11:41AM: Fowler isn’t considering retirement, telling Jack Harris of the L.A. Times and other reporters that “I’m telling everybody, ’Comeback season has commenced.’ “
10:44AM: Angels outfielder Dexter Fowler suffered a torn left ACL, the team announced. Fowler will undergo surgery that will keep him out of action for the next 6-9 months, thus prematurely ending his 2021 season.
Fowler suffered the injury in Friday’s game with the Blue Jays, as he made an awkward step onto second base to beat out a throw from Bo Bichette on a forceout attempt. Fowler was in obvious pain and had to be carted off the field, and though the Angels’ initial diagnosis when placing him on the 10-day injured list yesterday was only a sprained knee, further tests revealed the true severity of the injury.
The devastating news could end Fowler’s tenure with the Angels after only seven games. Since Fowler just turned 35 years old, it isn’t out of the question that the injury could spell the end of his impressive 14-year career, though it is too soon to speculate given that the surgery has yet to even take place.
The Angels acquired Fowler in a trade with the Cardinals last February that was essentially a salary dump on the Cards’ part. For the price of a player to be named later, Los Angeles is paying only $1.75MM of the $16.5MM owed to Fowler (counting salary and signing bonus installments) in the final year of his original five-year, $82.5MM free agent contract with St. Louis. The Halos’ plan was to start Fowler as the everyday right fielder, at least until star prospects Jo Adell or Brandon Marsh received big league promotions later in the season.
With Fowler sidelined, however, manager Joe Maddon told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that the team will use a platoon of Jose Rojas and Juan Lagares in right field, with Jared Walsh also seeing some time in right. Besides Adell and Marsh, the Angels also have veterans Jon Jay and Scott Schebler in the organization on minor league contracts, and 2015 first-rounder Taylor Ward could also be a candidate for playing time. Looking at the ripple effect over the rest of the roster, Walsh playing right field could open up more time for Albert Pujols at first base.
The Angels are the fifth team Fowler has suited up for at the big league level, as part of a career that includes an All-Star appearance in 2016 and a World Series ring that same season with the Cubs. He signed his big free agent deal with St. Louis in the aftermath of that big 2016 campaign, though Fowler never quite got on track during his four years with the Cardinals. Injuries limited to Fowler to 389 games and an even 1500 PA, as he hit .233/.334/.408 and generated roughly league-average production (98 OPS+, 100 wRC+) and only 3.0 total fWAR.
Welp, time to call up Brandon Marsh.
Jo Adell is better than Brandon Marsh. What Angel had a OPS+ of 23 his first season? A clue, until Trout, he was the greatest Angel ever. People read way too much into last year.
Adell needs a full season at AAA. He was so overmatched last year that he looked pathetic. Adell isn’t the answer this year. I won’t know why they just don’t put Walsh in RF and let him play everyday against lefties and righties.
He might. But he didn’t look overmatched. He didn’t chase. His timing wasn’t off, he just had difficulty putting the barrel on the ball. I don’t think you watched him much.
He projected to 266 Ks in 600 ABs. If that’s not overmatched, I don’t know what is. And in AAA, he projected to 213 Ks in 600 ABs. So he was also overmatched in AAA.
JoeBrady – projections are helpful, but they’re not gospel.
Projected Thanks for that. Your a real baseball professional. Overmatched means something, so do projections.
Not gospel, but most players perform worse in the pros than in AAA. I primarily start with K/W, then power, then age.
In AA, Adell had a 155/72 K/W/9. That’s shaky, but with 30 HR/600. If he were 23-24, I wouldn’t even pay attention to him. But he was 20. I think I’d have started him off at AA until I saw a K/W closer to 1.5/1, but he’s probably good enough to handle AAA.
But you cannot ignore a AAA K-rate of 213/600 after a 155/600 in AA. Even at the age of 21, the strikeouts are way, way too high. Even in the AZFL, he was at 176/600.
Paradoxically enough, if this was Chavis or Dalbec for my RS, I’d be more inclined to promote them, only because I have less confidence in their success. If you have someone that young, with talent, there is no reason to not let them work out their issues in the minor leagues rather than at the pro level.
