Archangels and Other Spirits

 

Angels. On a baseball team. Only in America, where the farther from the truth something is, the more people tend to believe it. And sometimes they don’t.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB-AlDfE_vQ

But we’re talking the LA Angels here. Nothing spiritual or magical about them. Or so everyone believed. Then Shohei Ohtani came along and suddenly the Angels have an Archangel on their team.  But don’t take my word for it, Strib columnist Patrick Reusse and sports reporter Phil Miller have said it better than I can.

Patrick Reusse Star Tribune

https://www.startribune.com/enjoy-the-phenomenon-that-is-shohei-ohtani/600079032/

Phil Miller Star Tribune

https://www.startribune.com/shohei-ohtani-twins-angels-target-field/600080114/

 

No breaking trade news at the time of this writing. I suppose because the Twins have a one-game lead over KC for dead last in the division. We may not be the best, but for the moment we aren’t the worst either.

Speaking of worst. My wife and I have rediscovered bratwurst. We gave up on the torpedoes awhile back because we could no longer handle the grease. Or onions and kraut. I mean what the hell? Brats without chopped onions and kraut? How unAmerican is that? Old age does that to you I guess. But then my brother showed me a few tricks for de-greasing the brats and avoiding the resultant heartburn and indigestion; soak ‘em in beer overnight, then boil the s@#$ out of ‘em the next morning while sipping your first brewski, then grill ‘em on the upper rack long enough to drink a couple more brewskis, then puncture ‘em in a half dozen places so any grease remaining drips out (PS. keep a fire extinguisher handy), have another brewski or two, remove from the grill, slice ‘em down the middle, lay ‘em face down on a couple of those absorbent paper towels and pound the s@#$ out of ‘em with a hammer, have yourself another brewski while you wipe up all the grease that splattered all over the kitchen, run ‘em through an apple press, while having another brewski of course, then throw ‘em to the dog. No heartburn, guaranteed. And you won’t care anyway.

On the Mound Tonight

Twins  Kenta Maeda  4-3  4.71 ERA  79K

Angels  The Less Angelic Andrew Heaney  5-7  5.56 ERA  98K

 

Lineups Not Yet Posted 

I suspect they're waiting to see who's left.

Ya know, I just picked up some brats.  Not joking.  I did!

I'll take your cooking method under advisement.

Lineups:

PLAYER	W-L	ERA	WHIP	IP	H	K	BB	HR
A. Heaney	5-7	5.56	1.36	81.0	84	98	26	15
K. Maeda	4-3	4.71	1.36	72.2	75	79	24	11

 

Angels (46-48):

HITTERS	H-AB	RBI	HR	SB	AVG
D. Fletcher2B	112-356	38	2	5	.315
S. OhtaniDH	88-321	74	34	12	.274
J. UptonLF	55-223	32	14	3	.247
J. Walsh1B	94-347	66	22	2	.271
M. StassiC	37-127	17	7	0	.291
B. MarshCF	4-11	1	0	1	.364
J. IglesiasSS	85-303	29	7	4	.281
A. EatonRF	43-204	28	5	2	.211
J. Mayfield3B	9-53	4	1	0	.170

 

Twins (41-55):

HITTERS	H-AB	RBI	HR	SB	AVG
J. Polanco2B	87-334	49	14	9	.260
M. KeplerRF	48-221	37	12	8	.217
N. CruzDH	87-296	50	19	3	.294
J. Donaldson3B	63-252	41	15	0	.250
M. Sano1B	48-242	35	15	0	.198
T. LarnachLF	48-205	21	7	1	.234
R. JeffersC	25-130	16	6	0	.192
G. CelestinoCF	7-51	2	2	0	.137
A. SimmonsSS	58-252	19	3	1	.230

 

 

Well the fans won't get to say goodbye to Nellie tonight. 

Feel bad for Maeda; Donaldson to DH, Astudillo to 3B, Sano moves into clean-up......

I guess we play a man down today, with Cruz gone. I'd imagine Rooker comes up tomorrow?

Annnnnd a single to third.......

3 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Annnnnd a single to third.......

How else do you set up the inning ending double play?

Twins 5th batter of the inning, still haven't put a ball in play.

Is Garver hurt again ?  Wondering why he isn’t DH.

Just now, yeahyabetcha said:

Is Garver hurt again ?  Wondering why he isn’t DH.

paternity leave

1 minute ago, yeahyabetcha said:

Is Garver hurt again ?  Wondering why he isn’t DH.

Well, they only have four catchers. According to the Twins website, Rortvedt is back. 

Ugly first inning.

Nice defense so far!

What i miss?

www.mlb.com/prospects/rays/

Strohman and Ryan are not top 30 in Tampa Bay Rays minor league.   
 

They should have gotten Brendan McKay or Shane Baz instead.   So, it is real bad trade.    Strohman and Ryan are unproven pitchers yet.   I’m not real happy about this trade!

 

 

4 minutes ago, Irishman said:

www.mlb.com/prospects/rays/

Strohman and Ryan are not top 30 in Tampa Bay Rays minor league.   
 

They should have gotten Brendan McKay or Shane Baz instead.   So, it is real bad trade.    Strohman and Ryan are unproven pitchers yet.   I’m not real happy about this trade!

 

 

That's because they were traded. They are #6 & #13 in the Twins system.

Another bad send from 3B coach Tony Diaz... hopefully Larnach and Stassi are OK.

Might be time to replace the 3B coach..........

13 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Another bad send from 3B coach Tony Diaz... hopefully Larnach and Stassi are OK.

Tony Diaz should be suspended indefinitely.   

27 minutes ago, Irishman said:

www.mlb.com/prospects/rays/

Strohman and Ryan are not top 30 in Tampa Bay Rays minor league.   
 

They should have gotten Brendan McKay or Shane Baz instead.   So, it is real bad trade.    Strohman and Ryan are unproven pitchers yet.   I’m not real happy about this trade!

 

 

On paper, it wasn't a bad trade, by any means.  They are not ranked because they are no longer in the Rays system.  "Up to 10 and 11 in the mid season update..... "  So they were easily in the top 30.

Is that Cy Heaney on the mound?

2 minutes ago, SanoMustGo said:

On paper, it wasn't a bad trade, by any means.  They are not ranked because they are no longer in the Rays system.

They were both ranked in the top 20 with Ryan in the top 10.

This morning i looked at the matchups, and seen Mr, Nelson Cruz had 3 home runs in 15 at bats against  there starter, all i cold do was Chuckle when the trade news came out,  

In the top of the 4th Justin Upton struck out for the 1916th time in his career. This puts him in a tie with Curtis Granderson for 10th place all-time! He's only 27 strikeouts away from passing Jose Canseco for sole possession of 7th place!

Funny, let Jack Mayfield hit a homer & strike out Ohtani

Just can’t wait for the Simmons trade so we get to see Gordon playing next to Austudillo on the left side.  

Forgot there was a baseball game going on tonight…

19 minutes ago, operation mindcrime said:

In the top of the 4th Justin Upton struck out for the 1916th time in his career. This puts him in a tie with Curtis Granderson for 10th place all-time! He's only 27 strikeouts away from passing Jose Canseco for sole possession of 7th place!

Miguel Sano says "that's cute."

1 minute ago, Vanimal46 said:

Forgot there was a baseball game going on tonight…

There are several. 

 

Also Angels-Twins.