Reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani was removed from today’s game due to right groin tightness, as he suffered the injury while trying to beat out a double play during the seventh inning. Jack Mayfield pinch-hit for Ohtani in the ninth inning, when the DH spot was next up at the plate. Ohtani told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters that it was something of a precautionary removal and that he intended to play tomorrow, though Angels manager Joe Maddon took a more wait-and-see approach.
Naturally, any injury to Ohtani impacts the Angels on two fronts, as he is also scheduled to start Wednesday’s game against the Red Sox. With Los Angeles optioning Jose Suarez to Triple-A today, it could provide an opportunity for Jaime Barria or Kenny Rosenberg to pick up a spot in the Halos’ six-man rotation.
The Angels at least know who will be starting Tuesday’s series opener, as Maddon said that Noah Syndergaard will take the ball. Syndergaard was scratched from a planned start last Friday due to illness, but it appears as though the right-hander is back in good health, and he tossed a bullpen session today with no issues.
More from around the AL West…
- Jose Altuve is on pace to be activated from the 10-day injured list on Monday when the Astros begin a home series against the Mariners, Astros GM James Click told reporters (including The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome). A left hamstring strain sent Altuve to the IL on April 20, though the strain wasn’t thought to be serious at the time, and Altuve will indeed return only slightly beyond the minimum 10 days. The seven-time All-Star has yet to get rolling this season, hitting only .167/.268/.250 over his first 41 plate appearances.
- Matt Carpenter was one of several veterans signed to minor league contracts who had the ability to opt out of their deals today, but Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports that Carpenter will pass on his opt-out clause and remain in the Rangers organization. It isn’t surprising that Carpenter (a Texas native) elected to stay put, as he already passed on another opt-out opportunity when the Rangers sent him to the minors at the end of Spring Training, and Carpenter said anyway that he needed more time to ramp up and adjust to his overhauled swing. The former Cardinals standout has performed decently well at Triple-A Round Rock, hitting .239/.327/.457 with two home runs in 52 PA.
- Both the Rangers and Mariners were linked to Trevor Story’s market prior to the lockout, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that both AL West rivals offered Story a contract similar to the six-year, $140MM deal that the free agent eventually signed with the Red Sox in March. At that earlier date in the offseason, Story’s reps countered with a much larger contract demands, leading both Texas and Seattle to go in different directions with their lineup plans. The Rangers instead splurged on both Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, while the Mariners (who intended to use Story as a second baseman) acquired Adam Frazier from the Padres, and then added Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez to the position player side in another trade with the Reds following the lockout. Interestingly, Rosenthal notes that Story has changed his representation since signing with Boston, and is now a client of the Wasserman Agency.
- Mariners reliever Ken Giles is still three or four weeks away from playing in any games, though he has started a throwing program, The Athletic’s Corey Brock reports. Giles underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2020 and was aiming to return by Opening Day, though a strained tendon in his right middle finger set Giles back significantly during Spring Training. As such, the veteran right-hander has had to more or less restart his ramp-up activities. Still, Giles is on pace to be an option for the M’s bullpen come June, and he could be an impact addition if Giles is able to recapture some of his past form, as the righty has at times looked like one of the best relievers in baseball during his seven MLB seasons.
Losing Ohtani means you lose two players at once. A great hitter and a great starter. It’s as if your top pitcher ran into your top DH, with both differing injuries.
*suffering*.
a great hitter isn’t batting 230 with a below average ops.
No but all great hitters go through slumps at some point, not to mention they also win MVPs…
Whatever helps you sleep at night
Guess you think Mookie Betts isn’t a great hitter either because that’s where he’s at right now. Juan Soto and Carlos Correa are batting .240 so they’re probably not very good either.
Yeah, you’re spot on. Well, being the reigning AL MVP notwithstanding.
They love that guy so much
Pburn, learn something about baseball. The season is three weeks old.
