00:00:08
Speaker 1: Angel fans, and welcome back to Halo Territoria Mike D. Giovanna, former Ela Times baseball writer and host of the show, and back with us today is my regular co host Mark Trumbo, the former Angels slugger. Mark, Welcome back from vacation. Boy. If you look at the comments on ht YouTube page, you were dearly missed out there, my friend? What's up with that?
00:00:32
Speaker 2: Well? For the three or four that we're wondering, yes, we took a trip for my daughter's school. Started in this day and age. Unfortunately, publicizing such things on the internet social media is well advised. So I have not said that was just the explanation and I'm back and ready to cover. Well, we got a lot to discuss today. Yeah, an interesting things I feel like. And the shows that while I was gone some very interesting content too, a little different, but learned a lot, especially in the shake one about the ballpark and one question is where is all that room for the youth sports park? That I meant to ask.
00:01:17
Speaker 1: You, but yeah, I mean you do. You would do a project like that in phases. Obviously you would first start, I'm assuming building the new stadium, then you're tearing down the old stadium. So you have all, you know, the footprint where the old stadium was, and then you figure out, you know, you could probably fit out okay, yeah, into the footprint. Yeah, it's I'm sure there's all sorts of advanced planning and and things and concepts that have gone into it. But there's a lot of room there. There's probably more room than you think. And if you eliminate some of the parking spaces and build a garage like they did across the street at the Hana Center, you'd have even more available square footage. So yeah, some interesting stuff going on there. We'll see what happens with all of that. Well, also some interesting Angels storylines. One of the big ones these past two weeks has been Angels pitching in the wake of the August eleventh firing of veteran pitching coach Mike Maddocks, bullpen coach Dom Cheety, and assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott. So the Angels had a four point five to one team er that day and since then, and we're gonna use these stats going in a Sunday's game. You say, Kakuchi came back first game in four months, kind of a bit of an outlier, didn't pitch great, didn't pitch all that poorly, but going into Sunday's game. Since August eleventh, and the Angels named Tim Levick interim pitching coach and Michael Wurtz interim bullpen coach, the Angels pitching staff leads the major leagues with a one point six to four ERA and a zero point nine to two WHIP and a three point nine to six strikeout to walk ratio. Angels pitching had also allowed two or fewer earned runs in nine of eleven games in that span. Mark, what does impress you the most about Angels pitching these last two weeks and how do you think they've improved?
00:03:13
Speaker 2: I think the amount of coverage on the broadcast has been well, it's extensive, and I think when Johnson start the other night, within before two innings was up, we'd heard at least three references to the pitching improvements. So they are a big deal, and they're a big deal to the club, and it makes you wonder what this team might have looked like had someone else been directing the pitching for the majority of the season. It sounds like and we may have been early to kind of speculate that Maddox was making the bullpen maneuvers and deciding at least who was available, if not who was coming into the game. But what it looks like and if anybody watches, I know if people are watching those games. But this is repetitive for what they were saying. But the Angels pitchers, especially the starting pitchers, have streamlined their repertoires. They have eliminated their pitches that grayed out poorly, and they are stepping on the usage of their better pitches. Sometimes it turns into more of a two pitch mix, maybe sprinkle in a third. It seemed like under Maddox he really wanted them to throw about an equal usage for most of the guys of four pitches. For example, Walbert doesn't have four, but he was starting to trend more towards and he does have a very nice slider, so's that's not really the example. Let's say Debt Meer's more trying to use an equal usage of those four pitches that he has. Where a couple of them or at least one of them has changed up is never rated very well. Grayson Rodriguez after kind of a clunky first game and not his fault, totally poor defense by Algrisso made an air, so it's no it was an error, but he made the rest of it. I mean, I thought that could get away from him. He went seven innings, ninety nine pitches and sixty four percent foreseeing fastball twenty four percent change up. So that was you know, essentially that's covering almost the entirety of his repertoire. And that was the guy that I think we've been waiting to see. I guess one question for you, Uh, is this more a byproduct of, you know, some massive improvements in short order or are they playing some lousy competition.
00:05:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, certainly there's elements to both. I don't know if massive improvement is the right word, but certainly you play in the Royals, the Astros, the Rangers. That's some really teams that have really been scuffled offensively of late. There's just been a couple of really nice turns to the rotation. I mean, Urania has been really good all year. Dettmars has been spectacular since early early to mid July. And I think you're seeing you know, young George class in this step then and pitch really well. We saw Ryan Johnson take a no hitter into the sixth inning. God, it doesn't seem like that long ago we were talking about this guy belongs in the bullpen. We might have to reassess that one.
00:06:14
Speaker 2: I'd like to see a bit more, if I'm being honest, and a bit more against good competition, because this Rangers team is going nowhere fast. They don't have it. I guess booied heavily by their starting pitching at times, but I didn't see much in terms of you know, the defense wasn't above average to me, and they tried to let him. You know, the angel sneaked back in this game today and darn near did. Credit to the Angels too for battling until the end. But so Johnson, for example, just to get it out of the way. He's fifty percent cutter, twenty six percent sweeper, but his velocity has ticked up. We've talked about where's the velocity, and he was up to ninety four point three For those that love statistics.
00:07:02
Speaker 1: And also, I don't think you can underestimate the impact some of the relievers have had. You know, that era was for a total pitching staff. As good as the rotation has been, it wasn't just for the rotation. Ben Joyce has come back and been pretty darn dominant. Six and two thirds inning pitch in seven games, zero earned runs, nine strikeouts and two walks. And Ryan Watson man talk about coming out of nowhere. He's thrown five and a third in six games, zero earn runs, eight strikeouts, one walk and what was it, Oh, the first game of the road trip in Houston. Nobody knows at the time that Sam and the Terror is hurt, and up comes your Novarez representing the tie and run. I think it's three to one, and out trots the right hand of Ryan Watson out of the bullpen and he strikes out. Alvarez gets esak paratus with a I a left field to preserve a three to one win. And this guy's been pretty darn good. Uh, so you know, it's been sort of an across the board effort. What's been your impression of Ben Joyce so far? I know it's hard to blame him for that Friday night loss. Uh what was it? Once strike away from a save and the uh, somebody just doinked a double over the first baseman's head and an air. Really tough loss there, but boy, I'm not saying the Angels are in first place with a good closer, but I'm guessing with Ben Joyce healthy all year, some of those blone saves we saw earlier would have been wins. What a what a nice addition he's been.
00:08:45
Speaker 2: Agree he's a he's got the goods. It's the sustainability that the health. Really the health throwing because he seems like I mean his cruising out that's there, you know, his velocity is I mean it's not it's not effortless per se, but that's just how it comes out. I Mean, he's just a hundred and they can get up to goofy one hundred and four and a half or whatever it was the other day. So yeah, I guess from the perspective of washing enough baseball and just seeing how few guys can do that, I don't always love seeing those numbers, even if they result in a bobblehead. But I'd like to see him out there for full seasons, is what I'm getting. Yeah, and he really can, you know, because he even though the hitters know what's coming, he's still got a fastball that they can't do much with it when he locates it.