If you are looking at data, it is a perfectly well founded opinion. I’m saying this isn’t Brandon Wood. The Angels changed his swing, he’s adjusting on the fly. I understand the data, and I’m not disputing it. But I see something in this guy. It’s not just me
Halofan I watched every single game last year. Why do you think Maddon said he was going to AAA before spring training started. When your own manager says. you were in over your head that is saying something.
Halofan next you will be telling everyone that the Angels have a great starting pitching staff. The Angels are nothing more than a .500 team until cheapskate Artie gets some great starting pitching. Giving up 13 runs in 4 innings like they did last night to Toronto isn’t going to cut it.
Because he wasn’t ready. We need more Angel fans like you. That’s a really big time commitment. I wasn’t put off by what I saw.
We see two different things.
Dodger Jr. Nice strawman about what I will be doing next.
You saw every single game and your not an Angel fan? And you must know my feeling regarding Quintana.
I’m looking forward to the mute button. You’re not worth reading.You are nothing but a troll
People are writing off Adell way too early. Not suggesting he’s going to be the next Mike Trout, but he just turned 22 days ago, and has less than 400 plate appearances in total between AA and AAA. Need to give him at least 300-400 plate appearances at AAA this year.
Yup. I’m not bashing Adell, but he might have been one of the worst players in AAA last year. Let the dude get a full season of good ABs before promoting him.
Joe, I understand your opinion. I’m just saying the argument is he was overmatched really isn’t accurate. I’ve seen overmatched. He couldn’t put the barrel where the ball is. His timing didn’t stink and no one knocked the bat out of his hands. He wasn’t blown away with fastballs and didn’t look lost against the curveball. The Angels changed his swing and he wasn’t ready.
In Spring this year, he already was showing signs of improvement. OPS was over a thousand. His OBP was over 400. And he walked 6 times with 6 strikeouts.
You don’t think he’s going to do it based on AAA and his ML numbers?Fine. But there is a lot more to the story and talent evaluations than raw numbers.
Halo11Fan3 mins ago
You don’t think he’s going to do it based on AAA and his ML numbers?
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That’s not what i am saying. What I am saying is that, based on his AA and AAA numbers, he wasn’t even close to MLB level. The upside is replacement level numbers while burning service time. It’s not like he is 23 years old and you are getting towards the point where it is now or never.
At the age of 21 or 22, there is no downside to keeping him in AAA until he has a better K/W.
Some of the stuff you are saying just isn’t correct. First of all part of timing is to put ball to barrell, to not be able to do that is a timing issue. 2nd he did chase, the average mlb swing % outside the zone is 30.6, he was at 35.4 last year. Also he struck out 26 times on the fastball per statcast. Everything suggests he was overmatched, can he still have a good career? Of course, he’s still young with monster natural power and has time to improve. But more AAA time is needed imo
AA? He adapted to AA very quickly.
As for last year, the situation required a gamble… the Angels lost. I’m was happy with the gamble. I’d rather the Angels went down swinging and since AAA was cancelled, it was difficult to know he would do so poorly. It was 9 months between games. I can forgive the Angels for getting it wrong.
Timing and putting the barrel on the ball are two different things. 35%? I’m sure it’s higher when you get to two strikes. And for a 21 year old. I don’t think the 35 is that high.
What was Anderson’s chase rate? What about Erstad’s. What about Vlad?
Did you watch him?
I dont see anyone really bashing Adell. Just everyone is saying in their own way that he is not ready and needs more development. He looked really overmatched the few times i watched him. I think to many teams bring guys up to early based on draft position rather then when they are ready. Aiken was best example. Guy was getting lit up in a ball but first overall kept promoting him. I know there are more but still to early for me.
Mazzilli is right. I remember Shawn Green’s first stint in Toronto and he looked overmatched. He went back to the minors, improved, continued to improve in the majors and suddenly became a stud for a good 5 year stretch and had a productive career.
The amount of mental gymnastics you perform to defend Adell is pretty crazy. Kudos to you for sticking to it even when pretty much every single statistic shows that you’re wrong.
