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Raise your hand if you watched the game last night feeling real sorry for Andrew Heaney knowing how that stupid, minuscule, 1-run lead the offense behind him had generated was going to waste his brilliant night. No, your RIGHT hand. We are now a heavily RIGHT-handed franchise.
I know, right? Shocking that it held up. Shocking that Mike Scioscia rode Heaney all the way to a complete game, 116-pitch victory. It’s great news that Heaney is back to top form. It’s great news that he could dominate a pesky Royals team. It’s great news that his arm can hold up to that level of usage.
The offense took a breather after scoring all those 9 runs the night before. The sole run scored was a brilliantly executed double steal. Why the Royals would fall for that in a 0-0 contest is beyond my pay grade, but I’ll take it.
Andrew Heaney, on his 27th birthday, throws a 1-hit complete game shutout 1-0 victory.
And props to Justin Upton for another 3-hit night.
Jump to these No-Left-Turns-Links:
A Little Bit Of Shohei Ohtani News
Yeah, it’s easy to coach a kid who is brilliant at everything he tries to do...........
A Little Bit Of Mike Trout News
Shohei is getting acclimated to a new country and new league and new team, mostly because The Main Man on the new team and in the new league and in the new country is Ultra Nice Guy Mike Trout...........
Mike Trout Monday has run out of things to figure out for Mike. He is approaching perfection, and all that is left to do is to keep counting everything up............But Sports Illustrated is back on board. This Mike guy must be some kind of special..............
Projections are fun. Understanding why those projections are unrealistic are what separates old-school MSM and modern Front Offices..........Even when old-school MSM scribes have learned how to pluck modern metrics..........
Trout is really great, but good heavens what a beast that young Mickey Mantle was..........
A Little Bit Of Angels News
Jordyn Adams, the LAA #1 pick, has verbally agreed to sign. Risk avoided..........
Billy Eppler likes this two-way player thing, now that he has seen Shohei Ohtani in in the MLB. By taking William English at #151, the top-ranked player in Michigan, they get another two-way player..........
I wonder if any Scouting Director, for any team, would ever admit to any reporter immediately after a draft that the picks they chose were not the most exciting thing that could have possibly happened to them all year?...........
Grant Brisbee has way too much fun hating on the fantastic job that Eppler and team did with the first round pick..............
FanGraphs did a recap of Draft Day 1. Read it all if you like, but the TL;DR clip is this one: “ [Jeremiah] Jackson was great value, and [Jordyn] Adams may have the highest upside in the draft. Jackson has some similarities to Jahmai Jones, Adams has some with Jo Adell, and the Angels’ most successful recent picks have been the riskier types (Griffin Canning and Brandon Marsh, as well).”..........
Andrelton Simmons took a misstep on the dugout steps and twisted his ankle, taking him out of last night’s game. I know this particular problem well. If he is not back to 100% by Saturday there is a serious ligament tear...........But Simmons was not the only guy tripping on the dugout steps..........
Everywhere In Baseball
You have to hand it to them. The Mariners are playing their hot hand well right now. It won’t last. Because Mariners will do Mariner things. But they serve as a fine example for why the a lot of these Angels need to pull their collective heads out of their butts...........
How would YOU feel if the Angels drafted Luke Heimlich? Would you see the player as an asset worth rehabilitation? Or would you see the player as a moral liability due to his past?...........It’s not too far away from the problem that Pirates fans will be facing soon with Jung Ho Kang...........(UPDATE: this topic got kicked off yesterday by JeffJoiner before I published this.)..........
Oakland has a special arrangement with their 1st round pick Kyler Murray to let him play QB at Oklahoma after all. Now the risk is merely health. Or a Heisman Trophy...........It will make for some fun compensation conversations around the bars in Norman, Oklahoma............
Nothing speaks to the arrogance of invincibility like an 18-year old pro athlete............
I think Giancarlo Stanton has a point. If Mike Fiers is incapable of controlling his location when he pitches high and inside, Mike Fiers should stay the hell away from high and inside pitching..........
Let’s allow a scientist to explain the science behind the MLB study on the changed baseballs in use today. If you are like me, and spend all your TV time watching Nova, you are gonna dig it...........On the same subject, MLB just bought up Rawlings, the makers of those baseballs. I see nothing that might go wrong here..........
Minor League Players are a very, very long way away from getting together in any form that grants them enough leverage to seek a living wage for their work contributions to Baseball. And having interests 180 degrees apart from the MLB players, who do have leverage, only helps to serve the interests of the owners. Not in my lifetime, I suppose..........
I link to this not because of the actual content, but just to show off the style of the content. Everyplace else announces this issue as a major spat between the Yankees and ESPN, with the Yankees being pissed at ESPN, and the Yankees promising to boycott ESPN. But for their part, ESPN describes it all as the Yankees merely interested in “tweaking” a small stretch of games, “hoping to resolve a scheduling issue”. Uh, yeah, a scheduling issue that ESPN created...........UPDATE: The MFY will get their wish. I don’t blame them. Which makes ESPN look pretty bad when I am forced to root for the Yankees.........
As the Royals proved in 2015, all it takes is for everybody to have their career years and play out of their minds, while drawing to inside straights every hand, and the WS can be yours. Just ask the Brewers of 2018..........
Thank you, Jerry Dipoto...........
Is the Tim Lincecum story finally over? Kind of sad when the Bartolo Colon story keeps marching along, in Arlington no less...........
Keep track of the NCAA Super Regionals, and Cal State Fullerton, as the next round begins later this week. CSUF takes on Washington in a Best of Three. Winner goes to the CWS...........
The Duffle Bag
It looks like Bryce Harper chose wisely. Stick with his roots and let his local fans be happy with a championship...........Sleezy agent in sleezy industry gets burned by clients for doing sleezy things. News at 11..........Striking out 8 times in one day. The ultimate Judge-ment..........When baseballs are more important that fan integrity.............That was quick. Some guy went to reddit to launch a survey on team logos and the response overwhelmed him..........Looks like MLB figured out that there is a difference between the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Make history fun again!..........Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you pitch #10. Angel Hernandez. The guy who sued for not being selected to work the MLB elite games. (h/t reddit).........Angels have Joe Maddon as manager, The Tampa Bay Rays had Jos Maddon as manager. The Angels announce a 6-man rotation, the Rays announce a 6-man rotation. The Angels field a two-way player, the Rays are going to field a two-way player..........
