that's part of what I was getting out with the mobility.
• 40:28
  Speaker 3: Catchers have to be pretty nimble, and he's, you know,
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: just probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest,
• 40:33
  Speaker 3: muscular catcher in baseball right now. So you know, I
• 40:38
  Speaker 3: just wondering myself.
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: You know, he's like taking ground ers on like third
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: at times or first. I wonder if there's ever like
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: an avenue for him to change positions if they feel
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: like it would really benefit him and the team. But
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: you know, your bad has to come through first before
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: you really start to feel like you should be finagling
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: players into new positions just to keep them active.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm not going to dark my own question. I say,
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: I agree with you, Sam, I give him at least
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: another week, maybe two. But if he hasn't started to
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: turn things around by then. I mean, his confidence is
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: going to be pretty shut to begin with. What's a
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: what's a quick trip to Salt Lake. Yeah, I just don't.
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: I think it could really serve to spark him. And
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: maybe Mike Sooshi used to do this a lot. You know,
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: Just let a guy go play some baseball games without
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: the pressure of the big league, without having to win.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: Give him a week, give him two weeks of just
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: pure baseball. Hopefully that clears his head a little bit,
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: hopefully gets a little confidence back, and he comes back rejuvenated.
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: The last thing I want to say about this, I'll
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: say one more thing, like I just I just want
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: to say, like, you know, I think that this isn't
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: like I don't think he needs like a wake up call.
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: I mean I talked to him lastly in the offseason
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: last year, and he was just like he said, he
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: shouted up to the ballpark every day worried about and
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: he sent to Salt Lake or thinking.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: It was going to happen.
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: And you know, just like an like, I think this
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: is a matter of this is a this is the
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: reflection of a guy who's who is unable to get
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: that thought out of his Hey maybe at times until
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: to me like if you just do it, like you
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: ripped the band off and can help. I don't know,
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: but like to me like this is this is a
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: guy who'se I hope, I hope they don't have to
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: send him down. I hope they figures it out. I
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: personally personally like the guy a lot. I think he's
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: a good player, and I think he's a good person
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: to have around. It's just, you know, you got to
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: perform at this level right now, he isn't.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: All right. We will close the show with that. Thank
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: you guys for tuning in. Please like and subscribe, and
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: we'll see you next time on Halo Territory.