OC Register: Angels' Andrelton Simmons taking aggressive approach

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM -- Andrelton Simmons’ glove is still there. The glove has always been there. Jean Segura shot a baseball back up the middle of the diamond, whizzing past Angels pitcher Bud Norris at 101 mph according to MLB’s Statcast data. It was a...

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[Chuck]

I know he's not the prototypical RBI guy, but the way he's been hitting, along with the way he makes contact, I wouldn't mind him being moved up in the order. 

I love how he makes consistent hard contact and sprays the ball all over the field.

[arch stanton]

They may do some different things when Valbuena is ready but for the time being I think they like having him hit behind Maybin/Revere so they can play hit and run

[totdprods]

I think Simmons is going to put it all together this year. He's gonna hit .300+, steal 20 bags, and turn into a doubles machine. And I think we see him start to get more opportunities hitting first or second in the line-up. If he keeps this up, he may become our lead-off hitter for the foreseeable future.

[Troll Daddy]

Angels are lucky to have him. Probably Eppler's best move so far as GM. There was no one on the horizon at SS. Fans were going apeshit at the time of the trade. 

Simba sincerely looks like he's invested in the team and having fun. 

[Stradling]

10 minutes ago, Troll Daddy said:

Angels are lucky to have him. Probably Eppler's best move so far as GM. There was no one on the horizon at SS. Fans were going apeshit at the time of the trade. 

Simba sincerely looks like he's invested in the team and having fun. 

I agree with this completely. 

[Stradling]

22 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I think Simmons is going to put it all together this year. He's gonna hit .300+, steal 20 bags, and turn into a doubles machine. And I think we see him start to get more opportunities hitting first or second in the line-up. If he keeps this up, he may become our lead-off hitter for the foreseeable future.

This may sound stupid but he seems faster.  Watching him last year I thought he had just about average speed, a guy who could go first to third, but not a guy to steal more than a handful of bases.  

[totdprods]

43 minutes ago, Stradling said:

This may sound stupid but he seems faster.  Watching him last year I thought he had just about average speed, a guy who could go first to third, but not a guy to steal more than a handful of bases.  

He has some speed, and it could have been a fluke, but he managed 10 steals last year, only caught once. Hoping he's just turned a corner in his game overall, putting it together at the plate and realizing best opportunities to steal. Building off that and seeing how Scioscia/Eppler seem to have a team that's built to be more aggressive on the basepaths, I think 15-20 isn't too far-fetched, especially if he hits .300+ and is on base that often.

Brilliant, brilliant trade. 

[Chuck]

He's got INCREDIBLE range, so yeah, he definitely has some wheels. I think he could easily steal 20-30 bags. 

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, Troll Daddy said:

Angels are lucky to have him. Probably Eppler's best move so far as GM. There was no one on the horizon at SS. Fans were going apeshit at the time of the trade. 

Simba sincerely looks like he's invested in the team and having fun. 

Meanwhile the guy that was too much to give up failed to pitch even 5 innings giving up 4 runs and allowed more than 2 baserunners per innings in his first AAA start.  He is 24 years old now, he has one AAA start.  

Tyler Skaggs is 25.   Hopefully people keep that in mind next time they talk about how Newcomb is a future ace while at the same time writing off Skaggs.

[gurn67]

There is a happy medium to pitch selection and each hitter is different. Some guys can be successful hacking at every close pitch they see, and some guys are in the Hall of Fame because they only swung if it was in a perfect zone. I was listening to the Mariners broadcast on Sirius and the broadcasters were saying that the hitters have been told that no matter what the end result of the at bat is, if they get the pitcher to throw at least 8 pitches, then it was a success. Well, so far management must be ecstatic because they're 4th in MLB in pitches seen! However, they're dead last with 9 runs in 5 games. Or course, I've probably just jinxed Nolasco tonight.

[Blarg]

4 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Meanwhile the guy that was too much to give up failed to pitch even 5 innings giving up 4 runs and allowed more than 2 baserunners per innings in his first AAA start.  He is 24 years old now, he has one AAA start.  

Tyler Skaggs is 25.   Hopefully people keep that in mind next time they talk about how Newcomb is a future ace while at the same time writing off Skaggs.

I'm really trying to be patient with Skaggs but the results say he is just not that good. Eventually it has to show in the box scores rather than simply a formula that says he is a pitcher he really isn't. 

[totdprods]

26 minutes ago, Blarg said:

I'm really trying to be patient with Skaggs but the results say he is just not that good. Eventually it has to show in the box scores rather than simply a formula that says he is a pitcher he really isn't. 

Obviously he's had injury issues, but he's put up almost a full seasons' worth of starts now as an Angel:

29 GS, 168 IP, 4.39 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.304 WHIP, 85 ERA+ as a 23-25 year old. How is that 'just not that good'?

Yeah, the injuries have sucked and he hasn't reached his ceiling, but he's been at least a good #4 if not serviceable #3 type when he's been on the mound.

Some other Angel lefties in their Age 23-25 seasons, averaged out to a season in the rotation.
Langston: 32 G, 31 GS, 197 IP, 4.43 ERA, 4.24 FIP, 1.482 WHIP, 93 ERA+
Finley: 30 G, 11 GS, 4.18 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 1.452 WHIP, 96 ERA+
Washburn: 39 G 30 GS, 4.46 ERA, 5.14 FIP, 1.295 WHIP, 110 ERA+

It's really not to much of a stretch to see him taking another step and turning into the strong #1B or #2-types that those three became. In some ways, you may even see more potential from Skaggs as he's done a better job of limiting BB/H's against him in his career.

That said, he really needs a full healthy year this year.

[Inside Pitch]

4 minutes ago, Blarg said:

I'm really trying to be patient with Skaggs but the results say he is just not that good. Eventually it has to show in the box scores rather than simply a formula that says he is a pitcher he really isn't. 

Are you looking for him to be an ace?  Not sure what your expectations are, or how long a leash you think he's had.

He's logged 168 innings as an Angel -- all but 5 of them at age 24 or younger.   His career ERA as an Angel is 4.39   Last year the AL average ERA for a SP was 4.43.   In his only other season as a SP in the AL it was 3.98.   He's a perfectly acceptable 4 or 5 right now with the potential to be better than that.

The predictive data says he's better than his raw ERA, I'm assuming those are the formulas you are dismissing -- and that's fine.  But by the simplest and least informative of measures (Raw ERA),  he's good enough.

 

 

[Blarg]

Not an Ace but at least 6 innings without imploding. He gives up a lot of runs and you can't blame the defense. You can quote predictive data all you want, but eventually he has to pitch to that level instead of saying that is who he will be. 

Not looking for a top of the rotation guy but he needs to get off the bottom. 

 

[Inside Pitch]

51 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Not an Ace but at least 6 innings without imploding. He gives up a lot of runs and you can't blame the defense. You can quote predictive data all you want, but eventually he has to pitch to that level instead of saying that is who he will be. 

Not looking for a top of the rotation guy but he needs to get off the bottom. 

168 innings.      Who he will be is TBD....  

[Blarg]

I'm impatient. 

[Inside Pitch]

7 minutes ago, Blarg said:

I'm impatient. 

Truthfully -- I want him to stay healthy long enough for us to get a clue too..   So, you're not alone

 

[Chuck]

7 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Truthfully -- I want him to stay healthy long enough for us to get a clue too..   So, you're not alone

 

I think that's what we all want. A full season, around 170-200 IP would be nice.