LOL You can fund dozens of great hitters batting under .230 with a below avg ops at this time in the season. And every great hitter will go through 100PA with those number or worse at different times!
Quite the knee jerk reactionary type aren’t ya?!?!
Literally what the article already says
Why isn’t Trevor Story putting up Trevor Story-like numbers? Not much spring training? New league? Not hitting at Coors anymore? All of the above? He is picking it up a little lately.
He’s just not that great of an offensive hitter. A lot of swing and miss. He may be pressing a lot due to the contract and a high demand fan base, but man if I have to watch him strikeout so much while bogies hitting beautiful singles to right field for the future, imma be big sad.
Could be pressing due to the contract. Also changed his position to second base.
Maybe all those hitting coaches and mental skills coaches the Red Sox have are on a month-long vacation? I’m shocked they aren’t helping any of the team hit, just shocked I say!
Why isn’t Trevor Story putting up Trevor Story-like numbers? Not much spring training?
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I think that’s true of a lot of players. Just a brief view of some of the bigger names:
Seager had an OPS of .590 thru 17 games. In his last four games, he has 1.471 OPS with 3 HRs.
Correa had an OPS of .504 thru 16 games. In his last four, he has an 1.190 OPS going 10-18, albeit with -0- HRs.
A couple of other guys I like, but that are still mired in slumps:
Bryan Reynolds with a .625 OPS, after having a .912 last year.
Brandon Lowe with a .575, after having had an .870 over the past three years.
Even a guy like Stanton started out with a 1.231 over his first three games, then disappeared with a .341 over his next 12 games with an awful 17/1 K/W, and has now rebounded with a 1.097 over his last 6.
FWIW, this is why this is a fantastic time of the year for rotisserie players. Two things are death to the roto player: a lack of patience, and too much patience. This is the time of the year where participants have to decide whether this is just a slump, or if the player was simply over-valued.
Trevor Story is putting up Trevor Story like numbers. His career outside of Coors field is about .240. He’s at .217. so not that far off his career pace since he no longer plays at any games at Coors. Plus he is coming off his worst year.
Angels need to snag Luis Castillo asap…
Isn’t he hurt?
Angels don’t need to make a trade for a guy that hasn’t pitched all year and is coming off his worst year. Makes no sense.
he’s still got the goods; change of scenery, no?
@Neon Cop I believe the Angels are pleased with the rotation as is. Ohtani, Sandoval, Thor, and Lorenzen have been good thus far. Detmers past couple outings have been encouraging. The only disappointment has been Suarez. The Angels have a Suarez clone on hand in the name of Barria, who has looked pretty good in relief thus far. The article says they may try Rosenberg or Barria. I personally hope Barria gets first crack, but we will see.
I don’t know what Castillo’s injury is or when he is expected to return. Even if Ohtani’s injury turns out to be worse than it appears to be and say he will 6 weeks, which is basically 6 starts in a 6 man rotation. The risk of adding 2 years of Castillo is not worth the cost of Adell or Marsh.
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Why would either team do it though? He hasn’t pitched all year, who knows when he will be back and how he will pitch. For the reds, why sell extremely low?
Neon-Let me guess you want the Angels to trade Addell for Castillo. Then if one of the 3 remains OF’s go down the Angels are F’d. No thanks. Take care of the problem in house.
Agreed at this point, but if the Angels are still in the hunt come the trade deadline, and Ward continues performing, Adell should expect to at least be shopped around. He has too much of a ceiling to be a backup OF. Better to trade him for the extra pieces needed for the final push.
But its far too early to think about it. Too many question marks at this point. Will Ward continue to perform at least 75% of what he’s doing now? Who is going to get injured (and someone will) and what holes will need to be fixed? Etc.
Better wait and see what’s needed and make a move in July.
Jo Adell is just never going to live up to that hype. He hasn’t been great at the ML level, albeit still a small sample. His per 162 as of now would be a .212/.254/.361….
He needs to be demoted to AAA. I’ve been saying this for three years, so I don’t expect that they will. But Marsh, Trout & Ward should start every day.