00:09:38
Speaker 1: Relatively for sure. Hey, we're going to take a quick break for a word from our sponsors and we come back. We're going to talk about the new buzzword around Angels Stadium Ech. We'll be right back with more Halo territory.
00:09:55
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00:10:53
Speaker 1: And welcome back to Halo territory with Mark Trumbo and Mike Dgievanna. Well, when Mike Maddox was fired, GM John Mozaylock made a point of saying that Maddicks and his staff, we're not using available technology sufficiently read Dettmer's even said that day that he had to start asking him to use track Man during bullpen sessions after the All Star break. Let's remind viewers and listeners exactly what track Man does. Provides detailed information about every pitch thrown. It measures metrics such as pitch velocity, spin rate, spin access, vertical and horizontal movement, release point, and these insights allow pitchers and coaches to understand exactly how each pitch behaves and make adjustments to improve effectiveness. I know you didn't pitch in the big leagues, Mark, but I'm sure you've seen a few bullpen sessions on the side and know how these pitchers operate today. What can what kind of difference can using this tech like in a you know, on a side session do for these pitch and why does it seem to have made a pretty big difference with these guys?
00:12:06
Speaker 2: I wonder what do you think the reason Maddox was opposed to it? Is that just an arrogance thing? Or is that laziness? Or is that just he a philosophical thing?
00:12:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't I'm not gonna sit here and pretend I know Mike Maddox all that well, but I know the type. He's a veteran guy, He's an old school guy. I can only surmise that his you know, it's kind of like Mike Associate at the end. You know, he didn't exactly embrace all the analytics and all the info that he maybe could have maybe he should have. And I just think Mike Maddox is probably cut a little bit from the same cloth. You know, he's pretty set in his ways, and those ways have worked pretty darn well over the years. You know, he took a ranger staff that I don't I'm not even sure it was all that great in twenty three and tournament a World Series winner, So it's hard to argue with stuff like that. I don't know that he was stuck in his ways. But I just do find a little odd, maybe a little striking, maybe a little odd that of all the things that could turn around the Angels pitching this year, it's, you know, using technology that everybody uses.
00:13:12
Speaker 2: I don't think it's that strange, and I don't think the adjustments they've made are strange at all. It's exactly what the Dodgers, for example, have been doing for years now, is streamlining a new acquisition, saying this is these are the pitches you're going to throw, this is why you're going to throw them. And if a pitch isn't netting out or grating out as a positive, we're going to get rid of it. We're not going to use it. Why would you use it? And I think I don't know if Maddox was looking at these reports as far as the pitch grades, and for those that don't like them, I don't really care. It's one of those things that's here to stay. And a guy like Detmer's obviously benefits from this. Grayson Rodriguez, they're young enough to the point they came up and this is what they are used to. So I think when you take it away, it feels. Probably they like for me not being able to hit batting practice outside. I got very used to that and one of the days that I didn't do that, try and do what you can, but you're not always mentally feeling like you were as prepared. So with reed, and why do golfers use it? If you look at any range, they cover everything now on the tour, but they have some sort of almost every player. I just may it probably is every player has a unit sitting on the ground measuring their distance, their curvature, their angle of their swing, all these things. And why you have it is because it can shortcut some adjustments on any given day or at least give you some feedback like, hey, why does it look like it's not doing what it's supposed to. Well, you look down, you look at the numbers, you look at some of the things, and if you are versed in it well enough, you can make those adjustments quicker than struggling with a feel thing. I think Mike Maddox was huge on feel some of the videos in spring, and there weren't a lot, but it seems like he really and that's something that I think we connect a lot more with a veteran pitcher of Verlander or de Grom, somebody like that. They may use this a lot, they might use it not at all. But for the younger pitchers that came up through the miners using it, I think it's pretty crucial that you use it.
00:15:18
Speaker 1: A team obviously was on the road all last week. Jeff Fletcher the OC Register did talk to some of these pictures about this very topic. Wrote a good story about this on Friday. The most obvious change is that now all pitchers throw all their bullpen sessions with the full complement of hardware, specifically track band devices under Maddox. The Angels used it in spring training, but sporadically in the regular season. Quote in Baltimore, we used it a lot. Right hand or Grayson Rodriguez said, I think it can help for me. In the beginning of the year, I was struggling with my stuff. It wasn't where it needed to be, with the movement patterns and different stuff like that. I wish I would have had it a little bit earlier. It's a useful tool for sure. Left hand to Reid deadver Sait, he started at asking to use track Man more after the All Star break, A few weeks before the staff changed. Detmer's came into Friday and I start with a one point eight three year since the All Star break. Detmer said, the benefit of the technology is how to maintain quote to see if everything is right. Well, it's it's really interesting, Uh, you know the I agree with you on the veteran pitcher and the young pitcher. It's an interesting sort of dichotomy in the game right now. Uh. And we also we did catch up with Tim Leveck, the new Angels interim pitching coach, before they went on the road, and this was sort of before a lot of these things were actually implemented. This was a couple of days into his tenure. Let's see what he had to say about his approach and his philosophy.
00:16:54
Speaker 4: Just the first question we have to ask you was, because they made a big deal of an attention, what was your.
00:16:58
Speaker 5: Philosophy about using all those You know, my philosophy has been to just try to use as much information as I can because ultimately, at the end of the day, it's about making the right decision, right, what my instinct tells me, what information the organization has, how I know the guys, and just trying to use everything that we have to try and make the best decisions possible. What was your time I get in Double A and then obviously you know some of these guys that are up there now that's like kind of healthy probably want Yeah, I had, I had Weeman, I had Murphy in Double A, which was you know, and I had arm Ryan Johnson as well.
00:17:31
Speaker 2: So it was good.
00:17:32
Speaker 5: It was a good group there, and it was really cool to see them go from Double A up here.
00:17:37
Speaker 1: It was really neat to see.
00:17:38
Speaker 4: I know it's a really short window here, but what are some of the things that we're hoping that you're going to be able to implement with those kind of pitching group here in the final forty two years?
00:17:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you know.
00:17:46
Speaker 5: The first thing to do is I know a lot. I know some of them, Like I just mentioned, there's some is establishing relationships, getting to know the guys, getting to know what makes them take, getting you know, to know what they want. And I'm really just here to serve them to try make them the best they can be.
00:18:02
Speaker 4: Is there like a full losophy that you have towards pitching? Maybe you've got to see this organization have that you know, really maybe something you've talked about with Mo about what you did do he know, what did you find?
00:18:12
Speaker 5: I mean, I just think my you know, my overall philosophy is really just you know, knowing what picture strengths are and being able to individualize like you can, and to try and get guys to understand who they are and to be able to go out into the game and execute their strengths. Is I think a goal for every pitcher at every level, from the lower minor leagues to the big leagues. And I would say, you know, that's a general philosophy that I have. I just want to know what their strengths are and how we can leverage those in the game. Off the Cardinals for a lot of time a lot did you know Mo well there? And what reaction like with that? Yeah, I've known MO really long time. I mean, the Cardinals hired me back in two thousand and six and I've worked my way up through the system there, So I've known MO since then. So what would that be twenty years?
