The Angels announced that outfielder Taylor Ward (left groin strain) has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Infielder Jose Rojas was already optioned to Triple-A after last night’s game, so there was an open spot on Los Angeles’ active roster.
Ward will make his 2022 debut as the Angels’ cleanup hitter today, playing in right field. Manager Joe Maddon has cited Ward as a starter in his outfield, which may surprise some fans who tabbed star prospects Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh as the logical candidates to start on the grass alongside Mike Trout. However, Ward posted slightly below league-average offense in 2020 and then hit .250/.332/.438 over 237 plate appearances last season, good for a solid 109 OPS+ and 111 wRC+.
Ward and Adell are both right-handed hitters and Marsh swings from the left side, so there is some platoon maneuverability amongst the two non-Trout outfield spots. Utilityman Tyler Wade can also chip in for outfield work, and Magneuris Sierra and Monte Harrison are at Triple-A on minor league contracts.
Finally!!. No more Rojas in RF now.
I have not been the least it impressed with Maddon. The bases loaded intentional walk? Starting Rojas and not starting Adell every day just to give him an 8 game chance? My understanding is that Eppler wanted Buck Showalter and Moreno overruled him. I didn’t have a problem with that then, I do now.
I have said here many times, in my 5O plus years watching baseball, Maddon is the worst manager I’ve ever seen. Thought so in TB , and Chitown as well. Horrible
He’s not known as a great in-game mind. He’s supposedly a great behind the scenes motivater.
@Halo I agree that base loaded walk was pretty dumb. Seager is a good hitter, but no one short of a roided out Barry Bonds should get an IBB with the bases loaded. Maddon is lucky that the CPR that Ohtani did on his bat worked last night.
Marsh needs to play every day… Period. He’s ready and can handle MLB playing. Great ABs (still rough w lefties) and can play a well above average outfield. Keep him in and mix Adell and Ward in where needed
They both need to play everyday. Who in their right mind platoons their number one and number two prospects for a 28 year old with an 89 OPS+ and a 29 year old with a 76 oPS+. Oh wait, that’s Joe Maddon, the same guy who intentionally walks someone with the bases loaded. The same guy who moved Fletcher to shortstop.
The good news is Velazquez looks like he can play short. The bad news is the Angels are carrying Mayfield, Wade and Duffy.
Does anyone have any idea what this team is doing. I don’t.
I really like Duffy, guy can’t just hit. Poor man’s DJ. I’d keep him and Fletch and Stefanic and leave the outfield to the three plus Ward to mix in and stop messing the lineup up every day .
@californiaangels Duffy is a solid player. He was about 1.6 WAR last year in a little more than half a season. He was about 3 WAR, 3 years ago. For $1M/year,, you’re not going to do much better than that.
I also Wade. He is coming off his best year last year. He is one of the fastest players in the league. In the 2nd game against the Marlins, he won the game with his legs. Plus, he came up with the cowboy hat after home runs. Can’t get rid of that guy. He can play infield and outfield and serve as late inning pinch runner.
I am not saying either one is an all star, but both can definitely fill a niche role for the team.
He may have won the game with his legs but almost lost the game with his brain. He’s fast but horrible on the bases, horrible with the glove, can’t slide, and I don’t think he can hit.
The team can’t carry so many utility infielders.
Exactly. Wade, Velasquez, Mayfield, Duffy is rather redundant.
@HHJJ Not really. All different players. Velasquez is just up because Fletcher is hurt. Wade is a speed guy. Mayfield and Duffy can fill in at the corner spot. I see Duffy or Mayfield getting some starts at 1B against tough left handers.
You only have so many roster spots. And there are roster spots on the 40 man roster. The Angels use far too many of those spots on low ceiling utility infielders. It’s a waste of resources.
Adell needs to settle down. He hits a HR and spends his next 12 AB’s trying to hit another one. His fielding hasn’t been all that great. He’ll get there. He’s only 22. I know Trout has been working with him on his defense. He’s a lot better than when he first got called up.
He may need to settle down, but he needs to know that he’s going to play everyday in the same spot. Same with Marsh. This platoon garbage is garbage.
You probably don’t realize Ward was our 1st round pick in 15 out of college and had to try cracking an outfield of Trout, Upton and Calhoun. Ward is a better outfielder than Adell, and isn’t under the illusions of being a top, power hitting prospect. He also doesn’t look clueless against the curveball
I do, he’s 28 now.
Wasn’t ward drafted as an elite defender who couldn’t hit out of college… why switch him up, if he hits like this and can be an average catcher run w that!
He was a good Catcher and was moved in hope of unlocking his bat. I like him he slowly just keeps getting better and better and was pretty good by the end of last year.
Ward has steadily progressed with the bat, and after much trial and error, he has found a home defensively in the OF. I’m hopeful he breaks out like Walsh in 2020.
Ward is more than five years older than Adell and more than four years older than Adell. If Adell was 28 and Ward was 23, I would be saying the Angels should be giving Ward everyday ABs, but at 23 Ward was in triple A. And at 24 had sub 60 OPS+ in the show.