And guys that were recent top-10 prospects should not be relegated to #4 outfielder status at age barely 23.
NOOOOOO WAAAAYYYYY!!! Unless they have something specific, they want Adell to work on he’s not going anywhere. He’s not a fourth outfielder. He’s a LF along with Marsh! They are in the exact same position depending on who is pitching…and when it comes the 2nd outfield spot, they play if the starter is out. Marsh in center And Joe in right!
The outfield is perfect! For once the Angels are putting their young players in great position to break into the majors! .
.
Joe Adell career numbers at this point are meaningless!! And this year he started the season 0-9 with 7 Strike outs. But he’s hitting 290 with 830 OPS since with hits in almost every game he has played in since! He’s fine!
That is not going to happen. Adell is not a 4th outfielder, but part of a platoon with Marsh. Marsh isn’t going to play everyday since he can’t hit lefties. The problem has been that Jo Adell isnt hitting lefties either thus far, but it is still early. I would hope the Angels understand that Adell will hit lefties before Marsh does.
Both of them are above average based on OPS+. Marsh numbers have been better playing pretty much exclusively vs righties, but based on his plate appearances this year, he is still lost vs lefties. Taking the composite of Marsh’s 0.5 War and Adell’s -0.2 we are still in the black, which is still an upgrade over Upton.
!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!! !! !!! Go Angels!!
And just for fun its worth pointing out that Marsh started out the season crazy hot…but he also went 0-9 with 7 strikeouts in his two games…and nobody even noticed!
And this year he started the season 0-9 with 7 Strike outs.
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And since then, he has a 15/1 K/W. Marsh I could live with. He’s a better hitter, he can field, and even if he is relegated to a lefty platoon hitter, 70-75% of the pitchers are righties.
But making the former #3 prospect the short end of a platoon, and not even doing so successfully, makes no sense to me.
Put another way, is this what you expected when he was ranked #2?
but he also went 0-9 with 7 strikeouts in his two games…and nobody even noticed!
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That’s because very few people pay attention to two-game stretches. And it is less important for the players that have a good glove. If hitting is your only tool, and you ain’t hitting, then you ain’t doing anything.
It may not make sense to you, but it is the best option for the Angels at the moment. Playing Marsh against lefties will only negate any positive value he adds. At the end of the day, most teams would love to have an outfield of Trout, Ward, Marsh/Adell.
You can’t force him to be what he expected to be. You have to live in reality.sometimes. The reality is Adell is the Angels 4th best outfielder and his best role is the short end of the platoon role.
He’s only 23 years old. Waaaaaaay to early to give up on the guy.
You been saying this last 3 years? He came in 2020 in a 60 game season . He didn’t play all that and he was very raw. Last year he was better. You guys expect way to much too soon
Winslow – No one is giving up on Adell. He is hurting the team with his current performance, which has never been any better than it is now at the ML level. He needs to spend at least one season in AAA, which he has yet to do. I don’t know why some people are so hot on a guy with his numbers. Potential is just that, potential. Reality is what the roster should consist of. They are doing the team and Adell a disservice by not letting him develop and earn a major league spot through performance at the lower level.
You been saying this last 3 years?
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Yup, three years. When they promoted him in 2019, he was arguably the worst player in AAA. He had a 43/10 K/W, with -0- HRs in 121 ABs. That’s almost impossible bad. He should never have been promoted.
He showed more power in 2020, but he still had a 99/22 K/W.
I’m not bagging on him, since I have him on a couple of roto teams. But his 109/16 K/W in the pros was entirely predictable. FFTD, but imo, the Angels are doing a horrible job of developing his skills.
And it shows.
Winslow – It is normal to expect a major league baseball player to perform at a major league level. The major league team is not the place to hone raw talent. That’s what the minors are specifically for. Adell needs a full season in the minors and he should only be brought back to the majors when his performance in AAA warrants a promotion. He’s young and there’s plenty of time for him to develop. They are ruining him by having him in the majors.
