TuesdoLinks: Halos Offense Giveth, Halos Pitching Giveth Back

Shohei Ohtani losing track of the pitch count, and Andrelton Simmons committing two errors on the same play are just more signs that there are cracks and crevices everywhere.

The Angels actually kinda dribbled out some offense last night, for the first 6 innings anyway. But Jaime Barria and Noe Ramirez kinda handed it all back, and then some. The Angels lost 7-5, but at this point we are more interested in Mike Trout hitting a home run than whatever happens with anything else. I know I am, anyway.

By the way, I was out of town over the weekend but was still following the games. After the Friday 15-inning marathon debacle I was curious as to how well the Halos have done in extras games. And when the game was tied at 5 last night, I started to worry again. So I went digging. 9 such games so far, 30 total innings if you count those times when the Angels had a chance to finish things off in the home frame of the 9th. 128 total At Bats and only 18 hits. Worse, only 2 of those hits went for extra bases. One double and one home run. 15 walks and 26 strikeouts. 13 total runs but 10 of those came in 3 of those 30 innings, so the other 3 came across the remaining 27 innings. A slash line of .141/.241/.172 and an OPS of .413.

But let’s slash our way through some Road-Weary-Halolinks:

A Little Bit Of Angels News

Season Status Update: Wild Card Elimination number is now down to 9. And there are now only 10 MLB teams with more losses. The Angels have 74 of those, and are now 8 away from a losing season.

reddit calls our attention to historical ignominy in the making............

Anthony Bemboom is back..........

Jose Rojas is NOT coming up for September. The Angels brass cannot even throw us fans a bone, instead just choose to troll us...........

May the BayBears Rest In Peace. Long live the Trash Pandas, who somehow already have a “nation”............

Everywhere In Baseball

Home Run Derby Update: Cody Bellinger, Pete Alonso, and Mike Trout are all tied at 44, with Christian Yelich at 43 mark and Eugenio Suarez at 40.............

Mike Clevinger was the AL Pitcher of the Month for August. Swell beans. 21 innings out of Vinne Pestano will always sooth all wounds. But this does cause a conundrum. I had been tracking just how long it has been since a Halo won a Pitcher of the Month Award. The technical answer is Jered Weaver, back in April of 2011. (John Lackey won a couple of these before that, and Chuck Finley going back to 1998, and I doubt anyone cares about prior history.) But what do I do now? Clevinger was our guy, should still BE our guy. He’s our guy winning a Pitcher of the Month Award in a different red uniform............

Justin Verlander and Yadier Molina were Players of the Week..........And Aristedes Aquino made NL Rookie of the Month AND NL Player of the Month..........Here are your Relievers of the Month..........And your AL Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month (hint: it’s August, so it ain’t Mike Trout)..........

Mike Trout no longer is the sole occupant of that tiny island where players today are noted as peers of the super great from history. Christian Yelich has now landed on the beach of that island, albeit with a Barry Bonds who should reside in the second or third circle of the Hall..............

I’m reading this take on Justin Verlander’s no-hitter and I get to a table that shows his odds, which were strongly in his favor. But the part that made me link were the odds for the LAA combined no-hitter: 4,650 to 1...........

MLB introduced their juiced baseball to AAA, and AAA home runs rocketed up 57% over the previous year...........Absolutely impossible to be attributable to anything other than the ball...........

If MLB is playing with juiced baseballs, are the Twins playing with the juiciest of juiced baseballs? Oh, no. They are not. They just get to play the Angels and Orioles, whose pitching staffs have gifted them 16.4% of all HR’s hit by Minnesota this year............

The Cardinal Way: Mighty Defenders of The Book of Unwritten Rules............

I am noticing that The Mothership seems to have been abandoned. Nobody has been on the bridge since the middle of last month. Stories are getting posted still, but nobody is minding the front page. We should take over.........

Beware when you go head-hunting, Baltimore pitchers, and beware when you go celebrating said head-hunting, Baltimore bullpen pitchers. Because the guy at the plate will be listening, and remembering..........

Remember the Ben Zobrist personal issue where he and his wife went rapidly into marital hell, causing Zobrist to step away from baseball and try to deal with everything? Zobrist is back, kinda. His personal life remains unresolved and his MiLB get-better training did not impress. But the Cubs are trying to hang on to a playoff spot...........

Talent acquisition and development is an alchemy of some skill, some good guesswork, a lot of luck, and a lot of health breaks. Just looking at our two poster children for tanking, the Cubs and the Astros, and we see the Astros on the verge of their 4th playoff appearance in 5 post-tank years, with a strong shot at their second WS title, and still a deep pipeline of talent. The Cubs are 4 for 4 in playoff appearance post-tank, and also have 1 WS title, but are the bubble team for the NL Wild Card now with 4 teams within range of usurping them. They are fading already and not only do they NOT have a similarly deep pipeline of young talent, but the talent that they do have is now acknowledged to be experiencing a closing window of opportunity...........

September call-ups can create surprisingly bright and shiny revelations. Not that this chance for fun applies to Justin Bour..........

The Duffle Bag

Cubs fans are determined to destroy the Wrigley Field No-Fun Policing System...........Dodger fan meets Dodger playoff destiny in one simple play...........A very good time to get the hell out of a baseball stadium. But then, that would mean running out into the middle of that............Great shot. Wrong sport.............Phillies fan loses grip on TWO balls into the stands in the same game...........