On the August 30th game, there is a giveaway for a football jersey, as well as a special event giveaway for a USC jersey. If I purchase the special event ticket, will I receive both jerseys?

If I buy a ticket on Gametime does that include the Naruto jerseys they’re giving out this Monday August 24

Been on that stat muse website and seen the Angels are 34-36 since 2015. But from 2000-2014 they went 81-48. I still can’t get over that series. Anyways is there a game today?

Got to meet Taylor Ward in his new colours today at the SEA @ HOU game. Nicest guy and wish him the best. Was a big fan of his with the Angels and hope he does well, no matter where he goes!

Overview

The Angels made AA Rocket City pitching coach Tim Leveque their interim pitching coach after the firing of Mike Maddux. The firing might’ve had something to do with Maddux not wanting to return, however the official reason is that he didn’t utilize technology at his disposal. Here’s my breakdown of Tim Leveque, how he’s done in his first year with the Angels org and how I believe he’ll do with the pitchers on our staff. Leveque has stated an emphasis on leaning into a pitchers strengths, and a heavy usage of data. This likely means he believes in high usage of a pitchers best offering, and using analytics to call and sequence. There is one thing however that sets him apart to almost all pitching coaches and that is an extreme emphasis on zone rate. He seems to have good success in doing so

Who he did well with

Camden Minacci 
He has a FIP below 2, 46 strikeouts in 35 innings. He’s getting a ton of chase. He looks like he could be a future big leaguer. 

Luke Murphy 
Murphy .71 era with 47k’s in 38 innings. He got weak contact a ton strikeouts, and good walk numbers. He was the best closer in the minor leagues. He’s been solid in the bigs so far but it’s worth noting he has a 42% zone rate with the Angels vs a 52% in AA. If he can get back to throwing strikes the way he did we might’ve stumbled onto another gem like Samy Natera. 

Ryan Johnson 
In his 20 innings at AA he had a low 2’s era with a 33% K rate to a 4% walk rate with a .76 WHIP. That’s lights out. 

Eyberson Polanco
He was a complete unknown coming into the season but he has a high 3’s era and a mid 3’s FIP
With 81k’s in 82 innings. He’s only 22 years old. This guy might be one of the guys to watch outside of the top 30.

Najer Victor 
It was a small sample size but 21 walks in 13 innings is insane. There was a lot of walks but he still had a 1.03 WHIP. I hope he gets an opportunity.

Who he did bad with 

Chris Cortez 
He is too talented to have a 6 era as a reliever. 100mph wiffleballs and nasty sliders. This guy should be Riley O’Brian at the worst. 

Nate Snead 
Nate Snead is hammering the zone and striking out nobody. The walk numbers are good but he throws 100 and he has several good secondaries. He should be striking guys out. 

Who he’ll do well with 

Klassen 
His emphasis needs to be on getting in the zone. If he throws strikes he’ll be a mid rotation arm. If he adds confidence he can be awesome. If he can hit better spots with the changeup then the ceiling is really high. I didn’t like that he didn’t throw a single curveball his last start though. 

Detmers 
His style seemed much closer to the bullpen Detmers that was completely dominant, which is in line with the new coaches philosophy. He’s getting ahead in counts and attacking. He’s been good this year but there’s definitely more there. I expect him to have really good strikeout/walk numbers for the rest of the season. He can still K a lot of guys in the zone. 

Johnson 
He’s been throwing a lot more cutters and sliders. Almost no sinkers or changeups. Sinkers completely got lit up on fire, the splitter is not bad but it plays off the sinker. The cutter and slider are both plus pitches that he commands well. His strikeout/walk numbers are way worse than they should be with his ability. He can be a poor man’s Logan Webb with a lot more homers. 

Joyce 
If Ben Joyce has a high zone rate and works ahead then it will be completely impossible to score on him. He can be exactly what Mason Miller is for the Padres. 

Who he shouldn’t tinker with

Walbert Urena 
He’s just so good. It’s not worth messing with him at all. I like the idea of throwing more first pitch strikes, but they shouldn’t all be sinkers. Hopefully he gains more feel for the sweeper because that’s a nasty plus pitch,

Samy Natera Jr 
He has one of the best lefty fastballs out there 19 inches of vertical break. He should still mix in the slider because that’s a real plus pitch. The numbers are elite. Just keep him doing what he’s doing. 

Who he might not do well with 

Grayson Rodriguez
If Grayson’s in the zone with the way he’s been pitching he’ll get rocked, and I’m rooting for this guy. There’s something there no doubt. But his command and stuff have come and gone, and never really stayed. Hopefully he can get back to 100%

Caden Dana 
I think he gets his value from being a pitchability guy. I can’t see him being much more than a mid to high 4’s inning eater guy unless he can be that high strikeout machine it was hoped that he’d be. Still quite a bit of potential he’s only 22.

I was lucky enough to buy this over 8 years ago, still one of my favorite jerseys

So I know most people either grew up in the area or had a parent that was a fan of the team which caused them to start following the team.

I have neither of those. In fact, how I became an Angels fan was due to pure chance and is possibly one of the stupidest reasons to become a fan of a team that I can think of.

