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Exactly one hour TO THE MINUTE after Fox Sports MLB put up this tweet showcasing Shohei Ohtani’s approach at the plate, Ohtani approached the plate and did this. I know that I have heard that Ohtani can do all this. And I know that MLB pipeline people have been drooling over Ohtani’s ability to do all this stuff or at least 3 years. But watching it with my own eyes still seem unbelievable. An RBI single to RF stretched into a double due to sheer speed? A 414 foot solo home run to the rock pile? After shutting down the Mariners just 4 days ago by pitching 6 innings and giving up only 2 runs? And he is only 23? Sheesh.
Ian Kinsler homered to kick off the scoring. Ohtani homered to end it. And in between Andrelton Simmons smacked the ball around. Together those three went 8 for 12 with 5 runs scored and 4 runs driven in. Garrett Richards went 5 strong innings and then went all John Lackey. But we got decent enough relief pitching to keep from blowing the offense. Angels win the home opener 7-4.
Dig these Sho-Case-The-Magnificent-Ohtani-Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
I am being honest when I say that LAA pitching injuries have become so commonplace that I am unable to keep up with the revolving door. And I forgot that Matt Shoemaker was even among the missing. Sorry Matt. Sorry Missus Matt. And now it will become even easier to not remember Shoey.........
Mike Trout talks football. I wonder if any Philadelphia Eagles players will come out to see Trout when he plays in New York the end off this month, or Baltimore in June? They owe him, big time..........
The only people unsunging Andrelton Simmons as a hero within the AL West are those who follow every other team but the Angels...........
I get to follow Trout closely, daily. I already know that Trout is off to a brilliant 2018. And even I just shake my head in disbelief when I see a review like this which shows so many “A” class MLB players all looking up at Mike Trout in one respect or another...........
Equally, NBA fans are seeing in Lebron James the Mike Trout of basketball...........
This is the problem with Internet polls. 24% of the time you will attract trolls...........
David Fletcher is still there penciling his name into a future lineup...........
Jabari Blash may have been sent back to Salt Lake, but not before he made the MLB StatCast video lineup............
Lowering that RF home run line is not doing the Angels any favors, is it?..........Kind of like Yankee Stadium. Live by the Little League LF, die by the Little League LF..........
Everywhere In Baseball
Follow me on this. Grant Brisbee professes not to give a shit about the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Within his argument he hosts this imaginary exchange: “Aren’t you sick of the constant coverage of Red Sox/Yankees?” and “What about the Red Sox and Yankees constantly being on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball?” wherein Grant responds with what can be distilled down to a simple “no”......But he should. We all should. Because elsewhere the same day we see a simple Deadspin poll asking “Who Is The Most Famous Baseball Player?” and you do not even get a cupie doll for knowing that the greatest baseball player of our time fails to get even one single mention. Seven of the names they list are of Yankee/Red Sox heritage......This is a marketing problem. MLB, worried about connecting with younger generations of fans, refuses to consistently market it’s very best product. Remember, this is the guy who will be The Legend when that next generation takes over the fan base, when those future fans won’t know who Miguel Cabrera was anymore than a lot of current HH’ers don’t know who Albert Belle was...........
Yadi Molina going bulletproof. A little late, but still. And, while I am at it, bulletproof?? Sounds like at least one other person walking the streets of this country has taken the same kind o shot in the past, that Molina just took. Why else would anybody dream up bulletproof cups?.............
Here are some metrics for the everyday fan: Patrick Corbin is having a great season. Patrick Corbin’s arm is about to fall off............
This is hilarious. David Price believes his Carpal tunnel problem comes from playing far too much Fortnite...........His manager, Alex Cora, doesn’t believe in monsters..........But in terms of synchronicity, we find out that Price needs to take his pitching career to Milwaukee............
The DBacks will get to move out of their creaking, ancient, 20-year old shiny new stadium after all. They can break the lease by as much as 5 years early, but have to stay within the jurisdiction and pay $5 million per every year remaining on the term of the current lease..........
Commissioner For A Day? Some pretty cool ideas in there, including fixing blackout crap and providing in-region streaming and, my personal crazy fave, make walks optional. As in, ‘no, mister umpire, I choose NOT to take first base and wish to remain here and make the pitcher throw me strikes’..........
I don’t follow things like this, to the extent that I have this solved on my promo plan without knowing that it was new. I thought I was just shuffling it around. But I did not know that the Angels are one of just of just two teams (the Yankees being the other) who refuse to host a Pride Night...........
I agree with Longoria. Not every burg ‘deserves’ to have their own MLB team. Poor attendance hurts all MLB. But I also remember Georgia Frontieri. There needs to be controls to ensure that the franchise owner is the one who takes the blame and suffers for their own inaction or bad actions.............
Why would FanGraphs be tracking the offensive prowess of an Eric Hosmer? Tell me they are not hoping to prove some point that Hosmer was a victim of winter collusion or something?.............
Zack Greinke is getting inspired by Shohei.............
Didn’t I just find for everyone the data that the Tim Tebow effect is no longer working? Why yes. Yes I did. So why the hell is this Justin Sablich of the New York Times not reading HaloLinks?............
The Duffle Bag
Bring it, Victor. Showcase for the world your support and interest.............Hey Jon Heyman, don’t forget that every team in MLB also knew well enough to disbelieve Pujols’ claim of age..........This job opening is a cool one. You would be one of the stats guys feeding information to Joe Maddon............Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new candidate for Worst Ceremonial First Pitch In History..........That’s The Marlins Man there 4 seats to the right of Rudy Giuliani..........The Red Sox barely pulled out a win to stave off getting swept. It should not be a surprise. The Red Sox record is not what Red Sox fans think it is. And we can call this one The Mookie Betts Effect..........