There are 31 days in the month of July, that you already knew. What you did NOT know was that yesterday was the first of 9 of those days when the Angels do not play a baseball game. It helps to have the All-Star break, but the Halos had only 2 days off in June and April, and 1 day off in May. (In August and September they have 3 days off, each.) Which will only make this guy even more angry. Days off? From playing baseball?
Countdown to the last of the Lost Weeks Links, published SEVEN/SEVEN of twenty SEVEN-teen at the SEVENTH hour of the day, EDT:
(And before we begin, in the interest of full disclosure, SBN is still making news of its own.)
A Little Bit of Angels News
Tonight's FREE WITH NO BLACKOUT RESTRICTIONS LIVE MLB BROADCAST is, again, the Angels. If you don't have the local broadcast, go here when the time is right...........
Andrelton Simmons. If only he had a bat to go with his 2nd-Best in all MLB defensive brilliance at shortstop (behind only Detroit's Jose Igleslias). If had a bat, he might even be an All-Star candidate. But then, Simmons DOES have a bat this year. Add it all up, and Simba has the 3rd-best fWAR among all MLB shortstops. The guy in 1st place is an All-Star. So are the guys in 2nd place, 4th place and 7th place. But not the guy in 3rd place.............
Imagine, but for a second, you were putting together a team where the player at each position was the worst true value ($ for production) in all of MLB. Since you do include the DH, you know for fact that the Angels will have one representative on the list inn Albert Pujols. No brainer, there. But out of all 11 players (includes pitcher and relief pitcher), would there be any others from our Halos? Would you believe THREE others?............
Mike Trout reports no pain or problem after his first rehab against live pitching. Of course, it might help to actually use the hand to swing the bat and hit a baseball to be sure. But that would just be me, quibbling. But on the plus side, the dude gets to buy the regulars a decent game meal.........
Don't make anything of it. Parker Bridwell was sent to Salt Lake to join Alex Meyer. CORRECTION: NOPE. It was Blake Parker. They both completed their final pre-ASG starts and this lets Billy Eppler give Mike Scioscia more bullpen options. They will be back shortly.........Bonus: yeah, we really fleeced the Orioles on Bridwell...........
Is Bud Norris really still considered our official "closer"? I lost track............
Josh Mayhood's Library of Mike Trout Hagiography
This section placed on hold indefinitely, in memory of Mike Trout's 2017 season. In the meantime, we provide The Jessica DeLine Trout Recovery Watch tracker. When will Mike be back?
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Everywhere In Baseball
There it is again. The same story we heard from Jeb Bush. Another billionaire is bailing on Derek Jeter's team trying to buy the Marlins, because Derek Jeter wants shitload of control over the team, without putting up very much of the money. Jeter must be confused scratching his head and wondering why he ain't being gifted all those sweet Gold Gloves and stuff anymore...............
Here we go again. The Nats rolled out the tarp and the umpires stood by delaying a game for rain that didn't come. The hours rolled by. The field stayed dry. Had they started on time, they could have played all 9 innings before weather actually showed up. Official game. No worries about losing a starter and clobbering a bullpen. Instead, the games ends at about 1:20 AM back East...........
Now, in the previous link, I used the word "again" because of what happened earlier this season in Chicago between the Cubs and Brewers. The Cubs called a rain delay, then a rainout, on a day when no rain actually fell. Just the threat was enough for the Cubs, who just coincidentally happened to be going into that game with a heavily-depleted bullpen. Lucky break for the Cubs, and pissed off Brewers. Well, yesterday the Cubs and Brewers played the makeup game. And the Brewers crushed them..........Not that the Cubs ownership minded at all. The reschedule reaped in another million bucks or so...........
The Cubs, though, are having an Epic Comedown from their 2016 WS title season.............
BeyondTheBoxScore tees up Aaron Judge as the AL MVP already. They do give a lot of data to back it up, along with projections. But they lead with the Yankees making the playoffs and the Angels not. "Mike Trout could come back better than ever and lead the Angels to a miraculous playoff spot; or the Yankees could fade away from the playoff landscape..." So there..............
When looking at The Golden Age for each position in Baseball, one might notice that there is no date beyond the 2000 season. Relax. We will have some serious updates to Golden Ages over the next decade. Shortstop comes to mind.............
Joe West just keeps on going. So he doesn't care what you and I might think about him............
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The Duffle Bag
I had a great idea last night. Baseball teams should have signals they can use to let everybody know when a defensive play is on. Then hilarious shit like this won't happen. Yeah. Somebody needs to do that..............Before the season started, I thought the Orioles would be a strong contender. Instead, desperate times calling for Johnny G. Measures.............The ASG Vote Off is done, and a pair of blue-clad third basemen were added to the rosters............Which makes it official. The Cubs are the only WS winner in history that has failed to park a returning player on the subsequent All-Star team............
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Jordan Serena Destiny Watch
The Big News in Baseball last night occurred, of course, out in San Bernardino with the 66ers. Jordan Serena actually started, playing RF. In his first At-Bat he singled, driving in the game's first run. He then stole second base on a run-scoring double-steal. In his other At-Bats he put wood on the ball, lining out each time to end up going 1 for 4.
Also making an appearance with the 66ers last night was highly touted LAA prospect Mike Trout. No big deal there. Strikeout, Hit By Pitch, Catcher Interference, Fielder's choice. If only he was as good as that Tim Tebow guy............
In the end, the IE bullpen coughed up a 6-1 lead going into the 8th inning, and Stockton sent the game to the bottom of the 9th with a 7-6 lead. Then, with the tying run on first base after the lead batter singled, IE manager Chad Tracy pinch-hit for that Trout guy anyway. The game would end at 7-6 Stockton, with that tying run stranded at 3B via a called third strike right down the heart of the plate, and our hero Serena stranded in the hole and unable to bail out the pen.............
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OT: My vote for Father Of The Year.............
Have a great weekend, peeps!
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