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($$) - Patrick Sandoval is working hard at making the case that he can be a real MLB starting pitcher.
But you don’t need a subscription to read all about that. You can get a glowing report for free. And you just need to look at the box score from last night. 5 innings pitched, 9 strikeouts, 1 hits, 3 walks and zero runs allowed.
I could whine about why Skipper Brad would pull him after only 5 innings and 84 pitches. There is only way to learn how much gas Sandoval has when rolling, and no better time to do it than in a meaningless game of a lost season. The bullpen that was used was the one who surrendered all the losing runs, after all. But, no, no whining. The offense did...not...score...at...all. Only 3 base hits. Only 3 walks. Zero runs is always always always going to be a losing proposition.
How could such a thing be possible? Well, it’s the Angels and the Texas Rangers ran out Emmanuel Clase for his first Game Start of his career. That’s how. Most frustrating, we got 2 of those walks and one of those hits - a double, no less! - in the first inning and failed to score. The Angels went down in order in the 2nd inning, and the 3rd, and the 5th, and the 6th, and the 8th, and the 9th. It’s true that they almost got one run, but we already know all about how centerfielders can shut that shit down.
Angels lose 3-0. The Halos Division elimination number is down to 5, and their Wild Card elimination number is 16.
Have some Wake-Me-When-We-Meet-Home-Plate-HaloLinks:
A Little Bit Of Angels News
Here we are with 3 scheduled days off in an 8-day stretch, and Mike Trout needs a breather to rest a sore foot.............
Looking at the list of MiLB talent being showcased at the October AFL this year, as the highest-ranking prospect signed up, our own Jo Adell is the showcase of the showcase.............
Bily Eppler is no longer dumpster diving for pitching salvation. Nowadays he is scouring the wind-blow corners of the nearby gutters and inspecting the detritus that has long ago spilled out of those dumpsters, seeking refuge from the dark had of the baseball career reaper. His latest find is Luiz Gohara..............
Tommy LaStella might get back in time for Fan Appreciation Day............
And Keynan Middleton is now back, with just a touch of time left before he goes into his arb cycle..............
When negotiating for something you want, you do not create a list that already falls short of your goals. No, you create a list that goes well beyond your goals. That way, when you concede in order to find a middle ground, you are left with those things that meet your goals all along. Well, Anaheim is in negotiations with Arte Moreno concerning the stadium and the land around it. Harry Sidhu, Anaheim mayor, has created such a list: full market value for the land, revenue from the stadium, revenue from any commercial enterprises on the land, lots of jobs that Sidhu gets to decide to be ‘good’, and which pay an amount of money that Sidhu also gets to decide to be ‘good’. land left alone and not used for enterprise or any revenue, but maintained via somebody’s dime as park spaces, new housing among the thousands of high-income and tax-generating housing units already exploding all around the property, but this new housing restricted to low-income residents, and a grocery store. Not just any kind of grocery store, but a cute little ‘neighborhood grocery store’. Looking at this list I am wondering what happened free health care for everyone? Well, City Council member Lucille King did have one more request: “a winning team”..............
Everywhere In Baseball
This is tough. Very tough. MiLB pitching prospect Blake Blivens lost his wife, his child and his mother-in-law to murder, all conducted by his brother-in-law.............
The Kansas City Royals are going to be sold to a new owner. It should be easy since this new owner is already a current minority owner of the Cleveland Indians. The bigger question is what this sale might do to Kauffman Stadium?.............
Mike Scioscia would be wanting to take over the managerial role of the Phillies? Thus sayeth Jon Heyman. So consider the source.............
Matt Harvey is still out there trying to find his lost MLB career. He can afford the hunt, because he is doing it on Arte’s dime...........
Sometimes when you pay a lot of money to a high-upside Free Agent pitcher, that pitcher delivers on the high upside as expected of him. Once-upon-a-time-Halo Patrick Corbin, for example..................
But as teams (well, some teams) roll towards a playoff slot, that same Patrick COrbin is there to throw a wet blanket on Nationals fans hopes just to get in. Not enough, says Corbin, because a one-and-done game is not playoff baseball. Winning your division is critically important............
This study wants us to all feel sorry for the Yankees, but as you scroll down through it and see what teams have suffered an extended period of brutal injury devastation, you see that there are only 3 other MLB franchises that might even pretend to to compete with the Halos..............
Wait. Stop. Is this article trying to imply that it is possible for a generational player to not taper off into exhaustion at tails end of every season? They can actually get better?!? It’s a good thing that the Braves are looking at the 2019 playoffs, where such an upward performance trend might be quite useful............
Oooh, this is salty! There appears to be no love lost between the Oakland A’s players that the Oakland Golden Stats Warriors players. Liam Hendricks of the A’s notes: “When the Warriors sucked and the A’s were good, the A’s would give them tickets. When the Warriors became good they decided to cut all ties and become a--holes. So, no love lost for them leaving.”............
I love FanGraphs articles like this. Somewhere deep inside the Dodgers organization a bunch of number crunchers already went deep into Eric Hosmer and figured something out. That figuring out led Dave Roberts to shift his fielders for an Eric Hosmer At Bat versus LAD pitcher Adam Kolarek. A FanGraphs number cruncher sees the evidence and then tries to reverse engineer whatever it was that the LAD brain trust figured out. Lots of analysis and lots of logic and lots of math later, and just when the author thinks that they know what’s up, a shitty-assed plate umpire blown pitch call comes along and spoils the whole thing. The human element in all it’s glory............
I really hope to read in this take down of “the La Russa Orthodoxy” some comment about how hard Mike Scioscia strived to adhere to this orthodoxy in spite of all evidence to the contrary that his bullpen staff was not up to the challenge..............
The legendary SF rock station KFOG is being lost to baseball (and other sports) simulcasts and folks are upset. Not so upset, though, they they ditch their cellphones and Spotify and actually listen to FM radio music, however...............
The Duffle Bag
Rob Manfred now is issuing grooved baseballs.............Christian Yelich trolls a twitter idiot with new walk-up music, ostensibly this twitter idiot was (up until very recently) a baseball fan..............Oops. MLB dared to do something that put the MFY at a disadvantage, however briefly. Thankfully there is a New York-based MLB Front Office and their New York-centric employees to step in and apologize to the Yankees for some other employees having the audacity to presume something that does not benefit the Yanksters,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,A retractable roof is constructed over a baseball field for one...single...purpose...........This guy either has way too much time on his hands, or is a cultural genius of the highest order. National Treasure, even............