SB Nation User Blog: RallyMonkey5

Let's end this thing

RallyMonkey5 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:29:42 -0000

Here's what I expect Scioscia to tell the crew before today's game: You are up 2-0, but play this one like you're down 0-2. Don't let up. Don't lose your edge. Let's bury these guys.

With Kazmir on the mound, Ortiz and Drew are neutralized. Lowell is slow as crap, and playing with a hurt thumb. Keep him on the ground. Martinez, batting righty, is still good but not as dangerous as batting lefty. Bay and Youkilis are your biggest threats. Bay can be pitched to with offspeed stuff, don't let Youkilis hurt you in crucial situations.

The key to handling their offense is getting ahead in the count but keeping the ball off the center of the plate. This is easier said than done, it's also called great pitching. Essentially what Weaver and Lackey did in the first two games, and what Kazmir did in game 5 of the ALCS last year.

On offense, Clay Buchholz has good stuff, but sometimes shaky confidence. He's had his moments where he's been described as "a deer in the headlights". Well, time to turn the high beams on. Figgins needs to reach base and put the pressure on early. And from there, no letup. Angels have beat him before, in 3 career starts we are talking about 17 innings, 30 baserunners, and 18 total runs allowed. In his final regular season start, he allowed 6 runs in 3 innings against the Indians' AAA lineup. Yes, more of that.

The media will take any opportunity to fellate the Red Sox for all kinds of admirable human qualities if they start to come back from the an 0-2 deficit. They have come back before. In addition to 1986, their teams have come back from 0-2 against Cleveland in 1999, 0-2 against Oakland in 2003, 0-3 against the Yankees in 2004, and 3-1 agaisnt Cleveland in 2007. But they are not immune to good baseball. The White Sox got to 2-0 in 2005, and finished them off. The Rays got to 3-1 last year, and after nearly blowing it, held onto that series as well. The media eagerly awaits to give them accolades for "coming back from the dead".

This is bullshit. Extreme bullshit. They are not dead. It is up to the Angels to put a stake through the heart, cut off the head, fill the mouth with holy wafers, immerse them in running water, and expose them to direct sunlight (last part should be easy, it's a daygame). Keep on playing with the passion, determination, and intelligence you have shown in the first two games Angels, and you will win. Never let up.

To paraphrase Acuda,

Let's put Kendry Morales at first, the guy we traded Sean Rodriguez for on the mound. Now let's go WIN!

Chone Figgins with a Historic Season

RallyMonkey5 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:32:30 -0000

Chone Figgins has to be the last player in the big leagues you'd ever want to walk. The more power you have, the more pitchers will consider pitching around you, afraid of the damage you might cause. Figgins is many things, but a power hitter sure isn't one of them. He's the kind of player who is so unlikely to get Figgy with a longball that you'd expect a pitcher to just throw it down the middle on a 3 ball count. David Eckstein was like this, he seemed like a patient hitter who avoided swinging at bad pitches, but didn't walk much because everyone made an effort to throw him strikes.

That's not the only reason to avoid walking him though. With his speed, he can turn a walk into a triple. Especially leading off an inning, a pitcher has to go into the PA thinking "I can't walk Figgins. If he gets on, he has to hit his way on"

Somehow, in spite of all this Figgins has passed the 100 walk mark this season. There have not been many speedy, non-power hitters to do this. Since World War II, there have been only 6 seasons where a player hits fewer than 10 homers, steals 35 or more bases, and still takes 100 walks. Three of those seasons belong to the greatest leadoff hitter of all time, Rickey Henderson. He did it in 1980 and 1983 before he developed power, and as an old man in 1996. Joe Morgan did it in 1970, this was before he joined the big red machine. Hitting 8 homeruns in the 1970 Astrodome probably should be considered an impressive feat of power though. Brett Butler did it for the 1991 Dodgers, and finally Figgins joined the club last night.

Updated Angel Projections

RallyMonkey5 — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:50:12 -0000

I've run updated CHONE projections (the preseason ones are on baseballprojection.com) and here are the Angels who have risen and fallen the most so far, by projected OPS:

Wood and Rodriguez's stats include an MLE for Salt Lake City

<pre>

Player preseason updated change

Kowbell .748 .821 .073

Napoli .805 .870 .065

SeanRod .694 .734 .040

Aybar .693 .730 .037

Rivera .782 .813 .031

Hunter .801 .826 .025

B-Wood .719 .735 .016

Abreu .784 .791 .007

Izturis .740 .746 .006

Figgins .729 .730 .001

Mathis .655 .654 -.001

Willits .703 .688 -.015

Matthews .724 .699 -.025

Kendrick .783 .739 -.044

Quinlan .716 .672 -.044

Guerrero .888 .813 -.075

</pre>

Kendry Morales learned to crush the ball. Mike Napoli learned to hit for average. Juan Rivera kept himself in the lineup. Erick Aybar became an average hitter (a great thing when you're a strong fielding SS). Wood and Rodriguez have progressed towards being viable everyday players, though they still have more work to do. Even Kendrick looks like he's shaken off his early slump and is back to being the HK-47 hitting droid.

