2024 Season | Series #11 | Angels @ Guardians | May 3-5, 2024

[Benway]

If Kwan is out for a while I would put Fry in left every day. I'd also have him lead off - his OBP is .456.

His brief career (and season) OBP platoon splits are Extreme:

Split​

PA​

AB​

R​

H​

2B​

3B​

HR​

RBI​

BB​

SO​

BA​

OBP​

SLG​

OPS​

tOPS+​

vs RHP​

94​

86​

12​

22​

5​

0​

3​

13​

4​

27​

0.256​

0.309​

0.419​

0.727​

81​

vs LHP​

83​

64​

8​

18​

5​

0​

2​

11​

14​

18​

0.281​

0.434​

0.453​

0.887​

123​

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Game 3 preview:

Rubber game and Carlos Carrasco goes against Griffin Canning, a 27-year-old right-hander who is 1-3 with a 7.45 ERA. Canning has a career mark of 20-24, 4.80. This is his fifth major league season.

Canning is a better pitcher than his ERA after six starts indicates. He is not overpowering; he has 21 K's in 29 innings. In his last two starts he's allowed seven earned runs in 10 innings. He is a fly ball pitcher with a 61/36 FB/GB ratio. Opponents are hitting .292/.859 against him.

Lefties have been especially successful against Canning with a line of .314/.921. He has allowed a .347 BAA with runners on and .357 BAA with runners in scoring position. There has not been anything he's done well in his first six starts.

The Guardians have destroyed him; current players are hitting .400/1.219 off him in 35 AB's. Laureano is 7-for-17 off Canning with three home runs. If Kwan can't go, and it sounds like he won't play, I expect to see Laureano in left. Or Brennan and Laureano in the corner outfield spots and Florial at DH.

Carrasco has an ERA of 6.59 and has pitched just 27 innings in six starts. He's been hammered for 13 earned runs in his last two starts where he lasted nine innings. Even worse he's given up five home runs in his last nine innings. Opponents are hitting .287/.917 off him.

Cookie has been something of an escape artist as opposing batters are 1-for-11 against him with RISP and two out. Otherwise his ERA would be even worse than it already is. It really looks to me like Cookie is trying to bob and weave his way through four innings without letting the game get out of hand. He throws a lot of teasers just off the plate to try and get hitters to chase. If they do, he does OK for a few innings. If not, he gets down in the count and it's pick your poison - a walk or a pitch the hitter can drive.

This could be a high scoring game on both sides. If Cookie gets hit hard for the third start in a row I wonder if the Guardians will be able to justify continuing to keep him in the rotation or even on the roster.

 

[Gson]

If Kwan is out for a while I would put Fry in left every day. I'd also have him lead off - his OBP is .456.

against LHP's.. okay.. against RHP's.. perhaps a lefty hitter can platoon?.. Either way, anyplace Fry is.. will see the defense take a hit..

 

[Benway]

We are pretty deep in outfielders... though we could use a little more depth at (ahem) first base.

 

[macbdog]

Vogt is running these guys into the ground.

 

[Tondo]

Much needed win with the much maligned misfits mashing the team to victory.

But if we lose Kwan for a couple of weeks or more, this would be another tough blow. The drop off from him to Laureano/Florial/Arias is huge

 

[CATS44]

A few thoughts..

1) The starters, not Vogt, are running the relievers into the ground.

2) If Kwan is out any length of time, we are in serious trouble...there's no sugar coating it.

3) I wouldn't have him leadoff, but I'd have Fry playing just about every day. He crushes LHP, and he is average vs RHP. I'd much rather see what we have in Fry first, before giving at bats to Rodriguez.

4) With Nails and Fry at 1B, we aren't exactly hurting there.

5) If not Cookie, who?

Curry has faced 98 batters in Columbus.
35 have gotten a hit, 10 have walked, 8 have homered. He's given up 3.43 HR/9 and his FIP is 8.21.

At the moment, we have NO depth in the rotation. We may have warm bodies, but no depth.

6) If Kwan has to go on the IL, it will be interesting to see who gets called up. The two names that everybody talks about are Manzardo and Rodriguez. But Schneemann has been so good at getting on base for so long that he makes some sense. The problem is that he hasn't played much in the outfield...and he isnt on the 40 man.

But his MiLB numbers look like those of another 27 yr old non prospect who got the call up in a desperate situation. Utility man Whit Merrifield was called up on May 18th 2016 to fill a black hole at 2B, and never looked back.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Much needed win with the much maligned misfits mashing the team to victory.

But if we lose Kwan for a couple of weeks or more, this would be another tough blow. The drop off from him to Laureano/Florial/Arias is huge

Which is why I hope they just stick Brennan in Kwan's spot. Will is 6-for-12 in his last four games. Maybe he's getting hot just at the right time.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Vogt is running these guys into the ground.

Fire his ass immediately. 21-12 isn't much consolation if the players are tired. Give me Tito and his losing record every April, lowering fan expectations so we're thrilled with the strong second half.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

3) I wouldn't have him leadoff, but I'd have Fry playing just about every day. He crushes LHP, and he is average vs RHP. I'd much rather see what we have in Fry first, before giving at bats to Rodriguez.

Fry has been amazing against lefties and pretty decent against righties with a split of .267/.703. Not close to what we were getting from Kwan, but not bad. Another option is to insert Florial in right and Brennan in left. We need to find out if Florial can play up here. Both the numbers and the eyeball test tell me he can't hit fastballs, but we need to know for sure.

4) With Nails and Fry at 1B, we aren't exactly hurting there.

Arias can also play first. And there's a kid in Columbus, Manzilla or something like that, that looks OK.

5) If not Cookie, who?

Curry has faced 98 batters in Columbus.
35 have gotten a hit, 10 have walked, 8 have homered. He's given up 3.43 HR/9 and his FIP is 8.21.

Curry went five scoreless against the Red Sox, allowing two hits. Yes, it was one start and yes, he's getting hammered in Columbus. I like to think if he gets brought up he'll gear up mentally like he did in Fenway and at least give us an ERA better than 6.59.

What concerns me is Cookie's trend; 13 earned runs in his last two starts covering 9 innings. And five home runs. He nibbles at the edges, falls behind in the count, is forced to throw a strike, and BAM!

Wherever they got Lively from, let's see if there's another one in the bottom of that barrel.

 

[macbdog]

Fire his ass immediately. 21-12 isn't much consolation if the players are tired. Give me Tito and his losing record every April, lowering fan expectations so we're thrilled with the strong second half.

Jesus Christ, you went nuclear. Give Vogt a chance to learn from his mistakes before you go firing people, LeBron.

 

[sportscoach]

Jesus Christ, you went nuclear. Give Vogt a chance to learn from his mistakes before you go firing people, LeBron.

You are the one who said to fire him.... lol

 

[Tondo]

Which is why I hope they just stick Brennan in Kwan's spot. Will is 6-for-12 in his last four games. Maybe he's getting hot just at the right time.

Well, Brennan has been the RF starter for 2/3 of games, so the problem remains.

 

[macbdog]

You are the one who said to fire him.... lol

I did?

 

[sportscoach]

I did?

When you stated he is running them into the ground... Do you ever keep a boss who does that one? Lol