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Dillon Peters did the odd thing. There is The Angel Way, and Peters failed to follow it. It is supposed to go like this: Matt Harvey comes back from IL, faces his first true MLB challenge and blow up, again. So Billy Eppler DFA’s him, experiment over. Now our depleted starting rotation is intentionally made even weaker, with one serious new hole. The Angel Way kicks in and within hours Andrew Heaney goes (back) off to the IL with a shoulder injury. Perfect timing. So Dillon Peters gets called up from Salt Lake City for a spot start, and Eppler packages Peters with Adalberto Mejia (and his 8.80 ERA), grabbed off the waiver wire.
That’s a pretty serious run of bad news and desperation. Peters is supposed to be the sad little period to that run of yuck luck.
Instead, Dillon Peters got to face the Seattle Mariners, and the Seattle Mariners made Dillon Peters look amazing. 5 innings pitched, 4 hits and 2 walks scattered for 0 runs allowed, and 4 K’s to take home for dinner.
The Halo offense took down Seattle rookie Yusei Kikuchi again. Kikuchi went 5 innings, his longest, but still got shelled. LAA has now seen Kikuchi for 20.2 innings, and the Halos have taken him for 40 hits (8 of them home runs) and 26 earned runs. We need more Kikuchi in our lives. Lots more.
All said and done, the Angels win 9-3, taking the weekend series in Seattle 2 games to 1. They are 7-3 over their last 10 games, now in 3rd place in the AL West and 3 games above .500. They are 5 1⁄2 games out of 2nd place and also 5 1⁄2 games out of the Wild Card. Oakland is now in Texas, facing off 3 times against an Astros team that has won 5 in a row and then taking on a Rangers teams that has now lost 7 in a row (but after that the A’s have the Brewers, the Cardinals and the Cubs over an 8-game stretch.
During that time, we have an off day today, then 2 games up in The Latrine followed by 12 games against the Orioles, Tigers, Indians and Reds. Good time to make a move.
(By the way, that Mike Leake near-perfect game against the Halos Friday night? You should see the gargantuan strike zone that he was gifted. Abominable, but that is what a pitcher needs to be that dominant.)
Let’s rock some Good-Time-To-Rise-HaloLinks:
A Little Bit Of Angels News
David Fletcher is turning into a solid everyday ballplayer. Some times a GM gets lucky with the guys surrounding a Mike Trout/Shohei Ohtani, and David Fletcher is one of those lucky charms............He is an anachronism, and he is ours..............
Kevin Maitan is just a few years removed from Little League. He is also just a few months removed from some caustic lack of expectations around here. ($$) But Maitan is starting to turn doubters into believers, starting with his defense of all things............He is also starting to show some power production..........
JC Ramirez had another prep start. Looks like he is ready. Very efficient pitching and still managed to give up a home run..............
Weekly Mike Trout Career WAR Perp Walk. Movin’ on up! This week Mike officially oved off the tie with the careers of Barry Larkin (Hall of Fame) Frankie Frisch (Hall of Fame) and has now passed Ron Santo (Hall of Fame) to own 94th place. He is just a tad behind Ted Lyons/Alan Trammel (both HoF’ers) at 70.7 bWAR. Then a small hop to Johhny Mize (HoF) at 70.9 bWAR, and then another hop to Bobby Grich at 71.1 bWAR. Once there it will be a longer haul to run down #89 Rafael Palmiero’s 71.9 bWAR............But, in the larger picture, Mike Trout has already passed up more than half the guys in the Hall of Fame...............
Everywhere In Baseball
Cleveland will probably be announcing soon that they will be extending netting...............
It was Hall of Fame Weekend, AND the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing. So why not a mashup of stats? More people have walked on the moon than have scored against Mariano Rivera in the postseason..........(Nick Ahmed got the moon memo)...........
Into the Hall went 5 new names.............Here is a photo of our Tim Mead doing his new job, and handing Mariano Rivera his HoF plaque..........Roy Halladay’s widow, Brandy, gave the most moving acceptance speech..............ESPN HoF graphic fail, which is pretty embarrassing...............Enjoy this past weekend, because the upcoming classes don’t look anything near as attractive.............
What if Needle Beef Bonds, and Needle Beef Sosa, and Needle Beef McGwire were hammering their home runs in this juiced ball era? How about a Barry Bonds hitting 1,000 career home runs?..............
Addison Russell had a very, very bad day. It was too much even for Joe Maddon to take...........
The heat wave across the country had a big impact on MLB games this weekend..............
Nicholas Castellanos is about to become a Free Agent, and he is already trying to spin the perspective suitors that his batting numbers are suppressed by his home field of Comerica Park in Detroit. Somebody needs to send DM Castellanos that Front Offices know how to use park adjusted numbers, and splits................
Koreans sure know how to have fun with their All-Star game..............
MLB is looking to send their VR powers out into the countryside, seeking to hook up with entertainment centers and anywhere the next generation congregates.............
This is shit. We have read and linked to a lot of Jonah Keri over the years. That looks to be over. Keri has been suspended from The Athletic, and is in a buttload of hot water due to some serious domestic violence crap. It just proves that this kind of bullshit happens, happens too frequently, and happens in every circle..............
We haven’t gone after MLB for all their garbage attempts to pillage the public coffers set to generate revenue through public betting on sports. This is a new opinion piece (and only Part 1), but is serves as a great refresher. MLB is bullshitting...............
FOX Sports might be off your TV as of today. Carrier disputes with both Dish and Sling TV..............
Trade Rumors
The clock is ticking, and MLB execs are expecting a sudden explosion of activity...............
The Mike Morin trade ticket was pulled, with Minor moving from the Twins to the Phillies...........
Mike Minor, who is not related to Mike Morin in any way, is being scoped out by the Yankees............
It’s still early, so it’s still a seller’s market. And the Tigers are trying to exploit that while dangling Closer Shane Green.............The same concerning the Royals and their price for Whit Merrifield...............
Before Castellanos makes it to the FA market on his own (above), he may get out of Detroit sooner. He may land with the Cubs...........
The Red Sox are looking at Jose Abreu of the White Sox. Because that is sure to fix their bullpen?................They should keep their powder dry for a guy more like Daniel Hudson...........
The Duffle Bag
Once upon a time, breaking a bat over one’s knee would have been a formidable accomplishment. Not so much with modern bats. We need to have some kind of bat-broke-over-knee stat that adjusts for era................Cincinnati Reds players, doing that gym pimping that was a thing back in the 90’s..........Look, people, real men don’t need no baseball glove..........Why waste all that energy running around looking like an idiot just to get arrested, when you can casually stroll out onto the same field, look like the same idiot, and get the same arrested?...............Because it’s always fun to watch groundskeepers screw up tarp management............The Pirates do a throwback, and PNC Park does a throwback video board...............Oliver Drake, warlock............