00:18:53
Speaker 1: So I've known them a long time. This is an easier said than.
00:18:56
Speaker 2: Done question, I'm sure, But the Angels have walked a lot of guys this year.
00:19:00
Speaker 1: How do you make at prove it?
00:19:02
Speaker 5: I mean, I think with with walks and throwing strikes, it's just a general philosophy to control the count as much as possible, to be aggressive in the zone. I don't think.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: Something like that.
00:19:11
Speaker 5: It doesn't happen overnight. There's a lot of reasons why walk rates can be what they are. But it's just my job to try unlock whatever I can with individual guys, to try and get them, you know, the guys inn'tmate, you know, maybe have to attack the zone a little bit more to get them to do that.
00:19:27
Speaker 1: In general, do you think guys are better off pitching to their strengths as opposed to a scouting report that identifies this weakness or that one.
00:19:35
Speaker 5: I think it's always a blend. I think I always you know you you you want to know what the weaknesses of the hitters are, obviously, but you also want to know your strengths, and I think ideally you want to blend those two together. In a perfect world, that's what you're trying to do. How your strength might play against someone's weakness.
00:19:53
Speaker 1: And Mark the last thing Tim said there is talking about blending. You know, are there his pictures strengths with the batter's weakness, But sound like from what you said earlier, it seems like it's been more focusing more on the angels pictures strengths. Is that sort of the what you've seen more than maybe worrying so much about the batter's weaknesses.
00:20:18
Speaker 2: I think that's the right approach in general. I think that pictures need to have the mentality that the hitter can't hit their stuff, and if you're worried that they might, you're in a bad spot. I really like what Tim had to say there. It's interesting they went to double A to get promote Tim and Shane Luke's in Salt Lake when these things happened. I really liked that interview. I hadn't heard anything from Tim before, but it seems like there's no ego. He's there to make these guys better whatever is needed. One thing that I wonder if a guy like Reed Detmeer's, you know, we waited until after the break to finally say something, and it sounds like Grayson could have really benefited much earlier from this stuff. And I wonder if they just didn't feel like they could approach a guy of Mike Maddox's stature of his resume. I don't know him at all, but well I did one of the All Star teams. He was the pitching coach. That's the extent of it. Some quick conversations, but he's no doubt got a presence and maybe a little these guys were intimidated to ask for fear that he might tell him to take a walk or figure it out. You can't rely on this as a crutch or something like that. But I don't think it's a crutch. I think it's a useful tool. And one question I guess for you why didn't general manager Perry Manassian insist on using the tech? Though? I'm serious? Why did he? I mean, he apparently is there all the timer was and looking for every advantage he could get, and he saw a guy that wasn't using the tech? What's up with that?
00:21:57
Speaker 1: Once again, I am not in there every I can only surmise that he probably deferred to the veteran pitching coach. In this situation, and with a rookie manager who clearly needed some help with pitching changes and usage, especially early in the season, I'm sure they deferred a lot to Mike Maddox. That's probably why they brought them in. So I don't have any other really theories outside of that, but I do I do agree with what you said, especially with a young guy like Detmvers and Grayson's still a pretty young guy too. Yeah, you look at that resume. I'm sure. I'm sure he was a rookie. Didn't march into Mike Socia's office and start saying, you know, making this demand or that demand. It's it can be a.
00:22:38
Speaker 2: Little into you want you want an anecdote, though you want a small anecdote. I was told I was given a day off mental break. You know what those are. Oh, yeah, it means you suck. And uh, I remember Tory we were in Oakland. I'll make it quick, but he wasn't in the lineup and he said it was later in the season. He said, you got to go in there and tell him you want to play. I was like, really, and he said yes, so so so I did.
00:23:06
Speaker 1: Uh.
00:23:08
Speaker 2: I did what I could. I was polite, but I said I I'd really like to be in there. I think I can help the team win. And he said, I appreciate that You're going to be on the bench. And I was on the bench, but I think that there it said something and the hopefully Torrey wasn't getting his rocks off watching me walk the play, But no, I remember that. So there you go.
00:23:31
Speaker 1: We could take another quick break for a word from our sponsors, and we come back. We'll talk a little bit a little more in depth about the guy who's been leading the staff read Debt Mears. We'll be right back.
00:23:44
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00:23:51
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00:24:43
Speaker 1: And welcome back to Hillo Territory with Mark Trumbull and Mike dg Vonna. Well one picture of this pitching coach change in tech definitely appears to have helped is Read Debt Meers, who in seven starts since July's seventeenth, has thrown forty in the third innings twenty five hits, seven earned runs, nine walks, forty nine strikeouts. That's a one point five to six e er. Denmvers has only one win during the stretch because the Angels scored have not scored more than one run for him since June twenty seventh, but the left hander clearly has been one of baseball's best pitchers for the last month well Mark. As we know, there was heavy speculation going into the trade deadline that the Angels could trade Read Detmer's and or support Jose Soriano maybe both. They did deal Soriano the Blue Jays for three prospects. Did did the Angels keep the right guy in your mind?
00:25:39
Speaker 5: Mark?
00:25:41
Speaker 2: Kind of questions that come on man long, long term, long term, you know, I think so. I like read. I've all anybody that watches regularly knows that I have spoken highly of him, as have others. Clayton Curse, I remember, was mentioned on the broadcast today. This guy doesn't even know how good he is, and I think that that may be partially true. I think he's starting to realize, hopefully, and that is a good thing because he will be able to go out there against any team, you know, great offense, mediocre offense, whatever, and it's got to be the mentality of my stuff's gonna gonna play against anybody, come and get it. And when he pounds the strike zone, gets ahead of guys, and he's got those wipeout breaking balls, both the curveball and a slider. He's extremely tough to hit. I mean, he's got no no hitter type stuff. Anybody that's capable of throwing a no hitter in the big leagues has the goods and it's great to see. I think that I'd like to see at some point, which I never will what the packages may have looked like for Read, but they should have asked for the world. They didn't get it, and I think the Angels are better because they have Read and they're going to have him for hopefully many years to come.