Adell hit three ropes yesterday, a hard ground ball and was called out on a pitch that was two baseballs off the plate. If the Angels are not going to play him, don’t waste his clock up here, send him to triple A and they should have kept Upton.
There are plenty of ABs for Marsh, Adell and Ward in the OF corners.
I think it’s important we look at who a player is today, not four years ago. Otherwise, some would still refer to Adell as the guy that put up a 30 OPS+ in the show.
In fairness to Ward, it should be noted, he was 2/3 with a bomb and two walks yesterday. He’s been trending in the right direction the last three years as evidenced by his 109 OPS+ last year.
Adell has a higher ceiling than Ward, but there is a place for Ward on this team. There are plenty of ABs to go around.
Yes there are plenty of ABs for the three of them. I don’t trust Maddon to give each of them plenty of ABs until the cream rises.
For God’s sake, Maddon the Moron, played Jose Rojas over Adell. Who in their right mind does that?
No idea who’s in that picture, but it sure isn’t Ward or Rojas.
Mr. Angel
Lol that’s Tyler wade.
Disgusting mismanagement for our minor league talent. Not giving Rojas, Thaiss, Ward and Rengifo full run last year after being out of contention was a joke. Then putting Thaiss back to catcher not knowing if he can even hit. We needed a second baseman and prob would know what we have in Rengifo since Fletcher was going to short (even though we knew his hip bad wtf?) but they played Keon Wong instead. They played Adell over Ward the last two seasons even though Adell clearly needs more time in AAA. Rojas has been a extra base hitting machine for years, why wasn’t he given full run at third when Rendon went down instead of 30 year Mayfield.
Why did we call up all of our available pitchers last year to start their service time? Why is Detmers starting over Barria? Has Detmers pitch one game proving he’s ready to stick, he had no minor league seasoning. Can’t be good for confidence to get lit up.
Rengifo and Rojas are terrible. Ward has more than 500PAs and has an 89OPS+.
Barria is not very good.
But isn’t the idea that Ward is the best option for that position a pretty big problem? Ward really isn’t very good at all.
Wars has good numbers vs lefties. That’s all I got. Thank
He’s a useful player but he should be a bench guy
Yes that is the problem. Why are these guys being carried on the 40 man roster year after year it so obvious the team has no plans to play them. Do better Angels.
How many Angel starting pitchers have had better seasons than Barria since 2018 at what Barria cost the Angels?
Ward had an ops+ of 109 last year and was on pace for 24Hr 99RBI.. let’s give him a chance before we say no thanks, cause you know, we just cut 28 mil in Upton.
Ren and Ro are terrible? They haven’t played at all, or if they do play they’re asked to man RF, I don’t know maybe learning a new position in the majors might affected your hitting? Or we can just say these world class ball players are terrible.
I agree with some of what you say, and disagree with some. As a fourth outfield with 400 ABs I like Ward. And it seems the Angels have messed around with Thaiss. As far as Barria, ERA is volatile, and his metrics are not very good. give me Detmers all day and night.
Regarding Ward, wouldn’t it be more fair to say his OPS+ has increased every year and last year his OPS+ was 109? If not, shouldn’t Adell be dubbed the guy that has nearly 300 PA’s and an OPS+ of 65?
Ron Tingely- Change you handle to “Angels Official 2nd Guesser” Sheeesh!!!
Regifo has had plenty of chances for 1.
Barria is not that good.
What am I second guessing on exactly? Except your ability to write a legit response to my comment. I been saying the same thing for the last three years.
Ron Tingley – stop making so much sense.
Apparently by the responses on my comment I should.
Amazing. With the Angels it’s usually:
He’s fine.
Day to day
10 day IL
He needs surgery and is out for the year.
Like the Mets:
Slight discomfort
No need for MRI, play through it
MRI, but it shows nothing
Player bursts into flames
Cosmo, I use this sparingly (maybe never), but after reading, “player bursts into flames”, I actually LOL… twice.
Just like JD Davis but hope NOT!
H.H. That’s pretty darn funny.
I agree with most of you. Ward is definitely a utility guy and fourth outfielder. Adell should be given the right field job sink or swim. Maddon is Scioscia part deux. Stop playing musical lineups and musical positions. And the team has way too many journeyman/ mediocre middle infielders. If it were me, and since the team was too cheap to sign a bonafide shortstop, I’d play Fletch at short and Duffy at 2nd. With Fletch out, then I’d give time to Wade, then Valasquez. Rengifo has already been given a bunch of chances, time to move on. Detmer should get a chance and if he doesn’t perform in April, then back to AAA.
Velazquez looks pretty darn good to me. Statcast showed he was not a good defensive shortstop, but my eyes show me the opposite. Let Fletch play second, then all of a sudden this becomes a good defensive team.
