The latest from Anaheim…
- J.A. Happ is receiving consideration from the Angels and other teams, MLB Networks’ Jon Paul Morosi tweets. It stands to reason that the Angels are looking at just about every starting pitcher available as they try to upgrade their rotation, and given the team’s injury history with pitchers, a durable veteran arm like Happ would seem to be of particular interest. Happ posted a 3.47 ERA, 7.7 K/9, and 2.80 K/BB rate over 49 1/3 innings with the Yankees last season, and though advanced metrics weren’t as enamored with his work, Happ would still appear to have something to offer a team as he enters his age-38 season. Morosi notes that new Angels GM Perry Minasian was working in the Blue Jays front office when Toronto traded for Happ during the 2012 season and when the Jays signed Happ as a free agent in the 2015-16 offseason.
- “Pathetic” was how Shohei Ohtani bluntly described his 2020 season, during a revealing interview with Yuichi Matsushita of the Kyodo News. Ohtani struggled in both facets of his game, hitting just .190/.291/.366 over 175 PA and allowing seven runs over 1 2/3 innings pitched (37.80 ERA) before being shut down from mound duty due to a flexor strain. “More than thinking how (the team) couldn’t use me or how frustrating it was, the hardest part was thinking I couldn’t produce,” Ohtani said. “If I could, I would compile better numbers, get more playing time and wouldn’t feel useless. I was frustrated I couldn’t get it done, and that was the hardest….I’d pretty much never experienced the feeling of wanting to do something but being completely unable to do it.” Ohtani was returning to pitching after Tommy John surgery kept him off the mound in 2019, and he admitted to feeling “different” while pitching post-procedure, saying “I’ll think I want to do something a certain way, but sometimes I can’t.” The Angels are surely hoping Ohtani can get back to form with a more normal offseason that doesn’t include rehab or the stop-and-start nature of last year’s preseason training, as both his bat and his arm are sorely needed.
- In other recent Angels news, the team added top prospects Brandon Marsh and Chris Rodriguez to the 40-man roster — details on that decision here.