1984. I remember in 2002 when I went up against everyone about Tim Salmons slow star. He was hitting under 200 for the first six weeks of the season. I said he was fine. No one agreed.
I remember I had a thread created in an attempt to humiliate me regarding Aybar vs Wood. Aybar wasn’t hitting the ball in Spring Training and pretty much all of Halo Nation went after me and insisted Brandon Wood should be our shortstop.
If you watch, you can see things that are not in the stats. But you have to watch. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s there.
I’m not using mental gymnastics, I’m using my eyes. I can see what’s there and I can see what’s not.
Halo11Fan – I’m guessing the answer to your trivia question is Tim Salmon.
GBs 42… It’s Jim Fregosi.
I’d choose Salmon for best pre-Trout Angel, but to each his own. And that 23 OPS+ was over just 29 plate appearances. He definitely got better.
You can choose Salmon, but you’re wrong? 🙂 Fregosi was the second best AL player in 1964 and 70. He finished behind Mantle and Yaz. Go to fangraphs and look at AL WAR leaders from 1963 through 1970. You’ll be amazed.
Had he not had a tumor in his foot in 1971, He’d be a hall of farmer. And Finally, Bill James ranked him the 13th best shortstop on the 20th century.
I like Salmon well enough, but imo, Edmonds was a better all-around player. Salmon was a better hitter, but Edmonds was still a good hitter, and a GG CF.
Sorry, you’re all wrong. Vlad Guerrero was the best Angel pre-Trout.
Edmonds was a better player than Salmon, but just not with the Angels.
If we’re considering just years with the Angels, which I think is the right way to do this, I took Halo11Fan’s advice and checked out Fregosi’s stats. His eight full seasons with the Angels were very impressive. I’m changing my vote from Salmon to Fregosi.
Mr. Angel… not even close. Look at the totality of the data.
@Halo11Fan It is pretty clear to me that Vlad Guerrero is a better player. He put up way better numbers offensively in an era when pitchers are way better They throw harder with more movement. If you take the players of today and match them against 60s pitching, they would dominate.
Vlad is the first player to enter the HoF as an Angel. If Fregosi was good enough for long enough, he would be in the HoF. The HoF is the ultimate measure for looking at the totality of the data. Vlad is good enough to be in the HoF, Fregosi is not… Sorry.
Again, it depends whether you’re considering every player who ever appeared in a game with the Angels or just their time on the Angels. Using the former criteria, Nolan Ryan comes to mind, though of course then you’re looking at hitters vs. pitchers, but I’d take the Ryan Express.
I agree Vlad is a better overall play than Fregosi, but Fregosi had a terrific eight-year peak with the team, while Vlad had four very good years and two solid seasons with them.
As far as the hat Guerrero wore entering the HoF, that has as much to do with reaching career milestones as anything. He was at his best with the Expos.
Not with that Angels. Of course overall Vlad was a better player..
As far as adjusting for differences of the past to today. That’s a slope that most fans don’t travel. But had Fregosi had the medicine they have today, he’d be a hall of farmer as well. At 29, Fregosi lost his ability to run.
I’m a little biased in this regard, but Grich had a better bWAR in his first 6 season with the Angels than Vlad did.
@Halos11Fan Fregosi had all his good years with the Angels. I can concede Fregosi made more contributions to the Angels, but I maintain that Vlad was a better player.. If Vlad played his entire career with the Angels, there would be no comparison. He won the MVP and was top 3 MVP voting 2 other times with the Angels.. Fregosi was before my time, so i didnt see him play, but I know Vlad was much see TV every time he stepped to the plate. The Angels were winning and competitive during his Halo days and much of it was because of Vlad. Hence, why he was a perennial MVP candidate with the Halos.
Grich should be in the hall of fame.
my choice is erstad. of course, he wasn’t the best but he had an ability to make the team play better.
That’s a slam dunk IMO. Grich had a wRC+ of 129, while Carew had an only slightly better 132. But Grich was easily twice the fielder.
