Comments on: Did not calling up Mike Trout earlier cost the Angels a playoff spot?

By: chumthumper

chumthumper — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 14:14:01 +0000

Missing the playoffs will give Pujols and his wife more time to count the money it wasn’t about.

By: lowellrikert71

lowellrikert71 — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:14:18 +0000

Don’t be so sure. Houston are good.

-signed, Phillies’ fans

By: dickclydesdale

dickclydesdale — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:45:05 +0000

Pujols bitch ass was in a 2 month slump in april-may, that is why the angels missed the playoffs.

By: Jeremy Fox

Jeremy Fox — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:36:58 +0000

@paperlions: The post doesn’t place the blame on one straw, and neither did I. The post is just asking “was not calling up Mike Trout one of the straws that broke the camel’s back?” Your point is precisely the same as mine

By: paperlions

paperlions — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:32:00 +0000

Of course it was a dumb decision. The question was “Did not calling up Trout result in them missing the playoffs?” The answer is no.

The “straw the broke the camels back” is no more responsible for the injury than any other straw, all contributed equally….which doesn’t mean you don’t criticize the choice to add more straw, just that you are wrong if you place the blame on that straw.

By: APBA Guy

APBA Guy — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:27:05 +0000

Dude-you’ve got dyslexia:

AVG OBP SLG OPS
2011 .220 .281 .390 .671

His SLG was .390, not his OBP.
HIS OPS was .671, not his slugging.

See a doctor.

By: Maxa

Maxa — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:08:01 +0000

Yes, but those considerations are a bit different to me. Management doesn’t have much control over whether someone like Pujols has a slump, so it’s not really a question of decision making–it’s just bad luck. But Angels management obviously did have control over when to call up Trout.

By: Jeremy Fox

Jeremy Fox — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 22:09:58 +0000

He had a .390 OBP and .674 SLG in 123 MLB AB in 2011. How is that not producing?

And how was Trout not healthy in April, given that he hit .400 in AAA in April before being called up? Are you saying he’d have hit .600 in AAA if he hadn’t been so sick?

By: Jeremy Fox

Jeremy Fox — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 22:07:47 +0000

And because you win or lose due to collective contributions, that means your decisions aren’t open to criticism?

It’s precisely BECAUSE lots of things need to go right for a baseball team to win that it’s incumbent on the team to do everything it can to maximize its chances. Like playing Mike Trout from day 1.

Imagine that the A’s had left Trout in AAA the whole year. Would you be ok with that because, hey, if Wilson and Haren and Santana and Pujols had all been healthy and played their best all year, and if the A’s and Orioles had sucked as expected, the Angels still would’ve made the playoffs?

The post doesn’t say “The ONLY way the Angels would’ve made the playoffs is by calling up Mike Trout from day 1, no matter what else happened with Wilson and Santana and Haren and Pujols and the A’s and the Orioles”. The post says “The Angels might have made the playoffs this year if they’d called up Mike Trout earlier.” Which is true. The fact that the Angels might ALSO have made the playoffs this year if Pujols had started better or Haren had been healthier or the A’s had sucked or whatever is also true, but totally irrelevant to the post.

By: Jeremy Fox

Jeremy Fox — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:56:36 +0000

How is a 6-14 start a “blessing”? Those games count just as much as the 5-13 stretch in August. The fact that other guys got hurt or underperformed, or other teams surprised, doesn’t mean it was a good idea for the Angels to leave Trout in AAA for a month.

By: Jeremy Fox

Jeremy Fox — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:54:24 +0000

Ok, he was sick in spring training. But he was healthy enough by opening day to hit .403 in 20 games in AAA. And in 2011, he hit .326/.414/.544 in the minors and .220/.390/.672(!) in 123 AB in the majors. I do think it’s just hindsight to criticize the Angels here for failing to recognize sooner that he was ready to play. They already had plenty of evidence from 2011 that he was ready to start in the majors, even if they didn’t get to see him much during 2012 spring training.

By: seeingwhatsticks

seeingwhatsticks — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:53:58 +0000

No way to know for sure if calling up Trout earlier would have made a difference. What I do know is that it’s completely unfair that a team can finish with 90 wins and not make the playoffs. I think it’s time for Bud to consider expanding the playoffs to include all 30 teams so that a team like the Angels isn’t left out.