00:26:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's hard to determine or to figure out exactly to what extent this rebuild will go. This win. You know, they could look to trade Zach Netto and Read debtmers and really get a haul for both of them and have a good young nucleus that you could maybe project in two to three years would contend, but I don't know. I part of me going into the trade deadline was like, you know, sell everybody for not whatever you can get, but if you can get, you know, premium packages for debtmers and Netto. I don't think I would have hesitated making those deals. Clearly they did not get what they want at this point, I think the Angels really need to look at locking up Read Detmers. I agree with you Mark. You know he did throw the no hit or was it four years ago now, and he didn't really live up to that for the next year and then he gets thrown into the boltpen in twenty five and then he's you know, he had a really good year in the bultpen. Now he's back in the rotation looking like an ace or a great number two. And he's still really young. You know, this is a first round pick. I think they really need to to me, he's a guy this team can build around pitching wise. You know, there's some pitching still in the pipeline. Who knows if George Clawsan's gonna pan out. He looks pretty good so far. We I know, we haven't seen the best of Grayson Rodriguez. You know, you say, Kokuchi Is, he's got one more year left on that contract. I'm not seeing him as a long term fit here. So you're you're still gonna need a lot of a lot of pitching thirty five years old, I mean all right, short long term as in maybe a year or two beyond his curag. You know they're gonna need pitching still in twenty twenty seven and twenty twenty eight. But you know, to me, Reed demers Is, he's a guy right now, and I don't know what's gonna cost to lock him up. He's in a really good position. He has not had a lot elbows elbow surgery. That's the reason I felt Soriano was the better pitcher to trade because of the two surgeries. I think, you know, being left handed does that help. I don't know. In some minds it does, mind it, mind it. I just think he's a really good young pitcher, and if the Angels want to compete in the next one to three years, he's a guy they need to keep around.
00:29:11
Speaker 2: I agree. I think that he's a guy to build around. That's what you need. And if you supplement another above average starting pitcher to this, you start to have a team. Now they're going to have to improve in some areas on defense, obviously, but they've already made improvements too, especially at the catcher position. The defense is quite a bit better. Even by a Staros who a topic on the show. I still contend that he's looked quite good. He played a nice first base today. He's got some pop in that bat. I told you he's got and you saw it to you know he did. But yes, he's got a bit of a leg kick, But people that get fixated on leg kicks may not know what they're always.
00:29:56
Speaker 1: Then you notice a Sunday's game he ditched a leg kick with two strikes.
00:30:00
Speaker 2: It's easier said than done. I believe that if yeah, I think that that's probably a good thing. And he's a guy with very good hand eye in my opinion, both on defense and at the plate. And I think that he's already kind of hitting in the middle of the order, not kind of he was hitting what third the other day and maybe a bit lower today. Memory is, anyway, he is driving the ball haven't gone out of the park, but you can tell that they will. And he's still twenty two years old. And Ryan Zephyr Johnes got over a seven.
00:30:35
Speaker 1: For the Cubs. Well, speaking of guys you scrapped leg kicks early in their Angels ten years. Zach Nettow had quite a road trip fourteen for twenty eight with two homers and nine RBIs and he had what was it, five hits and seven RBIs and Thursday Nights eighteen to three win over the Astros. Jeez, be nice. I think he just could spread a few of those runs out of the week. He also had two doubles and a triple in Saturday Nights three. Nothing went over Texas as impressive as I think was at a four hundred and twenty eight foot homer he hit. I thought the triple he hit in Saturday night's game, he goes goes with a down and away splitter from a lefty Robbie Alstrom for a triple into the right field corner. I mean, how many times have we seen him try to hook that ball in the left field corner or over the wall? Are you seeing a turn in Zach Netto this past week that you know, gives you some optimism that maybe he's gonna have a little more plate discipline plan and not try to yank everything over the left field wall.
00:31:42
Speaker 2: He's showing it he has more plate discipline. Look at earlier in the year he walked it, sure walked, Yeah, And what I did see is a different batting stance. It caught me totally off guard the other day and I rewound it. So I said, what in the world a flat bat on the shoulder? And I didn't see any explanation until Erica today covered well that and she said she asked him about it. Where did that come from? Because I too wondered who got in this guy's ear? And why did it possibly take until late August for some sort of adjustment? He said, he just tried it in batting practice the other day and it felt good, so he said he felt like he had to do something. Must have recognized that the strikeouts were on the high side, very high side, and at some point you got to get frustrated just flailing that pitches that are out of the strike zone down and the way. And good for him for if it was that adjustment came from within, that's even better because it shows some awareness, some self evaluation that I got to do something, I got to do something different. And he's extremely talented. He beat this horse to death and back. But if he wants to do something, he can do it. He's going to have another twenty twenty twenty and very promising. We can cover this more next time. Christian Moore was the one that I was interested in and one thing that I wasn't totally hit to because he had a limited exposure previous time. But he seems to have a weakness hit in the high heater. Did you notice that? Did you see any Yeah?
00:33:13
Speaker 1: He struck out at least twice over the weekend on high heaters. Yeah, I mean high heaters in the big leagues are a little different than they are in the minor leagues, right, and so are sweepers and biting sliders that look like they're over the plate to start and end up nine inches out off the plate. It's just a different beast. And you know, he did hit triple A. Pitching really well. I you know one thing I was encouraged by. He looked really good defensively. You know, he turned a couple of nice double plays over the weekend. And you know it's going to take a while for this bat to come around. I don't I still think that there's a talented player in there. Why what do you see in Mark? I know it's extremely small samples, just a couple of games.
00:34:00
Speaker 2: But I don't want to hear anything more about triple A statistics. Oh yeah, I'm just I'm just just don't they don't translate you guys, because the competition's watered down. The guys are playing in Mexico, the good players. It's not back when I played, But it was different when I played. The competition guys were getting well, they get paid a lot. I don't know what the going rate is for a minor league free agent, but teams wanted that depth and you were going to find better players in Triple A. Now teams don't even want their guys going to Triple A. Kate Anderson debuted for the Mariners the other day with five and two thirds. Gave up a couple of homers, but look very competitive. And Tyler Bremner we've talked about that very nice start in double A. I think seven shutout innings. So for those I mean, we are watching trying to keep up with these things. But Christian Moore was talking about needing to make a tighter turn to cover the high heater. I will need to look into that. I don't know what he meant by that, but I think what he what he's needing to do is get the bat head out. If you're going to hit the high heater, you can't have a bat that's dragging, so you're gonna need to get that bat head out in front of the hands. If you're dragging the knob, you're in big trouble. So that's what I saw. The defense looked okay, not exceptional. I still need to see more there. He had a play that a double play wasn't turned. Kind of an errant throw throw from the catcher got into center and then he one hopped by a steros on a routine play. So I guess no more left field, that's for sure.
00:35:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, I but when no one shad well on the d I l for a while. At least he's going to get a runway. We're going to get a good look at him here on this next Homestand hey, Mike Trout, had he struggled with a high heater when he was winning all those MVP awards, Can somebody like him help a young guy like Christian Moore with that pitch?
00:36:00
Speaker 2: To be honest, I don't really think that anyone but yourself. And get in the reps and you got to the thing is do you really want to offer at it? That's always the conundrum. Is it a strike? Is it a pitch that you can do anything with? Because he struck out looking today, didn't challenge on pitches that they were balls. They were below the poor officiating for a couple of the games recently, and he didn't challenge. But he's the young guy, so a lot of guys aren't very confident to do so. But I think the best plan of attack is to lay off that pitch as much as possible. If you're going to keep offering at it, you better find a way to hit it. And I think the way to do it is like he did in his last about you got to pull it. He did drive the ball, might have been looking for it against Lats, but you can't try and go the other way with a high heater in the big leagues.
