April 3, 2018 Page 1 of 41

Press Clips

(April 3, 2018)

April 3, 2018 Page 2 of 41

CLIPS CONTENT

FROM THE OC REGISTER (PAGE 3)

Angles drop home opener, losing once again to Indians

Marketing Shohei Ohtani is a popular and comprehensive experience at Angel Stadium

Shohei Ohtani’s next start for Angels is still uncertain

Angels prospect Jahmain Jones moves from outfield to second base

These are 15 new dishes Angels Stadium has added to the menu for the 2018 season

Angels express train kicks off baseball season with stop at Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo station Friday

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES (PAGE 11)

Angels unravel early and oddly against Indians

Shohei Ohtani’s well-chronicled day off

Angels’ parker promises to return to last season’s form

FROM ANGELS.COM (PAGE 15)

Upton’s misplay, homers sting JC Ramirez

Prospect Jones shifting to second base

Biggest breakout prospect for each AL West team

FROM THE ATHLETIC (PAGE 20)

Angels set the stage for a perfect home opener…and then the game started

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (PAGE 22)

Encarnacion’s inside-park HR highlights Indians’ 6-0 win

Average age of a major league player drops below 29 on Opening Day

FROM ESPN.COM (PAGE 25)

Should Shohei Ohtani stay a two-way player? Exactly 100 years ago, the Red Sox faced the same

question with Babe Ruth

What have we learned about Shohei Ohtani so far?

FROM MLB.COM (PAGE 33)

Latest Power Rankings have Astros at No. 1

FROM USA TODAY (PAGE 35)

Mike Trout Monday: After brutal opener, Mike Trout swiftly returns to being Mike Trout

FROM KABC (PAGE 36)

Angel Stadium debuting new treats, gear at home opener

FROM BALLPARK DIGEST (PAGE 37)

2018 Preview: Los Angeles Angels, Angel Stadium

FROM SPORTS PRO MEDIA (PAGE 38)

MLB’s Angels, Dodgers and Rangers announce deals

FROM SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (PAGE 38)

Yankees? Yes! Angels? Sure! Tigers? No! Ranking the Watchability of Every MLB Team this Season

FROM AL.COM (PAGE 39)

Mobile BayBear’s 2018 Opening Day roster includes 7 of Angels’ top 30 prospects

FROM ZY.COM (PAGE 40)

Why aren’t more Japanese sluggers hitting the big time?

April 3, 2018 Page 3 of 41

FROM THE OC REGISTER

Angels drop home opener, losing once again to Indians

By Jeff Fletcher

ANAHEIM — The Angels’ home opener began with all of the normal pomp and circumstance that

summons the optimism of the season ahead.

Then it devolved into reminders of what had gone wrong in the past.

The Angels lost 6-0 to the Cleveland Indians on Monday night before an announced sellout crowd of

43,904 at Angel Stadium, dropping their 12th straight game against the Indians.

What’s more, the Cleveland pitcher who started the game was traded by the Angels in one of the

organization’s more forgettable recent trades.

Mike Clevinger, dealt to the Indians in exchange for Vinnie Pestano in 2014, buzzed through the Angels

lineup for 5-1/3 innings.

Meanwhile, the Indians pounded JC Ramírez for five runs in 4-2/3 innings, setting the Angels on an early

path toward yet another loss to the Indians.

The Angels have lost 15 of their last 16 games against the Indians, the only victory in that span coming

on June 11, 2016. Since then, their losing streak against Cleveland matches their longest against one

team in franchise history. They also lost 12 in a row against the Baltimore Orioles in 1979-80 and against

the Kansas City Royals in 1975.

After winning three of four in the first weekend against the rebuilding Oakland A’s, the Angels got a

crack at one of the league’s elite teams, and it didn’t go well.

The Indians scored runs with their power, their speed and even some sloppy Angels defense.

In the second inning, Edwin Encarnacion hit a drive down the left field line. Justin Upton couldn’t make

the catch, and the ball hit the top of the wall and bounced back onto the field. Upton, clearly thinking it

was foul, didn’t immediately chase the ball. Third base umpire John Tumpane called it fair, and

Encarnacion circled the bases with an inside-the-park homer.

