LA Vikes Fan

Sending down Wallner seems strange ... until you think about who else we have. Castro has been one of if not our best hitter over the last 30 games (.270/.333/.436). Gallo leads the team in HRs and it's way too early for them to cut bait on the investment. Farmer is in a slump at the plate, but we need a backup SS and he's had good stretches at the plate too. Julien will go down on a day or two when Polanco is ready to come back. The obvious two to wonder about are Solano and Kepler. Solano does give us a RH decent bat, but no power and not much else. Kepler is who he is, a weak bat great glove corner OF. Add to that the fact that there's no DH to give Wallner regular ABS and the answer is unfortunately pretty clear. I would have liked to see Buxton go back to the OF or maybe have kept Wallner over Solano but you can't fault the logic of what was done. My hpe is that we'll trade either Gallo or Kepler for relief pitching and open up a spot.

I like Jeffers better, but Vasquez is hitting .333 against Berrios. SSS, but still something. Also, does anyone have a stat on pitcher's ERA pitching to Vasquez vs. pitching to Jeffers (or some other stat)? Just curious.

I think Willi Castro has taken over the Garlick role. Garlick should be gone as soon as we take one of the guys off the IL. Castro, Wallner, and Julien all deserve to stay over Garlick. The only way Garlick should stay when we activate Polanco or Kepler is if Taylor goes on the IL. Even then, he should go so Lewis can come up Monday.

You're right on. Buxton in CF tomorrow? How about Willi Castro if they want to keep Buxton DH'ing?

I think you're right unless.... can he play a a passable CF? MAT is way off, may be because of his back issues. I see an IL stint coming for him. Castro as an everyday CF a possibility?

It may be a pitch sequence thing as well as a pitch usage issue. When batters consistently can foul off a sweeper, that suggest that they have a good idea that it's coming. He may be relying too much on his "best" pitch when it's a pitch that is more swing and miss effective off of a fastball or sinker. The stats suggest that he's over reliant on the sweeper. My thought is more fastballs and sinkers could lead to a more effective out pitch with the sweeper. BTW, this lines up with the eye test when I've watched the games. Jax pitches well but lacks an out pitch that can get the swing and miss or pop up kind of contact. He has real trouble putting hitters away when he gets ahead. He reminds a little of Jake Odorizzi - good stuff but lacked an out pitch so 6 innings took 100 plus pitches to get through, and the ball was always in play so there were a lot of "lucky" hits against him.

Let's also not go too far on the Gio Urshela hype train. He is hitting .299, with a .320 OBP, .353 SLG for a .673 OPS. That's right, .673. Not even .700. He is effectively a slow singles hitter with no power. His fielding out here is about the same as it was for the Twins; he's great on balls hit directly to him or within a step or so either way, but has very limited range even for third baseman. He doesn't even start for the Angels. They use him as the IF UTL. He's also in his last year of arbitration . Frankly, I doubt if the Angels will re-sign him for next year unless he is willing to work pretty cheap. The Angels' issue with the Urshela is the same issue the Twins had and the issue that the Yankees had before them. He hits pretty well for a Shortstop (his position when he first came up), but he doesn't hit well enough for power to be an everyday Third Baseman, and he lacks the range to be an everyday Shortstop. The Angels were hoping he could hold down SS, but found out he can't, and now he's a utility infielder.

Two keys for me. First, get Lewis up on May 29, especially if Correa needs 10-15 days for his foot. Second, do NOT demote Wallner; play him every day while we are facing RH starters. Let's see what these two guys can do and if they can be the necessary reinforcements this season. Let's find that out now so we have some intel before we hit trading season. How? Demote Garlick if Kepler is ready and keep Wallner. Promote Lewis if Correa or Gallo has to go on the Il.. If not, promote him Monday and demote/DFA Garlick (if Kepler is still out), Solano or Julien. If Polanco is ready, either Julien, Solano or or Castro goes - I would keep up Castro and DFA/demote Solano. Unlikely that there's much of a market for Solano at his age and he's a one year guy anyway. My overall point is let's find NOW if the MiLB/new guys we have can help us this year. That's Lewis, Castro, Wallner, and Kirilloff. I don't think Julien is quite ready yet and his defense is just... not good. Keep the other 4 up at the expense of guys like Solano and Garlick, and move Kepler if you need to in order to create room. How do we create ABs? Here's an idea - play Buxton in LF, not CF, 3-4 of days a week to open up the DH spot. Less balls to LF, less injury risk. Have CF be mostly Castro, with Taylor doing what h we brought him here to do - play CF against LH pitching and in late inning defensive situations. Gallo can DH to rest his hammy and Wallner can play RF or vice versa. We can get a preliminary read on Wallner over the next 10 days and we can get Lewis acclimated. Let's do it.