00:36:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, Hey, that's going to do it for us today. Thanks for watching, Thanks for tuning in. Please like and subscribe, and we will see you next time on Halo Territory, right
Speaker 1: Angel fans, and welcome back to Halo Territoria Mike D. Giovanna, former Ela Times baseball writer and host of the show, and back with us today is my regular co host Mark Trumbo, the former Angels slugger. Mark, Welcome back from vacation. Boy. If you look at the comments on ht YouTube page, you were dearly missed out there, my friend? What's up with that?
00:00:32
Speaker 2: Well? For the three or four that we're wondering, yes, we took a trip for my daughter's school. Started in this day and age. Unfortunately, publicizing such things on the internet social media is well advised. So I have not said that was just the explanation and I'm back and ready to cover. Well, we got a lot to discuss today. Yeah, an interesting things I feel like. And the shows that while I was gone some very interesting content too, a little different, but learned a lot, especially in the shake one about the ballpark and one question is where is all that room for the youth sports park? That I meant to ask.
00:01:17
Speaker 1: You, but yeah, I mean you do. You would do a project like that in phases. Obviously you would first start, I'm assuming building the new stadium, then you're tearing down the old stadium. So you have all, you know, the footprint where the old stadium was, and then you figure out, you know, you could probably fit out okay, yeah, into the footprint. Yeah, it's I'm sure there's all sorts of advanced planning and and things and concepts that have gone into it. But there's a lot of room there. There's probably more room than you think. And if you eliminate some of the parking spaces and build a garage like they did across the street at the Hana Center, you'd have even more available square footage. So yeah, some interesting stuff going on there. We'll see what happens with all of that. Well, also some interesting Angels storylines. One of the big ones these past two weeks has been Angels pitching in the wake of the August eleventh firing of veteran pitching coach Mike Maddocks, bullpen coach Dom Cheety, and assistant pitching coach Darryl Scott. So the Angels had a four point five to one team er that day and since then, and we're gonna use these stats going in a Sunday's game. You say, Kakuchi came back first game in four months, kind of a bit of an outlier, didn't pitch great, didn't pitch all that poorly, but going into Sunday's game. Since August eleventh, and the Angels named Tim Levick interim pitching coach and Michael Wurtz interim bullpen coach, the Angels pitching staff leads the major leagues with a one point six to four ERA and a zero point nine to two WHIP and a three point nine to six strikeout to walk ratio. Angels pitching had also allowed two or fewer earned runs in nine of eleven games in that span. Mark, what does impress you the most about Angels pitching these last two weeks and how do you think they've improved?
00:03:13
Speaker 2: I think the amount of coverage on the broadcast has been well, it's extensive, and I think when Johnson start the other night, within before two innings was up, we'd heard at least three references to the pitching improvements. So they are a big deal, and they're a big deal to the club, and it makes you wonder what this team might have looked like had someone else been directing the pitching for the majority of the season. It sounds like and we may have been early to kind of speculate that Maddox was making the bullpen maneuvers and deciding at least who was available, if not who was coming into the game. But what it looks like and if anybody watches, I know if people are watching those games. But this is repetitive for what they were saying. But the Angels pitchers, especially the starting pitchers, have streamlined their repertoires. They have eliminated their pitches that grayed out poorly, and they are stepping on the usage of their better pitches. Sometimes it turns into more of a two pitch mix, maybe sprinkle in a third. It seemed like under Maddox he really wanted them to throw about an equal usage for most of the guys of four pitches. For example, Walbert doesn't have four, but he was starting to trend more towards and he does have a very nice slider, so's that's not really the example. Let's say Debt Meer's more trying to use an equal usage of those four pitches that he has. Where a couple of them or at least one of them has changed up is never rated very well. Grayson Rodriguez after kind of a clunky first game and not his fault, totally poor defense by Algrisso made an air, so it's no it was an error, but he made the rest of it. I mean, I thought that could get away from him. He went seven innings, ninety nine pitches and sixty four percent foreseeing fastball twenty four percent change up. So that was you know, essentially that's covering almost the entirety of his repertoire. And that was the guy that I think we've been waiting to see. I guess one question for you, Uh, is this more a byproduct of, you know, some massive improvements in short order or are they playing some lousy competition.
00:05:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, certainly there's elements to both. I don't know if massive improvement is the right word, but certainly you play in the Royals, the Astros, the Rangers. That's some really teams that have really been scuffled offensively of late. There's just been a couple of really nice turns to the rotation. I mean, Urania has been really good all year. Dettmars has been spectacular since early early to mid July. And I think you're seeing you know, young George class in this step then and pitch really well. We saw Ryan Johnson take a no hitter into the sixth inning. God, it doesn't seem like that long ago we were talking about this guy belongs in the bullpen. We might have to reassess that one.
00:06:14
Speaker 2: I'd like to see a bit more, if I'm being honest, and a bit more against good competition, because this Rangers team is going nowhere fast. They don't have it. I guess booied heavily by their starting pitching at times, but I didn't see much in terms of you know, the defense wasn't above average to me, and they tried to let him. You know, the angel sneaked back in this game today and darn near did. Credit to the Angels too for battling until the end. But so Johnson, for example, just to get it out of the way. He's fifty percent cutter, twenty six percent sweeper, but his velocity has ticked up. We've talked about where's the velocity, and he was up to ninety four point three For those that love statistics.
00:07:02
Speaker 1: And also, I don't think you can underestimate the impact some of the relievers have had. You know, that era was for a total pitching staff. As good as the rotation has been, it wasn't just for the rotation. Ben Joyce has come back and been pretty darn dominant. Six and two thirds inning pitch in seven games, zero earned runs, nine strikeouts and two walks. And Ryan Watson man talk about coming out of nowhere. He's thrown five and a third in six games, zero earn runs, eight strikeouts, one walk and what was it, Oh, the first game of the road trip in Houston. Nobody knows at the time that Sam and the Terror is hurt, and up comes your Novarez representing the tie and run. I think it's three to one, and out trots the right hand of Ryan Watson out of the bullpen and he strikes out. Alvarez gets esak paratus with a I a left field to preserve a three to one win. And this guy's been pretty darn good. Uh, so you know, it's been sort of an across the board effort. What's been your impression of Ben Joyce so far? I know it's hard to blame him for that Friday night loss. Uh what was it? Once strike away from a save and the uh, somebody just doinked a double over the first baseman's head and an air. Really tough loss there, but boy, I'm not saying the Angels are in first place with a good closer, but I'm guessing with Ben Joyce healthy all year, some of those blone saves we saw earlier would have been wins. What a what a nice addition he's been.
00:08:45
Speaker 2: Agree he's a he's got the goods. It's the sustainability that the health. Really the health throwing because he seems like I mean his cruising out that's there, you know, his velocity is I mean it's not it's not effortless per se, but that's just how it comes out. I Mean, he's just a hundred and they can get up to goofy one hundred and four and a half or whatever it was the other day. So yeah, I guess from the perspective of washing enough baseball and just seeing how few guys can do that, I don't always love seeing those numbers, even if they result in a bobblehead. But I'd like to see him out there for full seasons, is what I'm getting. Yeah, and he really can, you know, because he even though the hitters know what's coming, he's still got a fastball that they can't do much with it when he locates it.