You’re all wrong. It’s a toss-up between Dick Schofield and Ruppert Jones
Dick Schofield is my greatest failure.
I thought that kid was going to hit. He was a very good defensive shortstop, but he never turned into the hitter I thought he was going to be.
Marsh or Adell I don’t believe is the answer both don’t have enough seasoning l say insert Left handed Hitter Scott Schebler He deserves a shot to play right field
They are not going to rush either. Schebler makes a lot of sense.
Torn ACL Damn
The Fowler deal was a massive over pay by the Cardinals that was the result of what ultimately led to Chicago Cubs fans calling Theo Epstien ‘dumpster diving theo’ as the Cubs overpaid Jason Heyward and then also took John Lackey from the Cardinals following the end of the 2015 season. John Mozeliak was getting even, even if it meant trading players like Oscar Mercado, and Randy Arozarena cause over paying Dexter Fowler and over paying for 2 years of shoulder impinged Marcell Ozuna was more important.
The Mets might be ready to trade Conforto, who is off to a slow start.
Absolutely not
No they aren’t
…no offense, but this is why no one on this board is a GM.
Wait i’m a GM of my fantasy team!
urnuts
I’m beat an ex GM in my fantasy league, and I’m going to beat him this year as well.
Nobody gives AF
Now you know why he is an Ex GM
True. So I guess that means I’m better than some GMs that will be fired.
Wait. Are you really this self aggrandizing?
You are honestly equating skills at fantasy baseball with the nuances of being an actual GM?
I always thought you a bit over the top in your opinion of yourself but this takes the cake.
Honestly, with skills as strong as yours it’s a wonder you aren’t the next great thing in baseball.
Clearly aside from pitching and talent development, the Angels biggest shortcoming is not hiring you as their President of all things baseball.
That mute button feature can’t get here soon enough.
It was a joke. People take themselves way too seriously. If I could have gotten a job in baseball, I would have.
Poor guy. I saw it happen, and you could tell he was going to miss some time. Hopefully he has a speedy recovery.
Oof… that’s rough. Fowler’s always been hard-working and reliable, and I say that as a fan of a team he’s never played for. And although it usually seems to be pitchers, man do the Angels seem to get hit hard with the injury bug every year or what?
That guy was the weak link on the team so at least now we can get someone who can hit and a food glover in Juan Lagares to man right field.
Not sure if that’s accurate. The weak link on the team was and still is pitching. It’s a weak rotation and a weak bullpen. Fowler as your third-best starting outfielder was a strength.
That said, the Angels have a deep pool of outfield depth to draw from, and assuming Adell delivers on his exceptional promise, they should be able to get over this loss without a significant impact on their record.
Weak link on the offense side. LOL food glover LOL meant to say Gold Glover
The Angels bullpen is much improved. I do agree that the starting pitching is garbage but if they can get 6 innings out of a starter the pen should be able to do it’s job.
Lol food glover
Mitt sandwich.
The Arby’s Oven Mitt?
Quintana, Pujols, and Claudio are even bigger weak links on this team. At least Fowler wasnt killing the team by batting 9th. Pujols always seems to come up in big game changing situations like yesterday in the 1st with Ohtani on 3rd & Trout on 1st and he always continues to blow it by popping up, grounding out, or striking out. Quintana & Claudio are batting practice for the opposition.
Hard working and reliable? He’s on the Angel’s only because he whined that he didn’t want to have his playing time cut and the Cardinals organization chose to move on. He’s making 18.5 million this year most of which is being paid by his former team to get him out of the way. He got paid and he’s got it made good for him. But hard working? Haha…..
Connfyoozed — this is a myth. The Angels don’t get hit any harder than most orgs. Checkout Sportrac’s Injured List Tracker. You can track IL days per year per team since 2015. Angels are usually right in the middle of the pack in IL Days.
All days or players are not created equal. Fowlwer’s injuries are a lot of days but basically, inconsequential.
watched it live this is horrible, even though he’s never been on my team always an easy guy to root for. hoping for a speedy recovery
LAA does have some decent players in MiLB. They have played so well for so long, they are no longer prospects. Joe Adell isn’t one of them. LAA just doesn’t call up deserving players. They trade for Dexter Fowler types.
