A few thoughts (after taking 3 of 4 in Texas)

[Stradling]

8 minutes ago, Jason said:

Yankee and Dodger Twitter 

Dude Angel “Twitter Fan” is the worst and says that stupid fucking shit as well. 

[TheLordofOuts]

Getting better starting pitching is priority 1 and it's not even close whether it's done through trade, our current guys improving or a promotion from the farm.  Even if the team gets into the playoffs, it would be a scary proposition to go into the playoffs with this starting rotation.  

I forgot why we didn't sign Stroman before when he mentioned wanting to play with Ohtani.  But, it would be amazing to see his dream come true. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

The time to worry about Trout is when reporters start pressing him, and he says "look at my numbers, man"

[Angelsjunky]

20 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I've been one of the earliest Trout "alarmists" here. And I mentioned several times the past few years everyone needs to prepare for this.

That said, I'm not super worried. Whatever it is sucks, but I'm not convinced it's a "sign" of anything. (Yet).

Guys have bad years. And Trout is way overdue for one. (Not injury, but just a year that he struggled).

I won't be surprised if he gets back to normal this year. I also won't be surprised if he ends the year "merely" a 4 WAR guy, then bounces back to a lesser normal next year.

The only "worry" long term I have for him is that he's shuffling bad in thr most important year in years. The hest team we've had in years in the shohei walk year.

If he drags the team down this year and we miss October, then bounces back next year, it's not "good news"...

Too much to reply to, but this one echoes some thoughts I've entertained: that maybe this is just a bad year, which as you say, even great players eventually have. I think of Jose Ramirez a few years ago - he went from 6.7 and 8.1 WAR to 3.5 WAR at age 26, then bounced back the following year in the shortened season and has been great since, if at a slightly lower level than his two best years in 2017-18. I can't remember the reasoning behind it, but it was something like 150-200 games of struggle and comparably poor play.

But I'm not sure it is the same thing as Ramirez went through, but just pointing out how even great players have off years and then bounce back. Which leads me to...

14 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I still think a lot of this is Trout simply experiencing his first real challenge in the second half of his career. What worked for him when he went through this in his 20’s isn’t gonna work in his 30’s. 

There was a great interview in the Athletic a few weeks back about Verlander, talking with Randy Johnson, Glavine, Maddux…they spoke at length about how they were able to sustain success by recognizing how to train, approach, rest, etc. differently, how it took a little time to make those changes because it went against what they had been doing their whole careers. I think Trout is going through exactly that same test. This is the point in most hitter’s careers where they start to fall off. Trout is just going through that now. I think he will rebound. But the slump may look a lot worse than before, it may take longer, the rebound may not be as great, but there’s still some evidence supporting that. I recall Salmon having a tough time before eventually returning to a similar form for his final years. 

Hurts to watch and is frustrating, but I do think patience is the best approach here. 

Yep. I remember Maddux going from unreal to merely very good, and then hanging out there for quite a while. Or look at Kershaw's last half decade or so - he's not the perennial CY caliber pitcher, but still top 10ish. He lost a bit on his stuff, but adjusted and became smarter. Freaks like Randy Johnson -- who had his five or six best years after turning 30, and 9.6 WAR at age 40 -- are the exceptions. Or Ted Williams...though even he had an off year in his late 30s, before bouncing back for one more great season.

But that's where my concern comes: a lot of the inner circle greats remained great into their mid-30s, but a sizable minority dropped sharply around Trout's age. A normal, mid-range decline for Trout "should" look like a lower but still great plateau in the 6-8 WAR range into his mid-30s, and then a drop to mere mortal level sometime around 35 or even later. But what we've seen is him drop precipitously this year to that projected late 30s level. It is like he skipped five years and went from 30 to 35.

He should bounce back, and I don't see why he can't have a string of 6+ WAR seasons going forward. But he's been so bad for over a month now, and as the length of his slump gets longer and longer, I become more and more worried. And I admit to feeling burned by Pujols. I remember when we collectively explained 2012 as an adjustment year - he started really poorly, then mashed for the last few months, and assumed he'd bounce back to something in the 2010-11 range for a few years. But 2012 turned out to be his best season as an Angel.

So that's my fear about Trout: We can hope it is an off year, like we thought 2012 was for Pujols, but it could also be worse than that.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Regarding Pujols, I think first and foremost, you have to wonder about steroids... no way around it.

He came up in St Louis, with McGwire...we're Edmonds suddenly turned into a 40 HR guy.

Then the age thing...

All of that is sspeculative. But it's always going to be there.

The next part is I think as he lost it a bit, he focused way too much on home runs. And nothing else.

Lastly, I think he really pressed because of ego. Top of the world, to instantly overshadowed by Trout. And again, I think that's where he fell apart. Chasing a home run every AB. Probably coupled with the huge contract and pressure. 

I'm not worried about Trout yet. 

That said, either this is the start of it, or when the start comes, this is what to expect.

And I've said this the past several years. There's no way to avoid it.