00:09:38
Speaker 1: Relatively for sure. Hey, we're going to take a quick break for a word from our sponsors and we come back. We're going to talk about the new buzzword around Angels Stadium Ech. We'll be right back with more Halo territory.
00:09:55
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00:10:08
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00:10:53
Speaker 1: And welcome back to Halo territory with Mark Trumbo and Mike Dgievanna. Well, when Mike Maddox was fired, GM John Mozaylock made a point of saying that Maddicks and his staff, we're not using available technology sufficiently read Dettmer's even said that day that he had to start asking him to use track Man during bullpen sessions after the All Star break. Let's remind viewers and listeners exactly what track Man does. Provides detailed information about every pitch thrown. It measures metrics such as pitch velocity, spin rate, spin access, vertical and horizontal movement, release point, and these insights allow pitchers and coaches to understand exactly how each pitch behaves and make adjustments to improve effectiveness. I know you didn't pitch in the big leagues, Mark, but I'm sure you've seen a few bullpen sessions on the side and know how these pitchers operate today. What can what kind of difference can using this tech like in a you know, on a side session do for these pitch and why does it seem to have made a pretty big difference with these guys?
00:12:06
Speaker 2: I wonder what do you think the reason Maddox was opposed to it? Is that just an arrogance thing? Or is that laziness? Or is that just he a philosophical thing?
00:12:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't I'm not gonna sit here and pretend I know Mike Maddox all that well, but I know the type. He's a veteran guy, He's an old school guy. I can only surmise that his you know, it's kind of like Mike Associate at the end. You know, he didn't exactly embrace all the analytics and all the info that he maybe could have maybe he should have. And I just think Mike Maddox is probably cut a little bit from the same cloth. You know, he's pretty set in his ways, and those ways have worked pretty darn well over the years. You know, he took a ranger staff that I don't I'm not even sure it was all that great in twenty three and tournament a World Series winner, So it's hard to argue with stuff like that. I don't know that he was stuck in his ways. But I just do find a little odd, maybe a little striking, maybe a little odd that of all the things that could turn around the Angels pitching this year, it's, you know, using technology that everybody uses.
00:13:12
Speaker 2: I don't think it's that strange, and I don't think the adjustments they've made are strange at all. It's exactly what the Dodgers, for example, have been doing for years now, is streamlining a new acquisition, saying this is these are the pitches you're going to throw, this is why you're going to throw them. And if a pitch isn't netting out or grating out as a positive, we're going to get rid of it. We're not going to use it. Why would you use it? And I think I don't know if Maddox was looking at these reports as far as the pitch grades, and for those that don't like them, I don't really care. It's one of those things that's here to stay. And a guy like Detmer's obviously benefits from this. Grayson Rodriguez, they're young enough to the point they came up and this is what they are used to. So I think when you take it away, it feels. Probably they like for me not being able to hit batting practice outside. I got very used to that and one of the days that I didn't do that, try and do what you can, but you're not always mentally feeling like you were as prepared. So with reed, and why do golfers use it? If you look at any range, they cover everything now on the tour, but they have some sort of almost every player. I just may it probably is every player has a unit sitting on the ground measuring their distance, their curvature, their angle of their swing, all these things. And why you have it is because it can shortcut some adjustments on any given day or at least give you some feedback like, hey, why does it look like it's not doing what it's supposed to. Well, you look down, you look at the numbers, you look at some of the things, and if you are versed in it well enough, you can make those adjustments quicker than struggling with a feel thing. I think Mike Maddox was huge on feel some of the videos in spring, and there weren't a lot, but it seems like he really and that's something that I think we connect a lot more with a veteran pitcher of Verlander or de Grom, somebody like that. They may use this a lot, they might use it not at all. But for the younger pitchers that came up through the miners using it, I think it's pretty crucial that you use it.
00:15:18
Speaker 1: A team obviously was on the road all last week. Jeff Fletcher the OC Register did talk to some of these pictures about this very topic. Wrote a good story about this on Friday. The most obvious change is that now all pitchers throw all their bullpen sessions with the full complement of hardware, specifically track band devices under Maddox. The Angels used it in spring training, but sporadically in the regular season. Quote in Baltimore, we used it a lot. Right hand or Grayson Rodriguez said, I think it can help for me. In the beginning of the year, I was struggling with my stuff. It wasn't where it needed to be, with the movement patterns and different stuff like that. I wish I would have had it a little bit earlier. It's a useful tool for sure. Left hand to Reid deadver Sait, he started at asking to use track Man more after the All Star break, A few weeks before the staff changed. Detmer's came into Friday and I start with a one point eight three year since the All Star break. Detmer said, the benefit of the technology is how to maintain quote to see if everything is right. Well, it's it's really interesting, Uh, you know the I agree with you on the veteran pitcher and the young pitcher. It's an interesting sort of dichotomy in the game right now. Uh. And we also we did catch up with Tim Leveck, the new Angels interim pitching coach, before they went on the road, and this was sort of before a lot of these things were actually implemented. This was a couple of days into his tenure. Let's see what he had to say about his approach and his philosophy.
00:16:54
Speaker 4: Just the first question we have to ask you was, because they made a big deal of an attention, what was your.
00:16:58
Speaker 5: Philosophy about using all those You know, my philosophy has been to just try to use as much information as I can because ultimately, at the end of the day, it's about making the right decision, right, what my instinct tells me, what information the organization has, how I know the guys, and just trying to use everything that we have to try and make the best decisions possible. What was your time I get in Double A and then obviously you know some of these guys that are up there now that's like kind of healthy probably want Yeah, I had, I had Weeman, I had Murphy in Double A, which was you know, and I had arm Ryan Johnson as well.
00:17:31
Speaker 2: So it was good.
00:17:32
Speaker 5: It was a good group there, and it was really cool to see them go from Double A up here.
00:17:37
Speaker 1: It was really neat to see.
00:17:38
Speaker 4: I know it's a really short window here, but what are some of the things that we're hoping that you're going to be able to implement with those kind of pitching group here in the final forty two years?
00:17:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you know.
00:17:46
Speaker 5: The first thing to do is I know a lot. I know some of them, Like I just mentioned, there's some is establishing relationships, getting to know the guys, getting to know what makes them take, getting you know, to know what they want. And I'm really just here to serve them to try make them the best they can be.
00:18:02
Speaker 4: Is there like a full losophy that you have towards pitching? Maybe you've got to see this organization have that you know, really maybe something you've talked about with Mo about what you did do he know, what did you find?
00:18:12
Speaker 5: I mean, I just think my you know, my overall philosophy is really just you know, knowing what picture strengths are and being able to individualize like you can, and to try and get guys to understand who they are and to be able to go out into the game and execute their strengths. Is I think a goal for every pitcher at every level, from the lower minor leagues to the big leagues. And I would say, you know, that's a general philosophy that I have. I just want to know what their strengths are and how we can leverage those in the game. Off the Cardinals for a lot of time a lot did you know Mo well there? And what reaction like with that? Yeah, I've known MO really long time. I mean, the Cardinals hired me back in two thousand and six and I've worked my way up through the system there, So I've known MO since then. So what would that be twenty years?