So if there’s any insurance involved, does this save the Cards money?
How would it affect the cards ?
The cards are paying his entire salary for the season with the money they saved with Colorado paying Arenado.
Ok tks
The Cardinals were already set to pay Fowler’s salary at the same rate as the past 4 seasons before they traded him. The Arenado trade had nothing to do with it.
Pun….You would think so. STL is paying a sizable chunk of this year’s salary, it seems they’d save some money if Fowler’s season-long absence is covered through insurance.
That sucks. Poor Dex. Hope he can still play next year.
Really unfortunate. Get well, Dex! Adell or Marsh time….
More to come… haha what? This guy is a deadbeat, his career was over the day he got his contract.
The StL contract? Assuming you do not mean his first, because the dude has been a solid major leaguer, whether you like him or not.
Yes he WAS a solid major leaguer. But for the last 3 years he has been a negative WAR player while making an insane amount of money.
So yeah fella. He’s probably talking about the St Louis contract……
More to come means we will find out who gets added to the active roster and who takes his 40 man spot when they move him to the 60 day dl.
Must be your first day here, this site is for baseball fans who want to know these things.
Have fun being a fan
0.5/10 on the comeback. Try better, next time.
As someone who has cheered for the Cubs my entire life (because the Rays didn’t even come along until I was thirty!), I will always appreciate his work in Chicago. Instrumental player on a championship team, solid leader and teammate. He makes those around him better, and explains why Joe wanted him in Anaheim.
That was before he got that big contract. Back when he actually cared. Not the same guy now.
I was thinking earlier this year when the trade happened he would get hurt so
He should have slid.
Bichette surprised everybody by throwing way too late to 2nd instead of to 1st where he might’ve had a play.
How does that change the comment that he should have slid?
There was no reason for him to think to slide. Sliding is the more dangerous option when there’s no play at the base, you’re much more likely to get hurt sliding than on a routine jog into 2nd.
Smug, The play was in front of him. I can’t imaging not sliding on that play.
smuz, it’s like a car taking a sudden stop. Running hard to second while maintaining position on the bag meant Fowler had to make a very sudden stop which caused the injury. With replay in today’s game he could have, and probably should have, slid into second and would have been safe while saving his season. Sliding was the only option on a play like that.
That was before he got that big contract. Back when he actually cared. Not the same guy now.
Just like Justin fields, everyone who has ever played with or coached Fowler said he was a hard working an an excellent presence in the clubhouse. Yet “fans” call him lazy and that he doesn’t care.
I wonder what the connection there is? Weird….
Angels have plenty of RF options in Lagares, Schebler and Ward. I hope Walsh doesn’t spend much time there. Walsh in RF and Pujols at 1B weakens two positions defensively. And I will take my chances with Lagares and company at the plate over Pujols.
As a side note, I wonder why Fowler didn’t slide into 2B?
Pulls in RF has played OF before.
I can’t imagine how painful it would be to watch Pujols in the outfield. Though I wouldn’t mind seeing it if they were losing like 12-1 in the 9th inning.
I think who ever replaces Fowler will be better than Fowler. If there is one player the Angels could afford to lose, other than Pujols, it’s Fowler. I wish him well but his career might be over.
Fowler at this point in his career is league average and declining. From a roster impact perspective he’s ‘meh’. So a lot of words about an apparently decent guy that mean very little in a baseball context
He is not close to a league average player. He was very low performing for a RF. his defense was inexcusably bad.. Like worst in the league. I watched him for 4 excruciating years. never got his uni dirty, couldnt run the bases. never went full out for a ball.
Sucks to see a nice guy go down like that.
That said both Ward and Schebler greatly outplayed him in spring training so if there’s one injury the team should be able to absorb, it is this one.
Fowler was a mainstay at leadoff for the Cubs in their WS win. I wish him the best.
Wow, the Fowler trade worked out for the Cardinals after all, since at least they saved a couple million and got a player to be named later.