Its like 65 PA!! 65!!! WTF are talking about?!?!? Not producing?? Give me break! It means nothing!!!! Do you not look at other young players who used to be top 5 prospects and how long it can take to really get going?? Or pretty much any player who could start the season out in a bit of slump? Not hitting?? LOL really? After 65 PA?
There is nothing wrong platooning your young players. Especially in this case! I mean c’mon you have two young outfielders…one batting from the left… the other from the right. One hits for power one hits for avg. They came up and played together for the last 5 years! I honestly couldn’t come up with a more perfect platoon opportunity if we created it from scratch! They both get the majority of their at bats (but not all) facing a pit from the side they hit better! LOL mean what is the problem?
And where are you getting that he is on the short end of it? He and Marsh are at almost the exact same number of PA’s so far this year.
That needs to continue! Like I said they doing it…perfect!
He and Marsh occupy the exact same position on the team! They should both get around 350 to 400 PA this year. They both get grow and learn lean on each other in the majors! And between the two of them should make a pretty good left fielder! If they are still platooning in two years…Then yes, I’ll be disappointed! But for now its the best possible situation for both of them!
Joe you don’t make any sense… You just said you been saying for 3 years that he needs to be demoted to AAA, but once some that follows the team calls you out for your lack of knowledge since Jo hasn’t played in MLB for 3 years, you change your story to try to save face.
Like Ward, Adell has increased OPS numbers every year. As I said, Marsh cannot play everyday since he can’t hit lefties. Those that follow the Angels have seen times when Marsh has looked better and I have seen times that Adell has looked better. Thus far, Marsh has been better, but that doesn’t mean the same will be true next month. Right now there is no reason to send him down since we have seen worse from our LF position for years. Even without our big bats producing namely Ohtani and Rendon, we are off to a nice start.
Reacher999 – Adell’s MLB batting stats over three years are as follows:
At Bats – 319
Strike Outs – 111
Walks – 16
BA – .210
OBP – .252
SLG – .357
OPS – .610
Adell’s 2022 early results are simply a continuation of his overall MLB performance over parts of three years, which means he is hurting the team. That’s just his offense. His defense is sloppy at best. His mishap yesterday put two runners in scoring position. His fielding % is .970.
He is not MLB ready. He’s very young. There is no reason to not have him at AAA for an entire season to work stuff out. He has never spent a full season at the AAA level. I don’t know what the rush is with him but it is doing him and the team a disservice by having him try to play at the major league level.
If you refer to his 2022 start as a slump, you have to refer to his entire time at the major league level a slump. He’s not ready.
Marsh’s MLB batting stats are better overall and are trending upwards in 2022. His overall fielding % is .995. Adell and Marsh are at different levels of readiness for MLB.
Reacher999*10 hours ago
Its like 65 PA!! 65!!!
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It’s like 338 PA!! 338!!
And where are you getting that he is on the short end of it?
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The righty side of a platoon is always the short-end of a platoon since the pitchers are 70-75% righty. Theoretically, in a 650 PA season, Adell will have about 165-210 PAs against lefties.
MrAngelFan10 hours ago
Joe you don’t make any sense… You just said you been saying for 3 years that he needs to be demoted to AAA, but once some that follows the team calls you out for your lack of knowledge since Jo hasn’t played in MLB for 3 years
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He has played in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
baseball-reference.com/players/a/adelljo01.shtml
FWIW, I have no horse in this race, being neither an Angels fan or hater. But let me ask you a question. As an Angels fan, are you happy with his development? Three years ago, guys like Halo and other Angel fans were super high on this guy, some of them expecting him to be a superstar. Even the rating agencies had him as a top-5 prospect.
Three years in, is this what you expected?
JoeBrady – I am an Angels fan and I am not happy with his development. He needs a full season in AAA, which he has never had. I don’t know why so many excuses are made for this guy. He will probably never live up to the hype. Few hyped up young players ever do. But he could be a good player if they let him develop properly. Right now he is a detriment.