00:18:53
Speaker 1: So I've known them a long time. This is an easier said than.
00:18:56
Speaker 2: Done question, I'm sure, But the Angels have walked a lot of guys this year.
00:19:00
Speaker 1: How do you make at prove it?
00:19:02
Speaker 5: I mean, I think with with walks and throwing strikes, it's just a general philosophy to control the count as much as possible, to be aggressive in the zone. I don't think.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: Something like that.
00:19:11
Speaker 5: It doesn't happen overnight. There's a lot of reasons why walk rates can be what they are. But it's just my job to try unlock whatever I can with individual guys, to try and get them, you know, the guys inn'tmate, you know, maybe have to attack the zone a little bit more to get them to do that.
00:19:27
Speaker 1: In general, do you think guys are better off pitching to their strengths as opposed to a scouting report that identifies this weakness or that one.
00:19:35
Speaker 5: I think it's always a blend. I think I always you know you you you want to know what the weaknesses of the hitters are, obviously, but you also want to know your strengths, and I think ideally you want to blend those two together. In a perfect world, that's what you're trying to do. How your strength might play against someone's weakness.
00:19:53
Speaker 1: And Mark the last thing Tim said there is talking about blending. You know, are there his pictures strengths with the batter's weakness, But sound like from what you said earlier, it seems like it's been more focusing more on the angels pictures strengths. Is that sort of the what you've seen more than maybe worrying so much about the batter's weaknesses.
00:20:18
Speaker 2: I think that's the right approach in general. I think that pictures need to have the mentality that the hitter can't hit their stuff, and if you're worried that they might, you're in a bad spot. I really like what Tim had to say there. It's interesting they went to double A to get promote Tim and Shane Luke's in Salt Lake when these things happened. I really liked that interview. I hadn't heard anything from Tim before, but it seems like there's no ego. He's there to make these guys better whatever is needed. One thing that I wonder if a guy like Reed Detmeer's, you know, we waited until after the break to finally say something, and it sounds like Grayson could have really benefited much earlier from this stuff. And I wonder if they just didn't feel like they could approach a guy of Mike Maddox's stature of his resume. I don't know him at all, but well I did one of the All Star teams. He was the pitching coach. That's the extent of it. Some quick conversations, but he's no doubt got a presence and maybe a little these guys were intimidated to ask for fear that he might tell him to take a walk or figure it out. You can't rely on this as a crutch or something like that. But I don't think it's a crutch. I think it's a useful tool. And one question I guess for you why didn't general manager Perry Manassian insist on using the tech? Though? I'm serious? Why did he? I mean, he apparently is there all the timer was and looking for every advantage he could get, and he saw a guy that wasn't using the tech? What's up with that?
00:21:57
Speaker 1: Once again, I am not in there every I can only surmise that he probably deferred to the veteran pitching coach. In this situation, and with a rookie manager who clearly needed some help with pitching changes and usage, especially early in the season, I'm sure they deferred a lot to Mike Maddox. That's probably why they brought them in. So I don't have any other really theories outside of that, but I do I do agree with what you said, especially with a young guy like Detmvers and Grayson's still a pretty young guy too. Yeah, you look at that resume. I'm sure. I'm sure he was a rookie. Didn't march into Mike Socia's office and start saying, you know, making this demand or that demand. It's it can be a.
00:22:38
Speaker 2: Little into you want you want an anecdote, though you want a small anecdote. I was told I was given a day off mental break. You know what those are. Oh, yeah, it means you suck. And uh, I remember Tory we were in Oakland. I'll make it quick, but he wasn't in the lineup and he said it was later in the season. He said, you got to go in there and tell him you want to play. I was like, really, and he said yes, so so so I did.
00:23:06
Speaker 1: Uh.
00:23:08
Speaker 2: I did what I could. I was polite, but I said I I'd really like to be in there. I think I can help the team win. And he said, I appreciate that You're going to be on the bench. And I was on the bench, but I think that there it said something and the hopefully Torrey wasn't getting his rocks off watching me walk the play, But no, I remember that. So there you go.
00:23:31
Speaker 1: We could take another quick break for a word from our sponsors, and we come back. We'll talk a little bit a little more in depth about the guy who's been leading the staff read Debt Mears. We'll be right back.
00:23:44
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00:23:51
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00:24:43
Speaker 1: And welcome back to Hillo Territory with Mark Trumbull and Mike dg Vonna. Well one picture of this pitching coach change in tech definitely appears to have helped is Read Debt Meers, who in seven starts since July's seventeenth, has thrown forty in the third innings twenty five hits, seven earned runs, nine walks, forty nine strikeouts. That's a one point five to six e er. Denmvers has only one win during the stretch because the Angels scored have not scored more than one run for him since June twenty seventh, but the left hander clearly has been one of baseball's best pitchers for the last month well Mark. As we know, there was heavy speculation going into the trade deadline that the Angels could trade Read Detmer's and or support Jose Soriano maybe both. They did deal Soriano the Blue Jays for three prospects. Did did the Angels keep the right guy in your mind?
00:25:39
Speaker 5: Mark?
00:25:41
Speaker 2: Kind of questions that come on man long, long term, long term, you know, I think so. I like read. I've all anybody that watches regularly knows that I have spoken highly of him, as have others. Clayton Curse, I remember, was mentioned on the broadcast today. This guy doesn't even know how good he is, and I think that that may be partially true. I think he's starting to realize, hopefully, and that is a good thing because he will be able to go out there against any team, you know, great offense, mediocre offense, whatever, and it's got to be the mentality of my stuff's gonna gonna play against anybody, come and get it. And when he pounds the strike zone, gets ahead of guys, and he's got those wipeout breaking balls, both the curveball and a slider. He's extremely tough to hit. I mean, he's got no no hitter type stuff. Anybody that's capable of throwing a no hitter in the big leagues has the goods and it's great to see. I think that I'd like to see at some point, which I never will what the packages may have looked like for Read, but they should have asked for the world. They didn't get it, and I think the Angels are better because they have Read and they're going to have him for hopefully many years to come.
