Comments on: Anaheim Goes Clubbing

By: ineedanap

ineedanap — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 07:47:44 +0000

Why don’t you take a look at the 4 worst offensive performers with the most PAs?

By: Paul Thomas

Paul Thomas — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:10:08 +0000

Do you watch a lot of Fox News? You have the same style– irrelevant talking points repeated like a mantra regardless of the situation.

By: monkeyball

monkeyball — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:14:15 +0000

Rob, the Angels’ team ISO is .161 — right at the AL median. Yes, those 4 players are having very good years, with outstanding slash and secondary numbers — but if you identified the top 4 batters on any team (except, say, the A’s or Royals), you’d see some pretty good numbers as well. The argument by Cameron (as well as the overall argument about making an offense run) is about the overall team stats, not about picking out a few top performers and ignoring the rest. (The corollary would be my taking a look at numbers of the 4 worst offensive performers with the most PAs for the Angels — which, again, for any team [except, say, the Yankees and Rangers] would look pretty bad.)

And I’m not at all saying the Angels aren’t having a good, perhaps even great, year offensively.

If you look at the numbers, though, it’s pretty clear that what’s really elevating the Angels’ team offensive performance is a (likely unsustainable, “lucky”) high BABIP. They’ve hit lots and lots of singles this year — which may be a mere anomaly rather than anything intentional or exceptional.

I’m also not saying their SLG isn’t “legit” — the numbers are what they are, and a point of SLG is a point of SLG is a point of SLG. It all counts.

But if you look at ISO, again, it clearly demonstrates that their high SLG numbers are propped up by their BABIP. Who leads the AL in ISO? Yep — the Rangers and Yankees.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:42:42 +0000

Scioscia has had his hand firmly involved in shaping the roster from the day he arrived in Anaheim. Everything about them has been dictated by the style he wants to play. Even right down to the lowest minor league level.

By: semperfi1645

semperfi1645 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:55:31 +0000

True, but to be fair to the angels, they’ve been very successful outside of their division. I’ll cite the stomping we gave to the Skankees as exhibit A.

By: Rob McMillin

Rob McMillin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:21:18 +0000

@monkeyball -- the Angels' .451 SLG makes them third in the league, not second; the two teams they're behind are the Yanks (who buy theirs retail) and the Rangers (who have the launching pad at home to thank). Mike Scioscia has four regulars — Mike Napoli (.533), Kendry Morales (.581), Juan Rivera (.531), and Torii Hunter (.558) — all with SLGs over .500. The Angels are also third in total bases... the SLG is legit so far as I can tell.

By: monkeyball

monkeyball — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:25:25 +0000

They are most certainly not “pounding the tar out of the baseball” — sure, they’ve got a gaudy .290 team AVG. But that’s founded on a ridiculous .328 BABIP — which is also, I think, responsible for their second-place .451 SLG; they’re ninth in doubles (3 fewer than the power-challenged A’s) and tenth in HRs. And they’re near the median in BB and GIDP and LD%.

By: Erik

Erik — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:01:52 +0000

I get the feeling that people haven’t checked out the box scores out west. The AL West has 3 of 4 teams over .500, the team with the best record, and a serious wild card contender. The Angels have been getting the bulk of their wins by beating teams outside of their division. It’s been the AL West that has caused them problems.

By: Rutherford

Rutherford — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:32:06 +0000

During spring training of this year, Mike Scioscia made some interesting comments and observations.

Mike Scioscia recognized the alarming lack of plate discipline and is starting to drill the message into the organization. This article (originally published March 5, 2009) provides some depth as to the changes that are happening within the Angels system.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/angels-scioscia-philosophy-2325695-guys-going

With regards to understanding OBP, Scioscia addressed that matter directly during spring training as it pertained to Howie Kendrick:

“Howie might not be the guy with a .400 on-base percentage, but if he hits .320, he’s going to have a .350 on-base percentage, which is enough to hit in front of the middle of our lineup,” Scioscia said. “The way he runs, the amount of doubles he’s going to hit, he’s going to be very productive ahead of that grouping.”

The above quote was from the March 22, 2009 LA Times article here:
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/22/sports/sp-angels-fyi22

Early in spring training this year Scioscia addressed the potential of Erick Aybar to hit first or second in the lineup. Again, he discusses OBP.

““If you’re going to set the table, you’re going to need to be in that (.350 OBP) range. I mean, league average is somewhere around .330, give or take a couple. … Erick has the ability to get in scoring position an awful lot so maybe his on-base percentage doesn’t have to be off the charts. But it has to be better than .320 or .330 if he’s going to hit in front of your big boys.”

The above was taken from a March 1, 2009 OC Register article.
http://headlines.ocregister.com/sports/aybar-15693-angels-winter.html

By: hey la, hey, halo

hey la, hey, halo — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:28:55 +0000

Who would think that someone like Dave who is considered to be something of an authority on baseball, and spent so much time analyzing a bad team like the Mariners, would be incapable of what makes a good team like the Angels succesfull.

The Angels are one of the best teams skilled in the fundamentals of baseball, resulting in fewer errors per game and not allowing the opposing team extra bases or extra outs. This is a mantra of manager Mike Scioscia, possibly the best strategist in the game. He knows how to get the most out of players and use them to the best advantage even if they are not always the best players. His aggressive base running philosophy works, he requires runners to go to from first to third on a hit, and all his players can lay down a bunt when called for. These are just some of the requirements needed to even play for Mike Scioscia. The most important thing for Mike is maintaining depth at every position. Qualified players that can come in and play at a high level and produce when another goes down with an injury. Depth is why the Angels are doing consistently well right now in spite of players like Hunter and Guerrero on the DL. It is still Los Angeles Angels style baseball, manufacturing runs and strong baseball fundamentals, but when everybody is hitting, it puts the results in overdrive.