Although Manager Mike Scioscia came out to talk with Tumpane, replays showed the call was correct,

and the Angels didn’t even challenge.

An inning later, speedy Bradley Zimmer reached on an infield hit. He hit a ground ball to first baseman

Jefry Marte and he got to first before Ramírez, who missed the bag with his foot. Zimmer then stole

second. He went to third on a passed ball and scored when catcher Martín Maldonado’s throw got past

third baseman Luis Valbuena.

April 3, 2018 Page 4 of 41

The Indians scored three in the fourth in more traditional fashion. Yonder Alonso belted a solo homer

and then Tyler Naquin hit a two-run shot, making it 5-0.

While the Indians were hitting Ramírez, the Angels were doing little with Clevinger. They didn’t even get

a runner to third base against him before he was done, one out into the sixth.

Clevinger now has a 2.95 ERA in four starts against the Angels, who no doubt regret a trade that netted

them just 11-2/3 innings of relief from Pestano. Jerry Dipoto was the Angels general manager who made

the trade.

Clevinger, who was still trying to rediscover his delivery following Tommy John surgery at the time of the

deal, said there is still motivation to beat the Angels.

“It means something every time,” Clevinger told The Athletic before the series. “Every time we play

them, it means something. It’s not anything super bitter, it’s just fun. It makes it more of a battle, a little

bit of a personal battle.”

Marketing Shohei Ohtani is a popular and comprehensive experience at Angel

Stadium

By J.P. Hoornstra

ANAHEIM — Every Angels player and coach was introduced on the field before their first home game of the season Monday. The loudest applause went to Mike Trout. Shohei Ohtani received a hearty clap, too. It was nothing to write home about, though there were dozens of Japanese reporters here to do exactly that.

When it comes to pushing merchandise, Ohtani needs no introduction.

Since the first Ohtani shirts arrived at Angel Stadium on Dec. 9 at noon – the day of his introductory news conference – no player has moved more product. He might never be Babe Ruth, but for now Ohtani is the Angels’ sultan of swag.

“Just a tick above Mike Trout,” said Tony Stevenson, Angel Stadium’s director of merchandise.

Step into the team store on the first floor at Angel Stadium, and you will find Ohtani shirts, jerseys,

pennants, beach towels, commemorative coins, hats, stickers and other artwork. Want Ohtani to hold

your beer? His face adorns a 12-ounce can cooler.

You don’t even have to step into the team store on the second floor to find more: Ohtani jerseys hang

front and center just inside the doorway, visible to fans as they walk the concourse behind home plate.

Not bad for a 23-year-old who had never played a regular-season game before last week.

April 3, 2018 Page 5 of 41

Stevenson said the demand for Ohtani merchandise did not catch him by surprise.

“We knew from the press conference and some of the communications that it would be big,” he said.

“We’ve prepared for that. We were able to build an appropriate product line based on that.”

Of course, Ohtani gear flew off the virtual shelves of the Angels’ website long before Angel Stadium

opened its doors for last week’s Freeway Series exhibition against the Dodgers. Much of what was on

sale Monday also appeared in the Angels’ team store at Tempe Diablo Stadium during spring training. An

independent firm, Legends, has a contract to operate the retail outlets within both venues.

Besides the usual (and unusual) gear, Ohtani is hard to miss. A photo from Ohtani’s introductory news

conference was selected as the image for April in the calendars that were distributed to fans on opening

day.

In Section 226, on the second level behind home plate, sits a concession stand called “The Changeup.”

Its menu rotates each month, featuring items tied to a different player or (in the case of the featured

Italian Cuisine in August) Manager Mike Scioscia.

April’s menu features Asian Cuisine inspired by Ohtani: pork katsu, assorted sushi rolls, teriyaki chicken

and match cheesecake. Stevenson said the items were selected under the direction of executive chef

Robert Biebrich.

The hype that surrounded Ohtani’s arrival faded in spring training, when there were genuine concerns

about his performance on the field. He had four hits in 32 at-bats against major league competition, a

.125 batting average. As a pitcher, Ohtani allowed nine runs in 2-2/3 innings (a 27.00 ERA).