00:26:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's hard to determine or to figure out exactly to what extent this rebuild will go. This win. You know, they could look to trade Zach Netto and Read debtmers and really get a haul for both of them and have a good young nucleus that you could maybe project in two to three years would contend, but I don't know. I part of me going into the trade deadline was like, you know, sell everybody for not whatever you can get, but if you can get, you know, premium packages for debtmers and Netto. I don't think I would have hesitated making those deals. Clearly they did not get what they want at this point, I think the Angels really need to look at locking up Read Detmers. I agree with you Mark. You know he did throw the no hit or was it four years ago now, and he didn't really live up to that for the next year and then he gets thrown into the boltpen in twenty five and then he's you know, he had a really good year in the bultpen. Now he's back in the rotation looking like an ace or a great number two. And he's still really young. You know, this is a first round pick. I think they really need to to me, he's a guy this team can build around pitching wise. You know, there's some pitching still in the pipeline. Who knows if George Clawsan's gonna pan out. He looks pretty good so far. We I know, we haven't seen the best of Grayson Rodriguez. You know, you say, Kokuchi Is, he's got one more year left on that contract. I'm not seeing him as a long term fit here. So you're you're still gonna need a lot of a lot of pitching thirty five years old, I mean all right, short long term as in maybe a year or two beyond his curag. You know they're gonna need pitching still in twenty twenty seven and twenty twenty eight. But you know, to me, Reed demers Is, he's a guy right now, and I don't know what's gonna cost to lock him up. He's in a really good position. He has not had a lot elbows elbow surgery. That's the reason I felt Soriano was the better pitcher to trade because of the two surgeries. I think, you know, being left handed does that help. I don't know. In some minds it does, mind it, mind it. I just think he's a really good young pitcher, and if the Angels want to compete in the next one to three years, he's a guy they need to keep around.
00:29:11
Speaker 2: I agree. I think that he's a guy to build around. That's what you need. And if you supplement another above average starting pitcher to this, you start to have a team. Now they're going to have to improve in some areas on defense, obviously, but they've already made improvements too, especially at the catcher position. The defense is quite a bit better. Even by a Staros who a topic on the show. I still contend that he's looked quite good. He played a nice first base today. He's got some pop in that bat. I told you he's got and you saw it to you know he did. But yes, he's got a bit of a leg kick, But people that get fixated on leg kicks may not know what they're always.
00:29:56
Speaker 1: Then you notice a Sunday's game he ditched a leg kick with two strikes.
00:30:00
Speaker 2: It's easier said than done. I believe that if yeah, I think that that's probably a good thing. And he's a guy with very good hand eye in my opinion, both on defense and at the plate. And I think that he's already kind of hitting in the middle of the order, not kind of he was hitting what third the other day and maybe a bit lower today. Memory is, anyway, he is driving the ball haven't gone out of the park, but you can tell that they will. And he's still twenty two years old. And Ryan Zephyr Johnes got over a seven.
00:30:35
Speaker 1: For the Cubs. Well, speaking of guys you scrapped leg kicks early in their Angels ten years. Zach Nettow had quite a road trip fourteen for twenty eight with two homers and nine RBIs and he had what was it, five hits and seven RBIs and Thursday Nights eighteen to three win over the Astros. Jeez, be nice. I think he just could spread a few of those runs out of the week. He also had two doubles and a triple in Saturday Nights three. Nothing went over Texas as impressive as I think was at a four hundred and twenty eight foot homer he hit. I thought the triple he hit in Saturday night's game, he goes goes with a down and away splitter from a lefty Robbie Alstrom for a triple into the right field corner. I mean, how many times have we seen him try to hook that ball in the left field corner or over the wall? Are you seeing a turn in Zach Netto this past week that you know, gives you some optimism that maybe he's gonna have a little more plate discipline plan and not try to yank everything over the left field wall.
00:31:42
Speaker 2: He's showing it he has more plate discipline. Look at earlier in the year he walked it, sure walked, Yeah, And what I did see is a different batting stance. It caught me totally off guard the other day and I rewound it. So I said, what in the world a flat bat on the shoulder? And I didn't see any explanation until Erica today covered well that and she said she asked him about it. Where did that come from? Because I too wondered who got in this guy's ear? And why did it possibly take until late August for some sort of adjustment? He said, he just tried it in batting practice the other day and it felt good, so he said he felt like he had to do something. Must have recognized that the strikeouts were on the high side, very high side, and at some point you got to get frustrated just flailing that pitches that are out of the strike zone down and the way. And good for him for if it was that adjustment came from within, that's even better because it shows some awareness, some self evaluation that I got to do something, I got to do something different. And he's extremely talented. He beat this horse to death and back. But if he wants to do something, he can do it. He's going to have another twenty twenty twenty and very promising. We can cover this more next time. Christian Moore was the one that I was interested in and one thing that I wasn't totally hit to because he had a limited exposure previous time. But he seems to have a weakness hit in the high heater. Did you notice that? Did you see any Yeah?
00:33:13
Speaker 1: He struck out at least twice over the weekend on high heaters. Yeah, I mean high heaters in the big leagues are a little different than they are in the minor leagues, right, and so are sweepers and biting sliders that look like they're over the plate to start and end up nine inches out off the plate. It's just a different beast. And you know, he did hit triple A. Pitching really well. I you know one thing I was encouraged by. He looked really good defensively. You know, he turned a couple of nice double plays over the weekend. And you know it's going to take a while for this bat to come around. I don't I still think that there's a talented player in there. Why what do you see in Mark? I know it's extremely small samples, just a couple of games.
00:34:00
Speaker 2: But I don't want to hear anything more about triple A statistics. Oh yeah, I'm just I'm just just don't they don't translate you guys, because the competition's watered down. The guys are playing in Mexico, the good players. It's not back when I played, But it was different when I played. The competition guys were getting well, they get paid a lot. I don't know what the going rate is for a minor league free agent, but teams wanted that depth and you were going to find better players in Triple A. Now teams don't even want their guys going to Triple A. Kate Anderson debuted for the Mariners the other day with five and two thirds. Gave up a couple of homers, but look very competitive. And Tyler Bremner we've talked about that very nice start in double A. I think seven shutout innings. So for those I mean, we are watching trying to keep up with these things. But Christian Moore was talking about needing to make a tighter turn to cover the high heater. I will need to look into that. I don't know what he meant by that, but I think what he what he's needing to do is get the bat head out. If you're going to hit the high heater, you can't have a bat that's dragging, so you're gonna need to get that bat head out in front of the hands. If you're dragging the knob, you're in big trouble. So that's what I saw. The defense looked okay, not exceptional. I still need to see more there. He had a play that a double play wasn't turned. Kind of an errant throw throw from the catcher got into center and then he one hopped by a steros on a routine play. So I guess no more left field, that's for sure.
00:35:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, I but when no one shad well on the d I l for a while. At least he's going to get a runway. We're going to get a good look at him here on this next Homestand hey, Mike Trout, had he struggled with a high heater when he was winning all those MVP awards, Can somebody like him help a young guy like Christian Moore with that pitch?
00:36:00
Speaker 2: To be honest, I don't really think that anyone but yourself. And get in the reps and you got to the thing is do you really want to offer at it? That's always the conundrum. Is it a strike? Is it a pitch that you can do anything with? Because he struck out looking today, didn't challenge on pitches that they were balls. They were below the poor officiating for a couple of the games recently, and he didn't challenge. But he's the young guy, so a lot of guys aren't very confident to do so. But I think the best plan of attack is to lay off that pitch as much as possible. If you're going to keep offering at it, you better find a way to hit it. And I think the way to do it is like he did in his last about you got to pull it. He did drive the ball, might have been looking for it against Lats, but you can't try and go the other way with a high heater in the big leagues.
00:36:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, Hey, that's going to do it for us today. Thanks for watching, Thanks for tuning in. Please like and subscribe, and we will see you next time on Halo Territory, right