It's been a great year for Mickey Hatcher's lineup. The only drawback is the fall from greatness for Vlad.

Going to Spring training

RallyMonkey5 — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:07:22 -0000

Are any other Halo Heaven members going to Arizona? I will be there next week and plan on seeing a few Angel games at different stadiums around Phoenix. If anyone wants to try and meet up send me an email.

It's rallymonkey (insert number worn by Brian Downing as an Angel) at comcast dot net.

Ned to get this up to 75 words. What about the back end of the starting rotation? Can we trust these guys? What if we suffer another injury or two? I really want to see Pedro Martinez in the big A this year.

Is it OK to root for the A's now?

RallyMonkey5 — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 03:04:10 -0000

Normally I detest the A's and everything they stand for, as I know many of you do as well. I checked tonight's score and saw they were up 5-0 in the second inning. My immediate reaction was disgust. But then, they are playing Seattle, and if they win this game it gets us a little closer to our rightful playoff spot. An added bonus is that a strong finish by the A's, lets say they get over .500, means that Billy Beane's draft pick will not be protected. I'd hate to see them spend money on a decent free agent (I know, if they do it will be the first time) and still pick 12 or 13 in next year's draft. I'd rather them be in a spot where they can't sign anybody because to do so would mean giving up their #16 or #17 pick.

Poll

Is it OK to root for the A's now?

No, not now and not ever

17 votes

Only if the pennant race was close and we really needed the Mariners to lose

19 votes

Yes, but only because the A's are out of it

31 votes

Always, I'm a troll who wandered over from Athletics Nation

4 votes

71 votes | Poll has closed

Hillenbrand is officially a problem

RallyMonkey5 — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:06:32 -0000

From the LA Times, found it on Baseball Primer:

"I feel like I'm being pushed aside, put on a back-burner, and I don't like that at all," Hillenbrand, 31, said. "If I'm not going to play here, give me enough respect to trade me or get rid of me. I think I deserve that."

If Manager Mike Scioscia "doesn't think I can help this team, there are teams out there I can help," Hillenbrand continued. "I'm a quality player in the prime of my career. To go from playing every day to not playing at all, it's very disheartening."

Return of the King

RallyMonkey5 — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:51:29 -0000

Kelvim Escobar goes up against Felix Hernandez tonight.

Unlike the A's, may they lose every game they play in from now until forever, I have no ill will against the Mariners. I hope Felix returns, shows no signs of any injury, and goes on to pitch the Mariners to a second place finish.

For tonight, I'm OK with him dominating our lineup, pitching a 3 hitter, and allowing only one run after Reggie Willits walks in the 7th inning, steals 2 bases, and scores as Orlando Cabrera's single just scoots past a drawn in infield.

Just as long as Escobar throws a shutout.

Angels forecast

RallyMonkey5 — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 19:21:29 -0000

If you've got a few minutes to spare, please check out the community forecasts that Tango Tiger http://www.tangotiger.net/community/ is trying to put together on his site.

So far he has less than 5 Angel fans. The goal is to get a subjective estimate of how well a player will hit or pitch in 2007. For example, my CHONE projection of Casey Kotchman isn't very good, but that's just a blind computer formula that doesn't have any idea why Kotchman played so little and so poorly in 2006.

I think Kotchman is capable of much more, so on Tango's forecast I put him down for an .825 OPS. All you need to enter is OPS or ERA, and a rough estimate of how much he'll play.

I'm stepping away from the ledge

RallyMonkey5 — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:26:34 -0000

I don't hate the Matthews Jr. signing any more. Its extravagant, but improves our team in the short run.

In the long run, he's a highly paid 4th outfielder, but with Brandon Wood hitting 35 homers at short and Nick Adenhart racing Weaver, Lackey, and Santana to see who gets to 20 wins first, we can live with it.

I looked at how he rates by every defensive measure that means anything (the play by play ones) as well as the fan's scouting reports. Read more here:

http://lanaheimangelfan.blogspot.com/2006/11/defense-of-sarge-jr.html

How about this trade?

RallyMonkey5 — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 03:56:37 -0000

Here's a trade that would get us one of the best hitters in the game:

On BTF, I got into a discussion with some Red Sox fans and wound up negotiating a trade:

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/sox_therapy/discussion/the_manny_question_again/

Colon, Juan Rivera, and Erick Aybar for Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell.

Our payroll increases by 11 million, but we've upgraded two spots hitting, one on defense. Our lineup looks like:

CF Figgins
SS OC
RF Vladimir
DH Manny
LF Anderson
3B Lowell
1B Kendry KotchPherson
2B Kendrick
C Napoli

And the rotation is the same as what we ended 2006 with. Now all we need is some bullpen help.

We'd need to know

A) if Manny is going to complain about being the primary DH or not - though he'd still get some OF time when Vlad/GA need rests

B) He'd accept the trade, and not demand we guarantee his option years in return for waiving his 5/10 rights.

What do you guys think? Should we tell Bill our am I fired from trade negotiations?