The same excuses were made for Upton for some reason. Upton is a career mediocre player overall who absolutely stunk as an Angel. Yet people always had a reason to justify his stink.
I’m thrilled with his development, I’m not happy with his production.
He just turned 23.
I am an Angels fan and I am not happy with his development.
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As a RS fan, he reminds me a lot of Dalbec. Dalbec took his K/W issues from the minors to the pros. The huge amount of Ks makes him prone towards big slumps. The difference between the two being that Dalbec was a fringy top-100 player, while Adell was top-5.
Dalbec is a career .775 OPS hitter. That might be all he ever is. And if that’s the case, while he is relatively cheap, I’m okay with that. But to get that from a guy like Adell, if he ever reaches .775, it feels low.
Halo – What specific part of his development are you thrilled with?
He may not be ready, but I see growth. He’s 23. I wish we still had Upton. I wouldn’t mind Adell at AAA, playing everyday. The Angels have him at the slowest growth path possible. I don’t see his head down. I see contact progress. But I also see a player pressing.
When the season started, Rojas was playing RF. Now Marsh and Adell are platooning. It’s like they want him to fail.
I don’t think Madden has a clue what he’s doing. I know Madden is not respected throughout baseball. I know he’s only here because of Moreno. I know Eppler wanted Buck.
I really hope Ward keeps it up. But for a 23 year old, being on the wrong side of a platoon is a very difficult way to develop. As I said, I wish he were in AAA and Upton was on the wrong side of a platoon.
Halo – “It’s like they want him to fail.”
I couldn’t agree more. He needs to spend an entire season at AAA to work on defense and plate discipline. I think he can hit but he needs a different approach. Of course I disagree that Upton would have been the answer.
Upton would have been the answer like Pujols would have been the answer.
Weak side platoon players have value. For some reason, Madden would rather have a weak side platoon player be a hide pedigree prospect in this early 20, than established veterans.
If you are going to platoon Marsh, you do it with Upton, not Adell.
The Angels have him at the slowest growth path possible.
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That’s kind of my objection. Not only is he not getting to play every day (theoretically), it’s designed so that he is facing mostly lefties. If this was a 25 year old 2nd tier prospect, then that what those guys are for.
But when you have a top-5 prospect, you need to development him as a 650 PA mauler.
Yes! I’m perfectly happy with Joe Adell. Maybe I’m wrong but I tend to completely dismiss a young players first trip to the Majors as virtually meaningless! I did it with Taylor Ward. I did it with Joe Adell. Unless of course the player does great. Then I take it into consideration. So pointing to Adell’s career numbers in the Majors I think is pretty stupid. Especially when there is a clear jump from year 1 to 2.
So lets take a year this year.
G PA H BB SO BA OPS
19 69 16 5 21 .267 .750 -Marsh
19 66 15 1 24 .231 .673 – Adell
The only separation in the offense in these two is that Marsh converted 4 of Adell’s SO into walks! Thats It! Oh and Adell has 1 more HR and one more double! Thats the only difference! But in your mind Joe Adell is a train wreck hwo cant hit and Marsh is MLB ready and needs to be playing every day!
To be clear I get that the only reason these numbers are so close is because Marsh just went like 0-12 over the last 3 games… but that’s part of my point. When 3 games good or bad are enough to change the season numbers that much…then they dont matter!
If the number of PA begins to separate by 100 or more. If Adell’s numbers fall dramatically with no signs of getting better while Marsh gets better and better and better. Or if Angels feel Addell and Marsh not playing every day is really hurting them… and they decide Adell needs to work something out in his swing with everyday PA to do it. Then yes…make a change! But I don’t think we are anywhere close to that yet.
Adell is having difficulty hitting LH pitchers. He has an 837 OPS against RH. Yet, Maddon tries to only play him against LH.