In light of these struggles, maybe the early bombardment of Ohtani merchandise was overboard. But

Stevenson said there is risk with the marketing of any player. One might get traded. Another might get

injured.

“We kind of follow the news and get some guidance from the front office,” Stevenson said, “and guys

like the communications team in different areas kind of help out and give little hints here and there.”

Between the Ohtani-inspired menu at Angel Stadium in April, and this month’s picture in the team

calendar, there’s no evidence of a hint that Ohtani would start the season in the minor leagues.

Considering the popularity of his merchandise in Anaheim, it makes more sense to have Ohtani here.

“It’s some of the most popular products in the store right now,” Stevenson said.

Shohei Ohtani’s next start for Angels is still uncertain

By Jeff Fletcher

April 3, 2018 Page 6 of 41

ANAHEIM — A day after Shohei Ohtani’s major league pitching debut, the Angels still weren’t saying

when, or if, he will pitch on this homestand.

The Angels could have Ohtani pitch Saturday on five days rest or Sunday on six days rest.

Ohtani has pitched on at least six days rest every time except once, following a 31-pitch outing in the

spring, so it stands to reason that he’s more likely to pitch on Sunday. He threw 92 pitches against the

Oakland A’s on Sunday.

Manager Mike Scioscia said the Angels on Wednesday would announce their rotation for this weekend’s

series against Oakland.

While the Cleveland Indians won’t get to see Ohtani pitch in this three-game series, they could see him

hit as soon as Tuesday, although Scioscia wouldn’t commit to that either.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona got a good look at Ohtani in 2014, when he managed a team of

major leaguers on an offseason trip to Japan. Ohtani, who was 20 at the time, pitched a perfect inning in

Game 1 of the series.

Could Francona envision Ohtani pitching in MLB by age 23?

“I think you could have envisioned him pitching (in MLB) the next week,” he said. “He looked good. He

looked real good.”

HEANEY UPDATE

Andrew Heaney is scheduled to throw 80-90 pitches in a minor league game on Friday, Scioscia said.

Heaney, who is out with elbow inflammation, said he felt good a day after a 69-pitch outing in an

intrasquad game in Arizona.

If Heaney comes through his minor league outing without any problems, he would be able to start by

the time the Angels need a sixth starter, which would be during the series starting April 12 in Kansas

City.

UP NEXT

Angels (Garrett Richards, 0-0, 7.20) vs. Indians (Josh Tomlin, 10-9, 4.98 in 2017), 7 p.m., Fox Sports West,

KLAA (830 AM).

Angels prospect Jahmai Jones moves from outfield to second base

By Jeff Fletcher

ANAHEIM — Another top Angels prospect is moving to a new position.

April 3, 2018 Page 7 of 41

When the Angels released their minor league rosters on Monday, Jahmai Jones was listed as an infielder

for Class-A Inland Empire.

Jones, generally considered one of the organization’s top five prospects, had been an outfielder. Some

scouts, though, wondered about his future in the outfield, because his defense wasn’t good enough for

center field and he didn’t have the power for the corners. Jones’ strengths are his hitting and speed.

“The strength of his profile tools and his history of playing there in high school give us confidence that

he can handle the transition,” General Manager Billy Eppler said via text on Monday.

Last week, Eppler said the Angels had moved Taylor Ward, their first-round pick in 2015, from catcher to

third base.

The Jones moves comes less than a month after he shot down speculation of a position move.

When a representative from a glove company was at Angels camp in early March, Jones got a second

baseman’s glove. That news spread via social media, prompting Jones to explain that it was something

he was doing on his own. Jones, 20, said at that time that no one in the organization had suggested the

switch to him. He acknowledged that he was open to anything, though.

“You never know how the game is changing,” he said last month. “You could be playing one position day

and another position another day. I’m in big league camp as an outfielder. That’s what I’m focusing on

now.”

Jones will be joined on the Inland Empire squad by Griffin Canning, the right-hander from Santa

Margarita High selected out of UCLA in the second round last year. Canning did not pitch at all in the

Angels system last year, because the Angels believed he’d thrown enough innings during the college

season.