Now he says he’s not considering retirement. We’ll let’s see Dex. You were so valuable the Cardinals paid you to go away. When you were offered less playing time you whined and forced your way out. Now you are a year older coming off major surgery. I bet the teams will be lining up for you pal lol.
His last season when he was fully healthy he was 33 years old and hit .238/.346/.409 and had a 1.5 bWAR, which is pretty terrible unless you are under 25 and it’s your first couple years. He will be 36 next season.
There’s nothing more sad than when an athlete doesn’t know he’s cooked.
Dex, have fun with the minor league contracts and >100 PAs in your last season or two as you flounder at the plate and don’t have the speed anymore – just know there’s plenty of fully healthy prospects who are aged 25-29 who really deserve those spots more than you who never got a shot even though they produced in the minors, because of attitudes like yours…
His 2019 season was not terrible, regardless of how old he is. That’s pretty much league average. .754 OPS, .326 wOBA, 103 wRC+, 101 OPS+, 1.5 f/bWAR is essentially league average. In terms of WAA (wins above average), he was at just -.3.
not for a right fielder
League average hitting is still league average hitting. It might not be good for the position, but far from terrible.
then why did they pay 16 mill for him to play for someone else
Because the Cardinals still haven’t figured out that O’Neill is only a AAAA hitter and that their other young outfielders except maybe Bader and/or Carlson aren’t as good as management thinks they are.
You got it. And make no mistake those guys who never got a shot there is a very long list of them. ONeill had his development stalled for years. Grichuk was traded. Piscotty was traded. Pham traded. Arozarena traded. Mercado traded. And outside of maybe Mercado every player named was a better player than Fowler at the time.
Mercado was not better than Fowler at the time, neither was Grichuk (and still isn’t), and O’Neill still wasn’t better than Fowler when they were both healthy just a few days ago.
O’Neill development hasn’t been stalled. He’s just never hit very well at the Major League level over the numerous chances he’s been given, so he always winds up benched eventually. Yet for some reason the Cardinals still thought he was somehow a better option to be handed a starting job instead of Fowler on a contending team.
Interesting to examine O’Neill, since so much of this thread is discussing Adell. But they are pretty similar players. Both had a 43/10 K/W the first time through the PC, and then both turned that into a 557(57)/7 in the pros.. Adell did so at a younger age, which is advantageous,
But almost no one escapes a bad K/W.
Whoa whoa whoa, under zero circumstances is Fowler better than Grichuk, that sounds like bias from you.
Tyler O’Neill has a 2.1 bWAR in his career over 179 games, Fowler has 0.1 bWAR over his last 279 MLB games. Fowler is TERRIBLE. Stop defending him!
Look at ONeills career stats. They are better than Fowlers over the same time period. And thats a guy who is learning. That’s a guy who can get better. Fowler on his best day is about as good as ONeill on his worst.
He hasn’t been handed anything. He lit up AAA in 2018 and since then hasn’t had a chance to play everyday. And the reason was Ozuna and Fowler.
A 350 obp was all they needed outta the 9 hole . Add in some vet leadership and its a small loss today for ANa no matter how you want to cut it
Almost no teams have a .350 OBP out of the 9 spot.
Almost no team has a RF batting out of the nine spot.
I’m also not sure where the .350 comes from. If this is a reference to the Angels, they only have a .273 OBP out of the 9-hole.
Halo11Fan
Almost no team has a RF batting out of the nine spot.
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It’s early, but the Angels have by far the worst RF OPS in the league.
Meh. There are a lot of older people that can be replaced by younger, cheaper kids. I’m not volunteering to give my job away, and I don’t why Fowler should give his away. It’s not his fault that StL paid no attention to the aging curve. No one is asking Carp to give back his $20M.
I never said for any player needs to give back money – I hate seeing that, its dumb. I said Fowler is cooked and if comes back, he definitely will be bad and will block a more deserving player. He deserved all the money given to him so far, but does not deserve a MLB career anymore, as he is terrible.
I don’t disagree, but that’s up to the angels FO, and nothing to do with Fowler. How long has it been since Pujols & Upton have been more than replacement players? Upton has a negative bWAR each of the past three seasons, and Pujols has not made a real contribution since 2015.