I don’t even care they sent him to the minor leagues to play everyday. What I care about is Marsh is on the Bench today in favor of Jack Mayfield. WTF?
Reacher – “So pointing to Adell’s career numbers in the Majors I think is pretty stupid. Especially when there is a clear jump from year 1 to 2.”
I understand dropping 2020 stats when doing an analysis on Adell. But I don’t know that Adell’s AAA stats were worthy of promotion in the first place.
Adell’s numbers improved from 2020 to 2021 in certain categories. But his numbers to start this year already show regression. For example, he struck out 32 times in 140 plate appearances in 2021. In 2022, he has already struck out 24 times in 66 plate appearances. His defense in 2022 is tracking way below his 2019 fielding numbers.
baseball-reference.com/players/a/adelljo01.shtml
I continue to believe he needs a full year in AAA to work through those issues and become consistent. He is still very young and there is plenty of time for him to make adjustments. He hasn’t had an opportunity to earn a job in MLB. I don’t understand why they are rushing him.
yeah that’s kinda odd.
Welp, based on today’s events, it looks like this whole conversation is moot.
I’m perfectly happy with Joe Adell. Maybe I’m wrong but I tend to completely dismiss a young players first trip to the Majors as virtually meaningless!
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You can’t say that without context. You can have a GG CF with a 20/7, but only a .600 OPS. You can dismiss the .600 for a long time. But if it is a player with no defensive value, with a bad K/W, then you cannot dismiss it.
So lets take a year this year.
G PA H BB SO BA OPS
19 69 16 5 21 .267 .750 -Marsh
19 66 15 1 24 .231 .673 – Adell
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21/5 is weak, maybe very weak., but he’s a good baserunner and a good glove. The 21/1 is likely the worst in baseball.
it looks like this whole conversation is moot.
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Not moot at all, imo. Normally, discussions like this are never resolved. Now, at a minimum, the Angels front office agrees with us that Adell needs more seasoning.
How often does that happen? On the same day nonetheless.
I’ll be very interested in Reacher’s opinion of the LAA FO right now.
Adell is not playing well defensively, and he doesn’t have plate awareness.
As far as how the Angels used him.
He is having difficulty against LH pitchers, but that’s who he is facing.
He was being moved from RF to LF, to RF to LF and was never able to get comfortable.
He was on the weak side of the platoon with Rojas. And Rojas SUCKS!!!
He wasn’t given much of a chance and what chance he was given he didn’t make much of.
The Angels did everything possible to ensure he would fail.
How much do you want to bet Marsh remains a platoon player?
Not everyone in here agrees that he’s been up here for three years, but other than that, I agree, and have been saying this for three years.
I’m not bagging on Minasian (yet), but promoting Adell in 2020, after the season he had in the PCL, felt like he was buying lottery tickets, statistics be damned. If his name was Joe Brady instead of Adell, the question would be whether or not to demote me to AA, not promote me to the MLB.
And then they platoon him. So not only doesn’t he get regularly reps against righties, he doesn’t play every day.
I think he’s overrated, but he could still be a player. There are worse things in the world than a .250 LF with 30 HRs. But he has to get that K/W under 2/1 in AAA before he gets promoted.
It was definitely well timed with todays debate, JoeBrady.
Seems like those we debating with have disappeared.
@Joe He debuted in Aug 2020 less than 2 years ago. It is not possible to have been saying he needs to be sent down for 3 years, when he debuted less than 2 years ago. If you say for 3 seasons, that would technically be right. I shouldn’t be the one to teach you vocabulary or how years work.
You seem like an Angel hater. I only see you saying things like Trout is in decline, but that clearly is not the case. Maybe for attention, I don’t know, but clearly way off base.
To answer your question, I was pleased with Adell’s progress last year. He was rushed to His defense was better. He strikeout numbers drastically reduced from 42% the previous year, down to 23% in 2020. He was a bit rushed to the MLB since there weren’t any minor leagues in 2020. So while you were busy saying send him down to AAA 2 years ago, there were no AAA to be sent to. I am surprise someone that follows the game didn’t inform you.
