The October 2, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news includes the club being eliminated from AL West contention, Mike Scioscia defending to his defensive-replacement schemes, and more…
The Story: Angels eliminated in AL West race
MWAH Says: Given how poorly August went, it’s impressive the Angels hung on to their hopes of being repeat division champs as long as they did. Now they get to hang on for dear life to nab a wild card spot.
The Story: Scioscia won’t change late-game defensive plan in Texas
MWAH Says: So long as he’s consistent about it, it shouldn’t be a problem. As in, no more pulling Johnny Giavotella an inning earlier than everyone else so that we can all watch a ball skip through C.J. Cron’s legs. If you’re going to put in defensive replacements, there’s no half-assing it.
The Story: Putting clutch back into the MVP debate
MWAH Says: One of the few MVP approaches that doesn’t help Trout’s case against Josh Donaldson. Donaldson tops the AL’s definitive clutch leaderboard, Trout comes in third. Erick Aybar, meanwhile, has been the fourth-least clutch player in baseball this season by this standard.
The Story: Two mechanical tweaks have helped Heaney
MWAH Says: Well, they’ve helped in most every start anyway. I don’t have a Fangraphs+ subscription, so I don’t know what two tweaks Eno Sarris is referring to, but if I had to guess I’d say it involves his release point and his landing position, as was reported in July. And I’d guess those things were off Thursday.
/checks Brooks Baseball
Yep.
The Story: Mike Trout’s Emoji-Driven Stats
MWAH Says: The more airplane emojis Mike Trout uses in his travel tweets, the better he seems to perform in the next series. Why don’t they just make the whole plane out of emojis?
The Story: Each Team’s Offensive Production by Position
MWAH Says: Surprise, Mike Trout has carried the Angels! Trout is the only player on the team who’s been above average at the plate relative to his position on the field, according to Baseball-Reference’s sOPS+ stat. Even Kole Calhoun has been below average offensively compared to other right fielders.
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