*sarcasm*

By: rdj3torrance

rdj3torrance — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:11:47 +0000

Indeed. Torii Hunter’s family issues with his kid and the Wells injury actually allowed Trumbo to stay in the lineup without any questions whatsoever and afforded Morales ample playing time at DH to get back in the swing of things. As noted above Hunter came back and had a nice season and strong finish.

By: rdj3torrance

rdj3torrance — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:02:52 +0000

And the early struggles vs eventual contenders happened after a 2-4 start vs KC and Min when the bullpen was super not good in the Pre-Frieri era.

By: yahmule

yahmule — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:01:46 +0000

I left out July, which is typically considered part of the second half.

.392/.455/.804 with 10 HR and 9 SB.

So, yeah, MVP.

By: yahmule

yahmule — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:58:26 +0000

Trout in August: .284/.366/.500 with 7 HR and 11 SB.
Trout in September: .257/.380/.455 with 5 HR and 6 SB.

Apparently he evens slumps better than anybody else.

By: rdj3torrance

rdj3torrance — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:53:46 +0000

The 6-14 start was actually a blessing. Trout had time to get healthy and start raking and the rest is history. Now the 5-13 start to August was the killer. CJ Wilson’s bone spurs and Ervin Santana are the ones that need to be questioned if you ask me. Also, nobody thought the Orioles and Athletics would be crashing the postseason. Guarantee you on that day in December when I watched Albert and CJ get introduced, nobody was thinking about a 3rd place finish or the Athletics.

By: legacybroken

legacybroken — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:25:12 +0000

Forget sophmore slump, Trouts had a second half slump that has only been minimized by two ridiculous months before the slump. Pitchers have figured him out the question is if he is another Jason Heyward who eventually figures it out or become another Jeff Francouer.

By: blabidibla

blabidibla — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:56:18 +0000

Pujols turnaround coincided with Micky Hatcher’s firing.

By: richardf954

richardf954 — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:54:50 +0000

Would love to see how this guy handles a sophmore slump , With the bar set so high , and the constant media attention and expectations , next year will truly determine what this guy is really made of .

By: theboysofdallas

theboysofdallas — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:47:15 +0000

Yes it did but Houston is on there way so the halos will most likely miss the attics again

Mark my words, Houston will be just like the nationals are this year in about 2-3 years

By: moogro

moogro — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:45:21 +0000

It would be awesome to look specifically at the games he could have played in after he returned from illness with the games his teammates played center. Did they drop any balls? Crappy routes? Caught stealing? Bad slumps? This article seems like a preamble to that longer article.

By: seitz26

seitz26 — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:44:38 +0000

I think calling Pujols’ start “cold” is pretty generous. Comatose is probably more accurate.

By: vallewho

vallewho — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:44:25 +0000

…and the MVP.

By: yahmule

yahmule — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:33:03 +0000

There’s no question wasting ABs on the bum triumvirate of Wells/Abreu/Bourjos while Trout was killing it in AAA cost the Angels a playoff berth. Managers make stupid decisions and stick by them way beyond reason. It’s part of the job description.

By: takingbovadasmoney

takingbovadasmoney — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:31:37 +0000

How can WAR even be used as any sort of supporting data in an argument when every statistical agency uses different statistics and formulas to calculate it?

By: ezthinking

ezthinking — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:06:41 +0000

The Angels played a stretch of 3 at NYY, 4 v. Oak , 3 v. Baltimore and 3 at TB in their first 22 games. That’s four playoff teams. They went 4-9 against those.

They then called up Trout and in the next 12 games they beat Cleveland once, Minnesota 5 times and Toronto twice; 8-4. Playoff bound Texas and Oakland came around again, 2-3 record. Against Detriot 5-5 and 5-3 against the White Sox.

Maybe, the Angels just were the 6th best team in the league since they were not beating the other playoff teams with or without Trout.

By: randygnyc

randygnyc — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:59:45 +0000

Yes it did. Pujols’ slow start also cost them games.

By: icanspeel

icanspeel — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:59:24 +0000

The short answer is probably yes, but the long answer is you can probably come up with lots of reasons why they fell short. Same can be said for any team that misses playoffs by a few games

By: El Bravo

El Bravo — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:58:38 +0000

Imagine if Dan Haren pitched like he was supposed to and Pujols started the year hot? So many ifs….