Outfielders Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh, two of the top prospects in the system, will both start at

Burlington, Iowa, in the low-A Midwest League. Torii Hunter Jr. is also on the Burlington roster.

Right-handers Jesus Castillo and Jake Jewell, first baseman Matt Thaiss and Ward highlight the roster at

Double-A Mobile.

The best prospects at Triple-A are right-hander Jaime Barria and infielder David Fletcher. Otherwise, the

Salt Lake City roster includes many players who have been in the big leagues, such as pitchers Parker

Bridwell and Nick Tropeano, infielders Chris Carter and Ryan Schimpf and outfielders Eric Young Jr. and

Rymer Liriano.

Kevin Maitan, the top prospect the Angels signed over the winter, has not yet been assigned. The 18-

year-old infielder is likely to be on the roster of one of the short-season teams that begin their season in

June.

April 3, 2018 Page 8 of 41

These are 15 new dishes Angel Stadium has added to the menu for the 2018

season

By Anne Valdespino

Hey, Angels fans! Here comes a lineup of new snacks, sandwiches, desserts and entrees to enjoy this

season and unlike those fools in Dodger blue we won’t be stress-eating after a tragic end to a noble

season.

Things are looking up with our acquisition of Shohei Ohtani so we can be on our merry way to our seats,

toting a host of gourmet and comfort foods as we cheer the Angels on to victory.

On Friday, March 30, Chef Robert Biebrich of Legends Hospitality and stadium general manager David

Lippman presented a tasting of new items they were “super excited” about.

“It’s great to have all these new culinary ideas,” Biebrich said, adding that like the players, his crew

works as a team so these new plates aren’t entirely his inventions.

While he resisted naming a favorite dish, he did admit to one craving, “I’m going for the baked potato.”

That’s the Smoke Ring Spud loaded with pulled pork in a sweet/tangy barbecue sauce, cheddar, green

onions and crispy fried onions.

(My personal craving might just be the Everything Cookie Marshmallow Sandwich, which you can only

order from the dessert cart in the Suites. Two cookies stuffed with chocolate chips, pretzel bits, potato

chips and —popcorn!—are filled with marshmallow and then the edges are toasted with a brulee torch.

It’s like a Little Debbie Oatmeal Crème Sandwich for grown-ups.)

A returning favorite of sorts is the Change Up Kitchen at the Terrace Level at Section 226.

The player-inspired menus will change each month. First up to bat is Shohei Ohtani’s Asian cuisine

served through May 3. They’ll be serving assorted sushi rolls, pork katsu with Japanese curry sauce and

steamed rice and teriyaki grilled chicken thighs with steamed rice, broccoli and teriyaki sauce. There’s

even a matcha cheesecake, which is more like a green tea pudding.

The upcoming roster includes Mike Trout’s Philadelphia cuisine May 10-20; Justin Upton’s All-American

cuisine June 1-24; Albert Pujols’ Latin American cuisine July 6-29; Mike Scioscia’s Italian cuisine Aug. 6-28

and Zack Cozart’s Southern Cuisine Sept. 10-30.

For premium ticket holders there are new entrees in the Diamond Club and at Saint Archer Brewing Co.

Restaurant. Saint Archer, on the Club Level in Right Field next to the Bud Patio, is open to all ticket

holders if you abide by the rules: Reservations can be made through OpenTable five days prior to the

first game of each home stand. The restaurant opens to Club level ticket holders two hours before the

first pitch; general public entrance is allowed after the first pitch.

April 3, 2018 Page 9 of 41

Here’s a look at all of the new concessions as well as a short list of our favorite items from the premium

seating areas.

Shrimp Aguachile: (Available at Casa Modelo –Terrace Level, Section 259. Cost: $12.50)

Light and refreshing, this mélange of cucumber, onion and lime-marinated shrimp gets a spicy kick from

fruity green peppers.

Hugo’s Empanadas: (Available at Casa Modelo—Terrace Level, Section 260. Cost: $6.50)

Pastry encloses a moist spiced ground beef and potato mixture but it’s the sauce that makes it, a creamy

Salsa Chilena with a hint of lemon.

