I'm so &#@%ing pumped right now

[Make Angels Great Again]

55 minutes ago, eligrba said:

Who cares if the money helped bring Ohtani.  Johnson could be released tomorrow and it would still have been a good trade.

Oh I agree it was a helpful trade because of the money.

But I'm not expecting Johnson to be any help at all.

[ettin]

3 hours ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

Oh I agree it was a helpful trade because of the money.

But I'm not expecting Johnson to be any help at all.

I'm going to go on record stating that, barring an injury, Jim Johnson will run a sub-3.00 ERA in 2018.

[Dick B Back]

On 12/15/2017 at 9:46 PM, ettin said:

I'm going to go on record stating that, barring an injury, Jim Johnson will run a sub-3.00 ERA in 2018.

I agree.

[ksangel]

On ‎12‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 3:22 PM, zenmaster said:

Our lineup is stellar and our defense could be one of the best in ages. Still a lot of pitching question marks though for starters, relief, and closers. We do have a lot of bodies though, just if they can stay healthy and perform.

I totally agree with the 1st sentence...what a job by Eppler to put together an incredible lineup. 

The Angel pitchers are another year past their injuries...how Richards, Skaggs and Heaney performed last year should have been expected but there were expectations that they would come back ready to go full tilt.  It was surprising to me that Richards and Heaney even came back!

The Astros, Mariners and Rangers all have rotation issues...is Paxton OK?  How about King Felix? How about Keuchel and McCullers?  Will Verlander perform like he did or fall back?  Who are the Rangers starters behind Hamels and Martin?  Doug Fister - the guy the Angels cut last year at AAA? Matt Moore - what version - the 5.52 ERA from last year? Mike Minor, Tony Barnetter or Chris Martin? None of them even started a game last year.  So yeah, the Rangers have issues too.

Eppler did a great job navigating moon craters in the pitching staff last year and I believe he'll do the same this year but at least he took care of 2B, 3B, LF and wooed Ohtani to be an Angel!! If Ohtani were a Yankee, Dodger, Mariner or Cub he'd be heralded as their "ACE" without throwing a pitch.  And he might be that for the Angels in the near future too.

 

[Docwaukee]

On 12/15/2017 at 9:46 PM, ettin said:

I'm going to go on record stating that, barring an injury, Jim Johnson will run a sub-3.00 ERA in 2018.

I think the only way he posts a sub 3 era is if he pitches a scoreless inning and then gets injured.  

FB Velo down two years in a row now.  

He was a necessary salary dump to get the additional pool money.  

I will say that last time you made a similar prediction and I didn't believe you was about Blake Parker.  

[Tank]

On 12/15/2017 at 2:59 PM, Brian Ilten said:

Scioscia is still the manager after all.

90 win seasons since 1999:

2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014

that's 7 times in the last 18 years.

[Puget Sound Angel]

Is it Spring Training yet?

[ettin]

3 hours ago, Dochalo said:

I think the only way he posts a sub 3 era is if he pitches a scoreless inning and then gets injured.  

FB Velo down two years in a row now.  

He was a necessary salary dump to get the additional pool money.  

I will say that last time you made a similar prediction and I didn't believe you was about Blake Parker.  

I agree the slightly decreasing velocity could be this prediction's undoing.

However it's worth noting that Johnson had double his normal HR rate which I seriously doubt he repeats in 2018. Also his walk rate was unusually high too and I would expect that to regress as well (although his K/9 rate could too). He had problems with runners left on base which only accentuated HR's when they were hit in terms of his ERA, so I would expect regression back to his career rate there too. Johnson is a ground ball pitcher with an immaculate infield defense behind him which is ultimately why I made that "bold prediction" above so we'll see if I was prescient or not but I would totally understand if you took the over

[Make Angels Great Again]

He will also be 35.