Nice and needed win yesterday, but bighat is unfortunately right about the offense as many of us have mentioned in the past. The offense is that it is best average or slightly above average when everyone is available. It is much less than that when there are injuries. Bottom line is that for this offense to be even top half we need Polanco and Correa back and hitting, Buxton to hit .260 plus, not .235, Kirilloff to be a competent #3-#5 hitter and Lewis to come up and give us a spark. I wouldn't get my hopes up for Kepler to help on offense - he is what he is and he isn't a good hitter. For this offense to work we need premier production from Correa and Buxton, very good production from Polanco and Kirilloff, Gallo to hit 35 plus HRs with a .340 plus OBP, Lewis to come up and be a competent leadoff type hitter, and then real offensive contributions from at least two of Farmer, Larnach, Wallner, Taylor, Jeffers, Vasquez, and Kepler. All of those things are possible. Having all those things happen in the same season is pretty unlikely. I would like to see two moves over the next couple of months. First, we badly need another reliever. I would give DeLeon, Balazovic and Lawyerson a real shot for the next six weeks to be a solid bullpen piece. You can make that happen through injuries, putting Sands on the shuttle, or frankly getting rid of Pagan since we know he is not the answer. If that doesn't work, trade Kepler and a decent prospect for a solid relief pitcher. I would love a guy like Chapman (probably too expensive in prospects), be thrilled with a guy like Dylan Florio, and even accept Brad Hand. Second, give Lewis, Wallner, and Julien a decent run in the lineup over that same time. To see if they can be contributors this year. If not, make a trade for another bat preferably one to play left field. They say you spent the first two months of the season seeing what you have, the second two months trying to fill in your holes, and the last two months you play with what you have. We can see the holes in the bullpenand in the lineup. Let's be aggressive and proactive about trying to fill those holes first with younger guys already in the organization and then trades around the All-Star break if that doesn't pan out. Let's just not keep running the same people out there over and over expecting different results.

With Correa at least doubtful for awhile, Lewis may get his chance as soon as May 29 after all. I would like we'd have to bring him up if Correa requires an IL stint. If so, I'd love to see him playing SSS every day with farmer back at 3B or 2B depending on Polanco's health.

Interesting that Castro and Solano are in the lineup but Larnach is not. I understand Castro is hot, but Solano, not so much. although both are warmer than Larnach looking at the stats over the last 15 games. Maybe Larnach goes back to AAA when Kepler is ready.

I think you may have the wrong Castro. MLB.com says Willi Castro has 1083 ABS, 1176 plate appearances. He's just turned 26 in April. He's never had more than 413 ABs in any MLB season. He may never be a competent MLB starter but he's young enough and it's early enough in his development that there is at least a chance he could become more than his stats said he was coming into this season.

This. I would add one other thought. The AL Central is pretty awful this year. There's likely to be some ups and downs with Lewis; most players have those when they first come up. This is a year where the team can endure those and still have a real chance to win the division. Let's take advantage of that and give Lewis and Kirilloff an every day run. Add Larnach if Buxton ever goes back to the OF and opens up the DH spot or if Kepler gets traded. Leave him at 3B and SS though. No need to take a bigger injury risk by playing him in the OF where he got hurt last year and where he hasn't played this year. Play him where he's going to play long term.

You guys may be right that 3 weeks from now Farmer and Castro will be reverting back to pumpkin status. 3 weeks from now Lewis will (or should) be on the the 26 man roster, Taylor's back could improve if he gets 10 days on the IL, Kepler will be back, and Miranda may have rediscovered his magic. My point is that now Farmer and Castro are providing real value. Run them out there every day until that stops and then put them back into the reserve roles they were intended to be in. Let's also avoid the other extreme, holding someone like Lewis down so a guy like Farmer can play every day. Lews should come up the first day he's eligible and play every day. He's hopefully the present and definitely the future. The division is down this year: this is the perfect year to give him (and Kirilloff, and Larnach) some real run while still having a chance to win the division. We can find ABs for Farmer 2-4 days a week in the IF, and I don't see a problem putting him in LF a day or two a week. He won't win a gold glove, but he's played a couple of games there before and if he can play a competent MLB SS, I have to believe he can hold down LF. If we can ever get Buxton in CF 2-3 days a week, Farmer can DH or play SS/2B so Correa and Polanco can DH. Bottom line, give Castro and Farmer some run now while the ABs are available. They've shown AT THE MLB LEVEL that they can add real value in the back half of the lineup and on defense. Play them over Solano, Taylor, Kepler, and Julien. Get Lewis up here ASAP and see what he can do by playing him every day. This lineup needs help, bad, so give it the help we can.

I agree. He’s 26 and this is basically his third year in the bigs. He hasn’t hit enough to stay, but sometimes guys don’t show what they have until they’ve been given some run. Frankly, he is hitting the best on the team right now outside of Kirilloff. I say let him play another week and see what you have. Maybe even consider leading him off. I doubt if we are going to catch lightning in a bottle, but one never knows.