Maybe the issue is that they don’t want to embarrass Pujols, or maybe they don’t want Upton resurrecting his career elsewhere, while the Angels pay his salary.
But before Fowler’s injury, they had three guys that are 50/50 to provide a negative WAR. In an era where some teams are carrying as few as 12 offensive players, and emphasizing flexibility, how can they carry three guys that can no longer play, and have -0- flexibility?
Time to make a trade for Garcia of the Brewers
Damn that sucks. Saw an article saying he was carted off but he was “doing okay”
It looks like the Angels are running a little low on aging former Cardinals. I think Matt Carpenter could fill that void.
And who is next on the Cardinals, that they pay 15m not to play for them?
The Baseball gods are trying to tell you something Dexter. Take the hint.
I could see the Angels bringing up Scott Schebler in the short term as he had a very good spring then maybe Marsh or Adell later on
Fowler isn’t considering retirement, telling Jack Harris of the L.A. Times and other reporters that “I’m telling everybody, ’Comeback season has commenced.’ “
Of course Fowler’s going to say that about his career.
In reality, his career is TOAST.
Shebler line 1. I hope they figure out a way for Rojas to get these at bats. Kid needs to play to get his value. I could be wrong but he’s no Manny Mota waiting cold on the bench to slap a single. Goo Angels!
Free Walsh ! They’ll be growing pains on the grass but ya never know till ya do….sometimes its {events} like this that spawn these progressions
With all the new tech, video, and various new training methods I think its a lot easier to make position changes these days w the glove than years past . Edwin Rios just made his first start in the OF today up the 405
Pretty sure Walsh took most of Pujols at bats already and was playing RF last year. This is definitely a way for him to play full time here on out. Goo Angels!!!
No doubt, If it were me tho Id just like him to know where and how much pt (f/t) he would be playing week to week for his developments sake .
This could solve that, while giving him an actual chance to make gains as an OF’er with the glove . I ALWAYS want to leave 1B open if possible, I look at Bellinger as a good example, even as a gold glove 1b LAD saw the value in him learning a new/more valuable position – 1B has really been devalued the last 10-12 years….
It was just like 2008 when every team had to have a Ryan Howard/Prince Fielder/Justin Morneau or they (and the fanbase) felt doomed breaking camp
Howard was a sure bet to hit 45-50 HRs in his prime.
He fell completely apart largely because of the Achilles Heel injury and knee problems but any team would die to have that kind of power production at 1B/DH even today.
Walsh is dominating at 1B and the more he keeps Albatross Pujols off the field, the better. Replacing Fowler in the outfield is not really going to be that tough….they don’t need to screw up a good thing (Walsh at 1B) to do it.
I smell a Puig signing!!
Moreno likes high character players. That’s why he was so upset with Hamilton and that’s why I’m positive he didn’t know about Skaggs fentanyl use.
No way Puig is an Angel.
You should probably get your nose checked
Well that gamble blew up in their face. His next contract will be a Minor League one.
Angels need to sign ryan braun
Braun is scum. That will never happen. ,
No worries, and no panic signing needed. There’s plenty of RF options on this team, probably even better than Dex…. The Rendon injury, thou more of a minor one, is more concerning. Hope it’s no more than a 10 IL stay at worst.
Is Tim Salmon available?
Heyward or Bryant. Boom.
Did you watch the cubs slacking yesterday. I liked when that cubs guy got hit and then he tried to wipe out the second baseman illegality so the cubs could score a run. The umpires jumped all over it and the cubs announcers couldn’t understand what was going on. It’s like they don’t know the rules of the game.
Fowler being hurt? Some teams do not push their millionaires to stretch properly,
Seems. Detroit, Angels, and maybe those Yanks,
Stretching, as we all might be able to say, is important. To do stretch is another.
Even those young bucks gotta stretch.
I’d agree on stretching, but I’d guess Fowler knows more about stretching than most folks. The issue is much more likely to simply be the fact that he is old. Stuff doesn’t work as well at age 35 as it does at age 25.