But anyone who bitches needs to remember we had the best player in baseball for a sold decade. Very few can claim that. And he'll get unanimous first round HOF election in an Angel hat. 

[Angelsfan1984]

Trout will be fine. He needs to adjust to what they are giving him. I won’t be surprised to see him hit 40 hr again. When he gets hot, he can carry this team just like ohtani is doing now…minus the pitching…plus the Mohawk.

[totdprods]

Baseball Reference, which won’t update today’s stats until tomorrow, has Brandon Marsh at 1.3 WAR and Mickey Moniak at 1.2 WAR in 150 fewer PAs…

[ten ocho recon scout]

32 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Baseball Reference, which won’t update today’s stats until tomorrow, has Brandon Marsh at 1.3 WAR and Mickey Moniak at 1.2 WAR in 150 fewer PAs…

Plus Moniak doesn't give fleas to people on the bus ride to the airport.

[79CAAman]

Moniak is bringing the exact type of contribution that you trade for. They need to hang on to him. Back in Philadelphia, he likely played with the pressure of being the first overall pick in the ‘16 MLB Draft. Now with the Angels, Moniak is playing in the shadows of Trout and Ohtani. Much less pressure than what he likely experienced with his former team. This talent he’s displayed must be what the Phillies saw in him to select him. 

[Jason]

8 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

The clicking will come sir

Hopefully it does and the clicking lasts for more than a game. 

[T.G.]

10 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

The time to worry about Trout is when reporters start pressing him, and he says "look at my numbers, man"

Posts like this one is exactly why you you're a freakin' legend...

[T.G.]

9 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Plus Moniak doesn't give fleas to people on the bus ride to the airport.

Legend, I tell ya....

[Taylor]

10 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

The time to worry about Trout is when reporters start pressing him, and he says "look at my numbers, mang"

Fixed

[floplag]

Overall, you gotta believe, at least a little.
Up to a couple weeks ago ive been as negative as any but winning cures a lot of ills.  Were starting to see the team we thought we were in ST and were not yet running on all cylinders.
We still have gaps, the front office needs to do its job as much as any player on the field. 
Right now the standings say were in it... still on the outside looking in barely, but right there if they can keep this going.  This next couple weeks is favorable in that regard if they can beat teams they are supposed to beat. 
It will be interesting to see how they react to last night injuries... im guessing well be without Urshela for a couple weeks and who knows with Rendon.

[Angel Oracle]

12 hours ago, totdprods said:

Trout still seems to be *this* close to clicking.

Just very unlucky when making contact?

[Taylor]

Trout is cursed because he couldn't lead the U.S. team to victory in the WBC finals. Ohtani has absorbed his power.

[James]

Travel is pretty light for the next month, need to have the good stretch continue as they arent going to leave the west coast after this weekend outside of a quick trip to Denver. 

[Hubs]

4 hours ago, James said:

Travel is pretty light for the next month, need to have the good stretch continue as they arent going to leave the west coast after this weekend outside of a quick trip to Denver. 

When they come back Sunday night, they actually won't travel further than Colorado until they fly to Detroit the last weekend of JULY.

They play the Dodgers Home and Away, Colorado Away, White Sox and Arizona at Home, SD Away, Houston at Home after the ASG, NYY at Home  and PIT at Home before that Detroit Toronto Atlanta Trip. Then it's a week at home for Sea and SF, then a Week at Houston and Texas. They then come home, then fly to the East Coast for Mets and Phillies. 

So really, through August they only have three longer flight trips. 

They have played 34 at home and 37 on the road, but of those 37 road games, they are a lot of the long distance ones. 

AL East 3/5 Road Series Done... Toronto and TB remain. Home AL EAST Series 2/5 Done, they have NYY/TB/BAL left.

AL Central KC this weekend makes it 3/5 done with Detroit and Minnesota Remaining. They have played KC and MIN at home, 3/5 left. CWS/CLE/DET remaining.

AL West, 4/8 Road Series Done, One against each team. They've played 4/8 Home Series, too one against each.

NL Road Series 2/8 Done. They have LAD, SD, COL, NYM, PHI, ATL left. They have played 3/8 Home NL series, with LAD next week. 

 

[Blarg]

They won three of four games and lost two important players doing so. They'd been better off getting swept. 

[Inside Pitch]

6 hours ago, Taylor said:

Trout is cursed because he couldn't lead the U.S. team to victory in the WBC finals. Ohtani has absorbed his power.

Sounds like a plot for some Disney MCU movie...  Only they'll have to make Trout black and Ohtani a girl.

[Swordsman78]

19 hours ago, Stradling said:

Dude Angel “Twitter Fan” is the worst and says that stupid fucking shit as well. 

Even though I don't think very highly of your overall judgement or mod I.Q. , I do however, agree with your take on "Twitter fan".

P.S. Please stop deleting my posts.

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, Swordsman78 said:

Even though I don't think very highly of your overall judgement or mod I.Q. , I do however, agree with your take on "Twitter fan".

P.S. Please stop deleting my posts.

No.