I don't think we need to go out and get an OF discarded by another team for the MLB roster. I think we've found the temporary platoon CF in Willie Castro. Kepler can also go out there temporarily if Taylor's bat requires an IL stint. For now, I think Castro is taking over Gordon's spot as an OF first super utility guy. And, by the way, he's earning it with his play over the last week. If we want to see if Aaron Hicks has anything left, sign him and send him to AAA for evaluation. He's unlikely to get a MLB shot with his performance the last 2-3 years. so he might be willing to take that kind of a deal. If he won't, no big loss.

Here's his chance. I'm not sure if Julien will start tonight against a LH starter but he should get the 2B ABs against RH pitching. We also need a leadoff guy, at least until Lewis can be recalled. He should get 25 ABs or so over the next 10 days. Hope he shows us something. If he does, he can stay ahead of Garlick. Heck, I would dump Garlick now and let Wallner get his ABs once we get past these 2 LH starters.

Many of us called thi s lineup "2 bats hort" in the pre-season, and that is what it's turned out to be. Someone said we're a leadoff and cleanup hitter short - I couldn't agree more. I also don't think we have the prospect depth to trade for any big bat that might become available. It's more likely that we'll trade for a mid-level bullpen piece. I think what we have now is what we'll run with this year. I do think there's hope. Lewis could become that front of the order/leadoff spark, Correa getting back to normal would be a good #2, and Kirilloff is looking like a #3. Can Buxton be the cleanup guy? Yeah, I think he can. If that works, now everybody else gets to go where they should go - Polanco in the 5 hole, Gallo, Larnach and/or Kepler hitting 6 and 8, Famer at 7 of we can get Buxton into CF or Taylor if not, and the C 9. That lineup can work IF Lewis looks like last year, Kirilloff is the bat we think he can be, Correa, Polanco. and Buxton hit like we expect based on track record, and the rest just are what they've always been. Even better if Larnach or Wallner has that breakthrough this year. I'm cautiously optimistic but there are a lot of IFs.

Not that you or I would know about that from any personal experience..... Just heard about it.

By the way, Ron Coomer was an All-Star in 1999. Yes, the rule than was that every team had to have one player picked, but still - Ron Coomer, American League All Star, 1999.

Generic Viagra. Yeah it works, but it's kind of depressing that you both need it and you have to be price conscious when you buy it. And, who knows what's actually in there.

I agree with that. THis offense needs...something. Kirilloff is helping quite a bit as did Polanco before him. We still need at least one more bat, really 2, and some speed. Maybe Lewis is that bat/speed combo? Maybe Laranch (or Wallner, Miranda, or Julien) is that other bat? I see this as the offense we're going to have. Don't see us sacrificing any more of our less robust depth for a bat. Now, trading MiLB depth for a relief pitcher? Maybe...

This isn't the time for Wallner. Garlick will be up for this series until Kepler comes back Monday and then will go back down. Wallner's time comes when either Gallo gets hurt, Kepler gets traded, or they decide he's a better bet than Larnach.

All good points but who comes out? Wallner can only play a corner OF spot (barely) or DH. I would love to put Buxton in CF and open up the DH spot but that doesn't appear to be the plan any time soon. So, Wallner would be coming up and competing for time with Gallo and Larnach. You and I might disagree here, but I think Gallo has actually played pretty well for us. To me, he's any every day player. Larnach has had his moments and I think he may develop into what he can be at the MLB level - a .250-.265/.340-.350/.450+ kind of hitter. Plus, he's a better defensive OF than Wallner. And that doesn't even count Kepler who I think is really at 4th OF/trade candidate on whom the org has a bit of a man crush, Our underperforming players aren't so much Gallo and Larnach, it's whoever is playing CF while Buxton DHs, Vasquez and Correa, Wallner doesn't help move out any of those guys. All of this changes if Buxton plays CF most every day, Gallo has to go on the IL, or Kepler is traded. Then there's a spot to give Wallner ABs at least 3 or 4 times a week in the OF or at DH. The other possibility is to demote Larnach again, give Wallner his spot, and use him the same way we now use Larnach. I guess my bottom line is that we have one spot for a LH hitting corner OF/DH even after Kepler comes back now that Gordon is hurt. I would use that spot on Larnach for at least the next month before considering Wallner unless we have another injury, Kepler is traded for relief pitching (my personal favorite), or Buxton goes back to CF close to full time.

Garlick's not my favorite call up either, but there isn't really anyone else who makes a lot of sense. Remember, this is for 4 days until Kepler assumedly comes off the IL and whoever is coming up goes back to AAA. We are facing 2 LH starters in the next 3 days and Ohtani on Sunday. Garlick seemed to be able to hit LH pitching the last 2 years so he makes sense for tonight and tomorrow. He'll be subbed out the moment a RH reliever comes in, and sent back Monday or Tuesday. Wallner needs to play every day and he won't if he comes up, and Miranda isn't hitting in AAA nor is he an OF. I'm not a fan of Garlick but as a RH bat for literally one series, which is all we're looking for, he does make at least some sense. Now if Polanco or Gallo have to go on the IL, then there's room for a Wallner or Julien.