Thor’sLinks: Halos Open Against The Openers

Kinda sad for me to report that that Angels will be going into Tampa Bay to face off against the Rays for 4 games, and at least for the first 3 of them the Halos will not be forcing the Rays to swallow some of the Rays’ own medicine. Whereas the concept of the Opener hit the public consciousness during the 2016 MLB playoffs, it has been the Rays who have pioneered this strategy as the main weapon of choice for regular season pitching staff game management.

The Angels have been forced to adopt the strategy themselves in order to survive the ongoing assault on our baseball sensibilities being made by LAA starters. We have seen it work. It’s kept us from become the Seattle Mariners. This would have been a good chance to leverage the forces of Tampa Bay against the Rays.

Alas, timing is such that this is not to be the case. Skipper Brad is running our Tyler Skaggs, then Andrew Heaney, and then Jose Suarez in the first 3 games. Maybe we get an Opener for the Sunday game. For their part, the Rays are using Ryan Yarbrough as an Opener tonight, and as of this writing haven’t even announced their starter for games 2 and 3. Shenanigans.

Let’s move on to Don’t-Downplay-The-Bay-Rays-HaloLinks:

A Little Bit Of Angels News

Billy Eppler is really really happy with his 2023 starting rotation...........

These are the kinds of stories written for the booster club, where we are supposed to be excited that Kole Calhoun is tracking to someday return to being a credible offensive threat by relying on his new swing mechanics. I’m excited that Kole might have a starting MLB OF job somewhere else in the future, aren’t you?............

Shohei Ohtani porn............

I got $20 that says had the Dodgers swept the Angels, Andy McCullough of the LAT would be writing about how that proves that the Dodgers just put the lock on their lordship of SoCal baseball.............

The Baseball Hall of Fame welcomes their new president, Tim Mead, as Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout send him off with a Gatorade bath............Godspeed, Tim Mead. I wanna discount on my entrance ticket when I arrive in my Chuck Finley signed Angels cap (it was Tim Mead who got Chuck Finley to auto that cap for me).............

The Angels signed their #2 pick, Kyren Paris..........

Everywhere In Baseball

Adventures in Ángel Hernández. And this guy is suing MLB for failing to gift him more prime playoff gigs.............

How badly would you like to have a starter in the LAA rotation who has made 12 starts, pitched over 65 innings, carries an ERA of 3.15 and a WHIP of only 0.929...and is rates a 133 ERA+??? Yeah, every single one of those stats would rank as #1 on the Halo staff. IN San Diego, they are ALL owned by one single guy: Chris Paddack. And the Padres have optioned Paddack back to the minor leagues......Supposedly, this is because Paddack needs to have his innings monitored because he is nearing his career high in work. Which only makes sense if he is not going to be tasked with doing any throwing while in MiLB. But if the Padres do this once or twice more, they can enjoy some service time manipulation............

The Phillies have decided that it is time to give some long overdue rest to the majestic production that is Bryce Harper. The Phillies were willing to commit $330 million for all that production once. I wonder what they would be willing to give to get pretty much that some production a second time?............

Tom Verducci, who gets paid a lot more than me to write baseball words, takes a look at the home run surge in an effort to explain away conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, his Point #4 is pretty much “there are more home runs because more baseballs are hit for home runs”. Now why didn’t I think of that??............

The Rockies and Cubs are busy playing the hidden game of The Unwritten Rules of Baseball.............

Mike Trout has 258 career home runs. Of those, he has 5 grand slams. Garrett Cooper of the Miami Marlins has 6 career home runs. Of those, he already has 2 grand slams. If this were 2012, Garrett Cooper would be your NL MVP.............

Pro baseball in Japan sounds very weird. And very fun..............

Mandatory summer reading: The MVP Machine by Ben Lindberg and Travis Sawchick......And here is why............

The Trump administration is willing to work with MLB on reversing it’s decision on MLB’s agreement with Cuban baseball players, but only if MLB fixes Venezuela............

Sinclair has their first carrier deal for the ex-FOX Regional Sports Networks (with Charter), and the news is not nearly as bad as once feared.............

The Duffle Bag

Does Chase Utley hate the Mets? “Yes”..............Job Opening: Detroit Tigers Data Engineer. Shouldn’t be too many competitors for your application. The final requirements listed is “Willing and able to relocate to Detroit.”..........”I know it’s terrible but I’ve been coming here for 30 years!”..............Javy Baez pimping his home run. For the record, the pitcher is a kid just called up, pitching only his 2 inning of Major League Baseball. Not where I would pimp. That’s like dunking on a junior high school kid............A Family Guy deleted scene involving Adam Eaton and Albert Pujols..............