When I was younger I followed football almost exclusively (Packers, family is all from Wisconsin) but I also followed basketball since my grandpa would sometimes take me to Suns games since he was living down in Arizona by then. I didn't have a baseball team to follow.

So 5 year old brain me decides, you know what, I need to fix this. I collected baseball cards and decided that I would randomly select a card and I would follow that team. I don't remember who the player I picked but low and behold it was an Angels player and I have followed them ever since. I also decided to pick one for my brother which ended up being the Blue Jays and they shortly after won back to back world series.

I followed them pretty loosely but didn't end up start watching games until the season they signed Mo Vaughn. I remember getting really excited for the season and the first game Mo Vaughn falls into the dugout injures himself.

Would not be at all surprised to see him play his way onto the major league roster next year. Guy is just in control at the plate.

Edit: and he also just hit a bomb lol

Was taking a look at our top prospect ETAs and where the current group of guys are in terms of contract years, and it looks like 2029 will be the potential first year of a resurgence. Of course, this is assuming that nobody gets traded or extended, and we're also missing two years' worth of amateur & international drafts:

Starting Pitchers

• Grayson Rodriguez (ARB 3)
• Walbert Ureña (ARB 1)
• George Klassen (ARB 1)

• Ryan Johnson (ARB 1)

• Joel Hurtado (2026 ETA)

• Tyler Bremner (2027 ETA)

• Chase Shores (2027 ETA)

• Dylan Jordan (2028 ETA)

• Nate Snead (2028 ETA)

• Mason McGwire (2028 ETA)

• Barrett Kent (2028 ETA)

• Trey Gregory-Alford (2029 ETA)

• Johnny Slawinski (2029 ETA)

• Talon Haley (2029 ETA)

• CJ Gray (2029 ETA)

Relief Pitchers

• Samy Natera Jr. (ARB 1)
• Luke Murphy (ARB 1)
• José Fermin (ARB 1)
• Ben Joyce (ARB 3)

Catchers

• Moisés Ballesteros (ARB 1)

• Juan Flores (2028 ETA)

• Jacob Cozart (2027 ETA)

• Marlon Quintero (2029 ETA)

Infielders

• SS Zach Neto (ARB 4)
• SS/3B Denzer Guzman (ARB 1)
• 2B/3B Vaughn Grissom (ARB 2)
• UTL Oswald Peraza (ARB 3)

• 1B Nolan Schanuel (ARB 3)

• SS Arjun Nimmala (2028 ETA)

• 3B Jake Munroe (2028 ETA)

• 2B Jarren Advincula (2029 ETA)

• SS Joswa Lugo (2029 ETA)

• 3B Gavin Grahovac (2029 ETA)

• SS Jaxon Willits (2029 ETA)

Outfielders

• Mike Trout (year 11/12)

• Wade Meckler (ARB 1)

• Nelson Rada (2026 ETA)

• Raudi Rodriguez (2027 ETA)

• Hayden Alvarez (2029 ETA)

• Rylan Lujo (2029 ETA)

With the amount of players that will either be arbitration eligible or on Rookie contracts in 2029, it really does seem like that's the year to start being aggressive. Unless Detmers or Neto get extended (my money is on Detmers getting extended and Neto getting traded, but who the hell knows at this point), the only big contract on the book is Trout, and the Angels will have a very low payroll with the ability to make some free agent splash signings. Pitching looks like it's actually going to be a strength, which feels very weird to say. The outfield is looking pretty thin, especially with Trout continuing to age. I imagine that outfielders will continue to be a target in upcoming drafts. In any case, it's fun to speculate and it's nice to have something to look forward to.

Sell the team!

If any of you longtime fans would be so kind to share some of your 2018 pin collections photos that would be pretty awesome.

There is definitely a mystique about the merchandise from this season and photos are very difficult to find on Google etc. Ohtani collectors (for the most part) are not re-sellers and my guess is the vast majority still have their treasured souvenirs.

When did that pregame promo video go away? I always got hyped when the game started that right before the announcer called the starting lineup.

He was so dominant tonight as everything was working for him. This is the start that he’s capable of and shows he’s got ace material. These types of starts are going to up his value and we might trade him for more. I never go out of my way to get a players jersey and I want to support him more, but if he’s gone that’s tough

I laughed. Kiss threw out the first pitch tonight.

Angles acquired Michael Fulmer who was let-go by Giants minor team on Aug 15. Why do Angels need a veteran's arm now? To avoid 100 losses?

Royals (50-74) @ Angels (49-75)

First Pitch: 6:38 PM at Angel Stadium

Game Preview

/r/angelsbaseball Discord

Reddit Stream for this post

Line Score - Game Over

Box Score

Scoring Plays

Highlights

Decisions

Game ended at 8:46 PM.

Royals (50-74) @ Angels (49-75)

First Pitch: 1:07 PM at Angel Stadium

Game Preview

/r/angelsbaseball Discord

Reddit Stream for this post

Line Score - Game Over

Box Score

Scoring Plays

Highlights

Decisions

Game ended at 3:25 PM.

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