I think Taylor Ward is going to be the right fielder but I don’t like Joe Maddon platooning so much I think Brandon Marshall should be the left fielder instead of platooning I would send
Jo Adell down to AAA
Angels 7, Texas 2. Ward batting 4, goes 2 for 3 with two walks, an RBI and a HR. Maddon is a genius. GO ANGELS!!!!!!!
First time this year the Angels were firing on all cylinders. Starting pitcher was great, bullpen was great. They scored runs with their speed. They scored runs with their power. First game they looked good in all aspects, but it is the Rangers. Let’s hope they look this good in a couple of days against the Astros.
Let’s give the Angels 60 games and assess where they are in June. If necessary, Perry can shore up deficiencies at the trade deadline provided the Angels are in contention. In the meantime, let’s take the current 40-man roster (Buttrey, Dias, Marte, Pequero, etc) for a spin and get some near major league ready guys (Bachman, Bush, etc) some additional time in AA and AAA.
The Angels have 60 games to throw away?
All GMs “throw away” the first two months by assessing what they have. Lots of movement between the big club and minors within the 40 man roster. Not a lot of trade activity. Once a GM gets a feel for the roster they’ve assembled and identified weaknesses due to performance or injury, they start looking outside the organization for trade opportunities.
The good news is that the Angels only have 51 more to “throw away”… and they’re still in contention.
No one is throwing away games. In reality, the Angels are 1/2 game out right now..
They would be in the playoffs, but still way too early. Offense is top 10 in runs scored. Starting pitching has been solid this year.
The three biggest question marks are SS, Adell, and Detmers.
Thus far, the Angels lead MLB in DRS for the SS position by a sizable margin. They have 6DRS, next closest is the Astros with 3. Any shortcoming in the Angels start cannot be attributed to the SS position.
Adell’s start has been awful. He has struck out of 50% of the time. His saving grace is most his hits have been extra base hits, 5 hits, 2 double, 2 HRs. I was hoping for a continued improvement, but thus far I haven’t seen it.
Detmers has great stuff, but the reality is that the numbers he has put up are horrific. Barria has been better in a similar number of innings this year. Junk has also put up better numbers in AAA. Not great, but better. Angels may not wait 60 games to make a change here.
There are not a lot of players available right now, which is common for the beginning of the season. The only notable player I know of is Cavan Biggio since he has last his job. That is not a move I would like the Angels to make.
The Angels have thrown away countless games over the last ten year with their early season bullpen use. They have thrown away a couple of games this year. They could have easily thrown away a game yesterday with the play of Duffy at first base.
When you play people that have little chance of being ane answer such as Mayfield, Duffy, Wade, Rojas, you throw away games. Wade has cost this teams games with his baserunning alone, and except for a gift at second base where he was clearly out, he might have cost us that game as well.
No problem with Ward or Duffy being utility infielders, But the key word is “OR”.
So you are wrong, they have thrown away games.
@Halo11Fan Why do you say outlandish things all the time. Eppler is the GM that ignored the bullpen for years. He brought in bad pitcher after bad pitcher. You’re the only one I know that supported him. Perry is the only one that addressed the bullpen and actually brought in starting pitchers that can actually help the team. Yet, you complain about everything he does.
Wade wasn’t clearly out otherwise the replays would have said he was out and the call would have been overturned. It is kind of how the replay system works. I didn’t see an angle where it showed him being tagged out and neither did the folks in New York. That is all that matters. Only you saw him clearly being out. .
Duffy played first because he can hit lefties. Walsh can’t. He hit .170 vs lefties last year. On top of that, Walsh is a below average defender.
Lets fact check some of your claims, you said. this offseason…..
1. Syndergaard lost velocity. You said if he is middle of the rotation that you would be pleased.
Reality, Syndergaard looks like the best pitcher the Angels have. He looked great even with the velocity being a couple ticks down. Definitely the best pickup the Angels have had
2. The Angels may live to regret letting Upton go.
Reality, teams have been reluctant to pick up Upton even at league minimum.
3. The Angels need a shortstop. They should get Didi Gregorious or
Reality, the Angels lead MLB in DRS at SS position. Didi has 0 DRS, and has a OPS+ of 80.
4. Perry Maniaisian is a platypus. Eppler is a genius.
Reality, Eppler made bad move after bad move. Upton, Cozart, Cody Allen, Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill. He drafted poorly. He inherited a bad farm system and left a bad farm system. The Angels had a losing record throughout his tenure despite having the best player in baseball.
5. Lorenzen was a horrible pickup. He will be bad because he was bad the past two seasons.
Only 1 start, but he looked great at Anaheim in front of his friends and family. It will be interesting to see how he does in his next start in Houston.
6. Fletcher will have the lowest WAR amongst all SS in baseball.
Reality, this one you actually may be right or at least very close to it. Not because of his defense though, but he wasnt hitting at all, but he wasn’t 100%.
You can say what you want. I still believe this team is better than any other in recent years. I view things very differently than you do. The only thing holding the team back is health. There will be no moves in the immediate future because there are no moves to be made.