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Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s early, only 11 games played (except for all those teams getting beaten back by Team Manfred’s scheduling). But who called it at all? Who claimed that the Angels, at any point of the season, would lead all of Major League Baseball in Runs Scored? At 68, they have scored almost 3 times as many runs as the worst-case San Francisco Giants (24). They have scored at least twice as many runs as a full 1⁄3 of MLB. And this has been with a moderately slumped Mike Trout and zero Ian Kinsler.
The Angels kicked off this road trip with a victory in Arlington,defeating the Rangers 8-3. But pity poor Texas, having to play short-handed. Or not.
Take a deep breath. These are some Blow-Your-Mind--Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
Let’s get the crappy stuff out of the way first. By now you know that JC Ramirez is lost for a couple off seasons due to TJ shit. It’s just ridiculous, is what it is. Tyler Skaggs with TJ in 2014. CJ Wilson with a shoulder injury in 2015, also costing him 2016. Andrew Heaney with TJ in 2016, and shoulder strain in 2018. Nick Tropeano also with TJ in 2016. Garrett Richards dodged TJ with stem cell therapy in 2016. Matt Shoemaker skull fracture in 2016, arm stain in 2017, arm strain in 2018. Alex Meyer shoulder surgery in 2017, out for 2018 too. And that’s ignoring MiLB guys like Brandon Sisk in 2013........Yeah, I know. Other teams have it bad, too. But can we just take a one-year pause on this shit? (By the way, did you know that Zack Cozart had TJ surgery back in 2011? Yeah, me neither.).............
Coming up to take the place of Ramirez is Jaime Barria. This does not solve as much as I think it does. Barria would be the Wednesday starter, giving us Richards + Skaggs + Barria. We would still need a Thursday and Friday and Saturday pitcher before we get to Ohtani on Sunday. with 6 days rest. Something will have to give and I am sitting tight on the LAA web site watching the Probable Pitchers page.................
Monday Morning Mike Trout Porn. Which actually, is more about Shohei Ohtani than Mike Trout..........So, instead, this is why we don’t worry about any Mike Trout ‘slump’..........And enjoy the holy crap out of Trout’s improved strike zone discipline.........(And tip of the hat to scaring the crap out of Kevin Jepsen last night, forcing him to walk Trout on 4 straight pitches WITH THE BASES LOADED!)..........
Podcast moment, to celebrate the week that the Angels just had. Who woulda guessed it?...........
Angels up to #5 on one Power Ranking version, which is fair considering how some of the actual leaders are off to a mediocre start...........
Ohtani Porn - because it’s become overwhelming for reasons unknown
I’ll just give you headlines. Otherwise this brand-new section will make my fingers hurt.
Shohei Ohtani named American League Player of the Week..........
We’re not appreciating Shohei Ohtani as much as we should be...........
Two-way Ohtani is a shot in the arm for baseball..........The 2018 season is all about Shohei Ohtani, and that’s good for baseball...........
Shohei Ohtani is the real deal, so we should go ahead and declare it........
John Smoltz discusses Shohei Ohtani’s dazzling start..........
Did Shohei Ohtani set himself up for success in choosing the Angels?..........
Shohei Ohtani’s Splitter Is What Makes Him Truly Great..........
Now Shohei Ohtani is doing things even Babe Ruth did not..........
Forget the Sample Size, Shohei Ohtani Already Looks Like One of Baseball’s Best Players..........
Annoyed Shohei Ohtani Had Hoped U.S. Baseball Players Wouldn’t Be This Bad..........
The Magic of Shohei Ohtani’s Two-Way, One-WAR Week..........
Pitcher Shohei Ohtani’s Amazing Week: 3 Homers, And A Near-Perfect Game..........
Angels’ Shohei Ohtani: A Star Is Born!..........
It All Feels Possible For Shohei Ohtani..........
How Good Does Shohei Ohtani Have to Be to Win the MVP?...........
Shohei’s strikeouts..........and Shohei’s home runs............and Shohei’s fantasy value..........and Shohei’s book..........and Shohei’s sense of humor..........
Bill Shaikin of the LA Times wants to claim victory, NOW pointing readers to an LAT pro-Ohtani bio published back in September. That was three full months before Ohtani would choose to NOT play for the Dodgers, a decision that might have created a tiny bit of motivation for his newspaper to jump off the bandwagon with their ‘expert’ feature Scrutiny grows as Angels’ plan for Shohei Ohtani begins to falter in spring training, published just one month ago.........
Jeff Passan, emerging from the woodshed and looking more like my dog Barkley, head bowed but still snarling. Dear Shohei: I’m sorry. I was totally wrong about you. Now, about all that collusion talk, Jeff...........
And my personal fave. Big-time Mariners fan Mina Kimes. Business and sports investigative journalist for, among others, ESPN. Mina so sad...........
Everywhere In Baseball
Giancarlo Stanton was supposed to make the Yankee fans forget all about being dismissed by Ohtani. That may happen yet, but not for the first week...........
Max Scherzer dreams of some day growing up and being just like Shohei Ohtani..........
Man, I hardly find reason to link to anything of interest out of Sports Illustrated anymore. Among all the shopping malls I visit daily, SI, is more like pulling in to Circle-K to see if their candy bars are fresh. But their owner has them up for sale, and is expecting 100 million big things............
The St. Louis Cardinals, broadcasting The Cardinals Way..........
Mark McGwire must be back on something...........
It was a bad day for ankles. The red-hot Red Sox have lost one of their red-hot spark plugs for a couple of weeks. Which will include next week, when the BoSux come to Anaheim............And the Mariners have added another player to their DL flotilla - Ryon Healy............
Analytics-minded Gabe Kapler has lost the favor of at least one analytics-minded baseball journalist? Mostly or being so, analytically driven?..............
The Angels may not have had the best bullpen in Baseball so far (that would be the Mets), but don’t be fooled. They are a top-shelf relief corps so far, and much better than rated pre-season..........
The Duffle Bag
Have some quick rub their noses in it, thanks to @Angels_Nation27:.....Suck it, ESPN......Suck it, Dodgers.....Suck it, Angels Report(!?)......Suck it, Fantasy Sports Writer.....Suck it, Miami Sports Talk guy......Suck it, self-entitled fans everywhere...........H/T Uniwatch, pages from a 1967 MLB season preview which predicted divisional baseball, not to mention Interleague play, weekend World Series, and night-time All-Star games..........Team Tanking + frozen tundra scheduling = nobody stupid enough to pay money to see live baseball?.............It was just as cold on the other side of Chicago, and the Cubs had more fun...........