Smoke Ring Spud: (Available at Smoke Ring BBQ—Gate 1. Cost: $11)

A baked potato stuffed with smoked pork butt, cheddar, green onions and topped with fried onions, it’s

like pulled pork Irish nachos—a great mash-up!

The Mound: (Available at Coffee Bean Kiosk –Field Level, Home Plate Gate. Cost: $15)

Soft chocolate chip cookies are served in a souvenir helmet. You get a dozen plus three, so no fighting

over the last one.

Santa Maria-Style Steak Sandwich: (Available at Field Level, Section 113. Cost: $13)

Steak seasoned with a Santa Maria-style rub and a snappy smooth salsa roja. It’s served on a garlic

buttered hoagie roll.

Meatball Grilled Cheese: (Available at Terrace Level, Section 211. Cost: $12)

This is more of a panini because it’s served on a hoagie roll that’s grilled before it’s filled with big, beefy,

tender meatballs with plenty of stretchy provolone. A savory marinara sauce pulls it all together.

Cubano Grilled Cheese: (Available at Terrace Level, Section 211. Cost: $12)

Again, this is more of a panini but it will still satisfy your medianoche jones with creamy mustard sauce,

thinly sliced roast pork, ham, pickles and Swiss.

Thai Shrimp Salad: (Saint Archer Brewing Co. Restaurant. Cost: Not available )

Plump jumbo shrimp are set on a fruity mango puree, with coconut milk, cucumber, Asian herbs and

crispy shallots.

Crispy Jidori Chicken Wings: (Saint Archer Brewing Co. Restaurant Cost: NA )

These are coated with chermoula (Moroccan herb sauce) and pomegranate molasses and spiked with

Aleppo pepper.

April 3, 2018 Page 10 of 41

Steak Frites: (Saint Archer Brewing Co. Restaurant Cost: NA)

Flat Iron with crispy potatoes, red chimichurri and greens.

Premium Seating Short List

Beer Braised Short Rib: (Diamond Club, Cost: NA)

It’s fork tender, with roasted seasonal vegetables and a savory sauce, set on a bed of creamy grits spiked

with aged cheddar—and tastes like grandma’s pot roast went uptown.

Pastrami Fries: (Restaurant Brought In-Seat, Cost: NA)

House-steamed pastrami made with beef from Newport Meat Company is fatty and luxurious, draped in

a secret sauce with pickles. Almost forgot to mention the fries and cheddar sauce.

Kalbi Short Rib Fries: (Suites Cost: NA)

Korean style short rib meat with gochujang aioli includes a topping of pickled vegetables, marinated

cucumber and green onions to keep everything in balance.

Lemon tart: (Suites Dessert Cart Cost: NA)

Shortbread crust gets filled with creamy lemon filling, then crowned with fresh strawberries and softly

whipped cream, and decorated with edible flowers—as beautiful as it is dreamy.

Oreo Caramel Apple: (Suites Dessert Cart Cost: NA)

An enormous apple dunked in caramel gets rolled in crushed cookies and drizzled with colored icing. It’s

softball big but the servers will slice it for ya.

Angels express train kicks off baseball season with stop at Laguna

Niguel/Mission Viejo station Friday

By Jennifer Karmarkar

Angels fans, don’t miss a minute of the action! Hop aboard the Angels Express Fan Train on Friday, April

6.

Fans are invited to the Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Metrolink Station starting at 4 p.m. for the Angels

Express Rally, followed by a ride to the game versus Oakland. Former Angels pitcher Clyde Wright will be

on hand to sign autographs. Riders can also grab some baseball swag from the Strike Force team. The

rally includes food, prizes and face painting before the train departs the station at 5:55 p.m.

April 3, 2018 Page 11 of 41

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) will operate the special Angels Express trains again

this year to all weekday home games that start at 7:07 p.m. for $7 or less round-trip.

For more information, visit AngelsExpress.net.

IF YOU GO

What: OCTA’s Angels Express Fan Train

When: Friday, April 6 and all weekday home games starting at 7:07 p.m.