I wish the best for Matt Carpenter. The juiced ball seemed to be his downfall. He was convinced that he was a home run hitter and ruined his swing. Never recovered.
Baseball has fallen into the same situation. Everyone now goes for the home run and, IMHO, has been a worse product because of it. Maybe the game will return to something close to what it used to be, instead of a home run derby every time a batter stands at the plate.
All that happened to Matt Carpenter was that he got old.
How pathetic that a .239 hitting line is considered “decent” for Matt Carpenter. His MLB career was over a long time ago.
Carpenter is hitting a robust .239 but has struck out 15 times already in 46 AB’s, like Dickerson in Atlanta opting out of one minor league deal is only going to lead to another minor league deal elsewhere (if he’s lucky)
Ugh. I wish he had signed with the Rangers. Marcus Semien’s deal looked better than Story’s before Story posted a .606 ops
The Seager, Semien, and Story deals are all horrendous but that’s what baseball has become. Bad contract after bad contract with no end in sight. The Red Sox and their fans thought it was smart to pay a guy whose splits away from Colorado were absolutely dreadful so they’re getting what they deserved and the Rangers well them too. Next time don’t pay a slightly above average hitter like Seager as if he’s Mike Trout when his numbers have never even been close. He’s never even been close to the same ball park. Hell his best season isn’t even better than Semien’s best two seasons not even close yet he got the bigger and better deal. He’s missed major time and Semien is a modern day iron man yet he’s paid like he put up the numbers that Semien did. Carlos Correa is another one but at least it’s only three years with opt outs and the Twins aren’t stuck with him for a decade.
How is Seager a “slightly-above-average hitter”? Since 2016, at a level of 2500 PAs, Seager has the #23 OPS. IMO, the contract is too long and too high, but Seager is a great hitter.
Seager is the type of hitter you intentionally walk with the bases loaded.
Altuve missing the trash cans eh? Basically has sucked the past 4 years.
Altimeter sucked the last 4 years? He hit 31 hrs 2 of those years
In what universe did he suck last year?
What a strange start to the season, in general. BA is down about 15-20 points, when compared to the MLB average over the past five seasons. Some are pointing to the weather……….but what about the fact that this drop INCLUDES THE DEMISE OF PITCHERS HITTING IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE. Very strange.
I think the drop lies in the fact that, with the shortened spring training, all clubs are treating games like bullpen games. Hitters are facing a lot of hard throwers as early as the 4th inning.
Anyway, the league average is/was only .231 as of the start of play yesterday. In that light,some of these traditionally good hitters are not tanking, just hitting around league average.
I am not completely sold on Ohtani as a top of the order hitter. I was screaming for Madden to move him out of the leadoff spot for 4-5 games before he did. Ward was the obvious choice with that startling OBP. I think Ohtani should be hitting 5th, though it means a very RH hittling lineup against a RH starter, unless Marsh is used. I like Ward, Marsh, Trout, Rendon, Ohtani.
I think if you bat Rendon behind Trout, you are all but guaranteed to create the league leader in hitting into double plays. 100% agree with you on Ohtani leading off is madness! I think him hitting in front of Traut is also wrong.
But I like him in 3 or 4. Depending on if you have Trout at 2 or 3. A left handed hitter with a lot of speed wont often hit into a double play. Good thing to have behind the guy who is going to likely lead the league in walks and OBP!
I’m not that worried about Rendon hitting into a lot of DPs. He’s traditionally been a flyball hitter, much more than a ground ball hitter. And I want some of those flys going over the fence with Trout, the OBP machine, on base.
The Angels have got to get a legit OBP guy in front of Trout, as well. In his career, I believe I read that Trout has hit almost 60% of his HRs with the bases empty.
Disappointing to see Marsh crash and burn in Chicago. Hope he figures it out.