I'm getting irritated with Hamilton

[HaloMagic]

Good to know. I wonder if all of th scouting in MLB is as good as yours. Makes me wonder how much the market would have paid Hamilton had we not snatched him. I doubt Pujols/fielder kind of money.

Considering we outbid everyone and we bid just half of Pujols/Fielder kind of money I'd have to agree with you. The remaining market didn't want to give Hamilton more than $100MM.

[Lifetime]

Clearly. 

[Angel Oracle]

LF, LCF, and CF in Skankee Stadium aren't hitting friendly for righties, except for turning singles into doubles and doubles into triples.

Something clearly changed for Wells. Why now is he suddenly taking a lot more walks?

[CaliAngel]

^It's because he has a dynasty backing him up during games that don't mean anything right now. He is Wellsying it up and everyone on the East Coast is buying it and eating it up. If he gets to the playoffs and has some cameras, attention, and clutch situations on his shoulders were he's under pressure he'll blow it. Make a patented jump into the stands on a ball that's clearly gone...

 

As far as Hamilton, I'm guessing he will go on a tear,and lets hope our guys get hot when he does too.

 

But Pujols hurt kinda dampers it all. That's an Angel thing of course.

 

What needs to happen is over the next 5 years the stars need to eventually line up. We are 2 years into a 10 year contract, and 1 year into a 5 year contract. We have time to develop, grow and learn. Dipoto is not going to get fired and neither is Scioscia. This is a long term investment, this stuff doesn't sprout overnight. These guys are good, and they will learn to feed off eachother. 

 

We're just taking the lumps right now.

[SoCALkid]

You obviously do not have much experience in coaching or managing a team.   Confidence is huge and a good manager tries to build confidence instead of destroying it by demoting a player.

You obviously have no experience in baseball. I'm sure any good manager leaves a horrible hitter in at the #4 spot.

[sneaky_flute]

why is it unreasonable to assume pitchers have taken a different approach to hamilton?

[Lifetime]

Why is it reasonable? 

[sneaky_flute]

because pitchers are deliberately throwing balls on the outside of the plate knowing he will swing. i think he's well aware of what pitchers are doing but his inability to adapt is compounding his struggles. i'd like to see pitch charts from the last few years. i'm willing to bet pitchers used to throw him a lot more strikes.

[OneLove22]

because pitchers are deliberately throwing balls on the outside of the plate knowing he will swing. i think he's well aware of what pitchers are doing but his inability to adapt is compounding his struggles. i'd like to see pitch charts from the last few years. i'm willing to bet pitchers used to throw him a lot more strikes.

 

Definitely.

 

Boom found this.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/josh-hamilton-whiffing-an-investigation-of-concerns/

[Lifetime]

Again, that's what happens when a hitter slumps. Especially hitters that tend to be free swingers normally. It didn't take pitchers 5 years to figure Josh out. They know he's struggling right now so they're exploiting it and they'll continue to do that until Josh figures it out, just like he has in the past. It's not well reasoned to think that Major League pitchers/teams all of the sudden figured Josh out after all these years. 

[OneLove22]

Again, that's what happens when a hitter slumps. Especially hitters that tend to be free swingers normally. It didn't take pitchers 5 years to figure Josh out. They know he's struggling right now so they're exploiting it and they'll continue to do that until Josh figures it out, just like he has in the past. It's not well reasoned to think that Major League pitchers/teams all of the sudden figured Josh out after all these years. 

 

 

It seems like more than a slump at this point.  It happened all last season and has continued into this season.

[Lifetime]

No it didn't. 

[OneLove22]

No it didn't. 

 

Yes it did.  Read that article I posted.  Just because he had crazy RBI and HR numbers does not mean it didn't.

 

It did, and that is simply a fact.

 

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/percent-380631-hamilton-season.html

 

There's another one for you.  All of these were written before he put on an Angels uniform.  I could pull these up all day.