Where: Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Metrolink Station

Cost: Roundtrip fares: adults $7, seniors $6, kids 6-14 $4, Under 5 free with paid adult (limit 3 per fare)

Tickets: AngelsExpress.net

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Angels unravel early and oddly against Indians

By Jeff Miller

They were two games over .500, having won three of four in Oakland.

They were riding a wave of international euphoria provided by their Japanese wonder.

They were saluting one their past fan favorites, Jered Weaver, asked to toss out the ceremonial first pitch.

The Angels were all set for their home opener Monday night except for one thing: They were playing the wrong team.

There should have been no opponent less welcomed in Anaheim for this occasion than the Cleveland Indians, who recently have been resurrected in part because of their overwhelming success against the Angels.

This one ended up 6-0 in Cleveland's favor, the Angels now having fallen to the Indians 12 straight times, a streak that ties the club record for losses to one team and goes back to when no one around here even knew the name Shohei Ohtani.

The latest defeat unraveled early and oddly, the Indians scoring their first run when the Angels stopped playing and their second on consecutive defensive miscues by a player who, during this homestand, will be recognized for winning a 2017 Gold Glove.

April 3, 2018 Page 12 of 41

The weirdness commenced with one out in the second, when Edwin Encarnacion hit a JC Ramirez fastball toward the base of the foul pole in left.

Justin Upton retreated and as he, the wall and the ball converged, so too did the outstretched glove of a fan.

The ball, however, hit nothing until striking the wide yellow line painted on the wall to differentiate fair from foul.

Upton reached for it as it descended and then, thinking the ball had landed foul, didn't pursue it.

"I ran after the ball and braced myself on the wall," he said. "Had no clue the ball was fair. Couldn't hear anything…so it was an inside-the-park home run."

As Encarnacion kept circling toward the plate, Upton realized the play was live but had no time to recover.

An inning later, the Angels' defensive lapse was even more bizarre because of the man who authored it.

Martin Maldonado is acknowledged as one of the finest catchers in baseball, one who last season had a fielding percentage of .998. He helped win one of the games in Oakland by picking off a runner from first.

But here, he was charged with a passed ball and throwing error on the same play, allowing Bradley Zimmer to advance to third and then home as the Indians assumed control on a night when the Angels' offense went flat.

So what's left? Just this: The winning pitcher Monday was Mike Clevinger, a former Angels' fourth-round pick who, in 2014, was traded to Cleveland for reliever Vinnie Pestano.

"It's good fun," Clevinger said of the victory. "I always want to leave a good impression."

This home opener could have gone better. Or at least had a less cruel guest list.

Shohei Ohtani’s well-chronicled day off

By Mike Digiovanna

Like most Broadway productions on the traditional first day of the workweek, Sho-Time was dark

Monday night, the Angels giving Shohei Ohtani a recovery day after his sizzling major league pitching

debut in Oakland on Sunday.

Ohtani-mania, however, remained lit.

April 3, 2018 Page 13 of 41

Ohtani was not in the lineup for a 6-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians in the home opener, and he didn't hit

on the field before the game, but there was still a huge Japanese media contingent on hand to chronicle

his every move, or non-move, as was the case Monday.

Some 50 to 60 reporters and photographers stood in front of the dugout during batting practice,

seemingly impervious to the ear-splitting, bone-rattling hip-hop music blaring from the new field-level

speakers flanking the dugout.

There were so many media members inside the dugout that shortstop Andrelton Simmons looked like

he weaved through an obstacle course going from the far end of the dugout to the bat rack.

"Honestly, I love that [the media] gives more attention to him and less to me," Simmons said in the

clubhouse before warmups. "The only problem I have is that sometimes it gets crowded in here … or out

there.

"I do feel bad for Shohei. It would be nice to get him some breathing room sometimes. I'll shoo a couple

of reporters away if I have to, and if we see that it's too much, if he gets overwhelmed, we'll help him

out. It's a lot of work for him, but he's handling it pretty well."

What about the other 24 guys in the room? How are they handling a new clubhouse dynamic that is

similar to what the Dodgers experienced during Hideo Nomo's rookie year in 1995 and the Seattle

Mariners experienced during Ichiro Suzuki's rookie year in 2001, when one player is clearly the main

attraction?