[Lifetime]

It didn't happen all season and neither of those articles prove your premise. And it wasn't just RBI and HR numbers last year. He was hitting the ball at a very good rate most of the season. He was not slumping or struggling like he is now the entire season. There's no denying he is a free swinger, everyone knows that. He's also a damn good hitter who is currently in one of his funks. 

[OneLove22]

I watched almost every Ranger game last season.  He was good for the first 2 months.  After that he was playing similarly to what he is now.  

 

He will still be a good hitter but all I'm saying is get used to him striking out and going 0-4.  

[Lifetime]

Good for you. But you are wrong. He wasn't playing similar to what he is now last year outside of those two months. 

 

He's always been prone to strike out so that is to be expected. 

[OneLove22]

Except last season was a career high and the trend has continued.  

 

You can deny it all you want but right now you are witnessing what I saw last season, which is Josh striking out at a much higher rate than he used to.  

 

He wasn't getting boo's in a Ranger uniform for no reason.

 

Annnnd going back to July...

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/texas-rangers/headlines/20120716-gosselin-every-strikeout-boosts-chances-of-josh-hamilton-re-signing-with-the-rangers.ece

 

 

Rick Gosselin: If Hamilton doesn't start showing better patience at the plate and some discipline -- laying off those lazy breaking balls outside of the strike zone -- not only will he fail to get the record-setting contract he's expecting, he'll also never see another fastball. I think clearly he's pressing and I think his upcoming free agency has something to do with it. Every strikeout seems to increase his chances of resigning with the Rangers. If you're going to pay $100 million plus for a player, you want someone who will get more hits than strikeouts. His 1-for-10 trip to Seattle with six strikeouts was painful to watch.

 

 

http://www.baseballanalytics.org/baseball-analytics-blog/2012/11/9/will-josh-hamilton-also-whiff-in-free-agency.html

 

The good news is he can fix it if he decides to quit being a idiot.  The bad news is he's still being a idiot.  I think he will improve, but it is concerning.

[fan_since79]

Good for you. But you are wrong. He wasn't playing similar to what he is now last year outside of those two months. 

 

He's always been prone to strike out so that is to be expected. 

Not at this rate, though. His strikeout rate has been increasing the past two years.

 

2008: 5.58 plate appearances per strikeout

2009: 4.62

2010: 6.01 

2011: 5.78

2012: 3.92

2013: 3.62 

[Lifetime]

and if he hits somewhere close to where he did last year, I don't give a sh*t if his K rate is high again. Again, he strikes out a lot, he is a free swinging power hitter, he's going to go through stretches of slumps, and he's going to put up good numbers over the season. Everyone knows this, it's nothing new.

[Lifetime]

Not at this rate, though. His strikeout rate has been increasing the past two years.

 

2008: 5.58 plate appearances per strikeout

2009: 4.62

2010: 6.01 

2011: 5.78

2012: 3.92

2013: 3.62 

Yes I know. and?

[fan_since79]

He hasn't shown a hint of hitting somewhere close to where he did last year. Remember, his total numbers from 2012 were skewed by his incredible first couple of months. His second half was pretty awful. His first month of 2013 is even worse.

[Lifetime]

He hasn't shown a hint of hitting somewhere close to where he did last year. Remember, his total numbers from 2012 were skewed by his incredible first couple of months. His second half was pretty awful. His first month of 2013 is even worse.

he's in a slump, it's one month. 

 

his 2nd half wasn't pretty awful. 2 months were pretty bad, that's all.

[OneLove22]

He hasn't shown a hint of hitting somewhere close to where he did last year. Remember, his total numbers from 2012 were skewed by his incredible first couple of months. His second half was pretty awful. His first month of 2013 is even worse.

 

And once that happened we started to slide eventually losing the division to Oakland. 

[fan_since79]

he's in a slump, it's one month. 

 

his 2nd half wasn't pretty awful. 2 months were pretty bad, that's all.

Will you still feel the same way if the slump extends through May?

[Lifetime]

Will you still feel the same way if the slump extends through May?

cart before the horse. Will you still feel the same way if it doesn't?