The Angels have arguably the best all-around player in baseball in center fielder Mike Trout, a first-ballot

Hall of Famer in first baseman Albert Pujols and several other respected veterans, and they are dwarfed

by the presence of a 23-year-old rookie.

"It's great — give him the attention," pitcher Matt Shoemaker said. "I think people embrace it. They

enjoy it. Not that we need it, but it brings more attention to the team, us being a West Coast team, with

the time difference."

Ohtani makes it difficult for teammates to feel any kind of resentment toward him. He has a boyish grin

and a youthful enthusiasm that has endeared him to his new team. His work ethic and attention to

detail and his ability to make adjustments on the fly have drawn rave reviews from coaches and

teammates.

Despite the heavy pressure and expectations, Ohtani looks like he's having a blast, especially when he

broke into a huge grin and exchanged hugs and high-fives with teammates after completing Sunday's

six-inning, three-hit, three-run, six-strikeout, one-walk effort in a 7-4 victory over the Athletics.

Would the Ohtani effect be tougher to embrace if Ohtani was aloof or a prima donna?

April 3, 2018 Page 14 of 41

"It would be interesting if he was, but too bad for him, he's a nice guy, and he tries to please

everybody," Simmons said. "He handles it really well for a 23-year-old with all the hype and all the

attention he gets, doing something that doesn't get done very often, and trying to get his work in while

all that is going on."

If Ohtani continues to pitch as he did Sunday, when he averaged 97.8 mph on the 39 four-seam fastballs

he threw and induced 10 swinging strikes with a sharp-breaking split-fingered pitch, he will not be a

distraction, no matter how large his media contingent grows.

"He gets all the attention because everybody loves the new," said Simmons, who singled his first two at-

bats Monday night. "It's good. I'm glad he gets it. He's a special talent. But at the same time, I hope he

keeps doing a good job."

Angels’ Parker promises to return to last season’s form

By Jeff Miller

He was a feel-good story for the Angels last season, a reliever who, at age 32, finally established himself in the big leagues after years of trying.

In his first two appearances of 2018, however, the air surrounding Blake Parker has been slightly chillier.

He struggled through the ninth inning Friday, allowing two hits, a walk and a run while picking up the save in a 2-1 victory over Oakland.

He struggled again Sunday against the A's, retiring only one of the four batters he faced in the ninth before being lifted in favor of Keynan Middleton, who got the final two outs for the save.

"I'm going to get better," Parker said. "I'm going to keep working and get back to where I know I can be and pitching more competitively."

He said he spent part of Monday watching video, particularly of his 2017 season, when he had a 2.54 ERA, 0.832 WHIP and eight saves in 71 games.

Parker explained that his arm and body both feel fine. He has concluded that his issues are mechanical.

"I want to help this team out," Parker said. "We've got a good team here and a good bullpen. We've got a good chance to make some moves this season. But it's going to take all of us to be locked in."

Francona knew Ohtani would pitch in the majors

Cleveland manager Terry Francona evidently wasn't surprised at what Shohei Ohtani did Sunday in Oakland.

April 3, 2018 Page 15 of 41

In November of 2014, Francona was a coach on a team of big-leaguers during a tour of Japan. Ohtani pitched in that series, losing a game in which his opposing starter was the Angels' Matt Shoemaker.

Ohtani, who was 20 at the time, went four innings, giving up two runs on six hits and striking out seven.

That was enough to impress Francona. On Monday, when asked how soon he envisioned Ohtani being ready to pitch in the big leagues back then, Francona said, "In the next week."

Heaney to pitch Friday in minor-league outing

Andrew Heaney (elbow inflammation) is scheduled to pitch Friday in a minor league game and throw 80 to 90 pitches.

If he passes that test, he could make his 2018 debut the first time the team needs an additional starter, during the April 12-15 series in Kansas City.

Etc.

Jahmai Jones, the Angels' No. 4 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is moving from the outfield to second base. He'll open the season at single-A Inland Empire. … The Angels unveiled their new protective netting, which extends at the same height of the netting above the backstop to the far end of each dugout.

FROM ANGELS.COM

Upton’s misplay, homers sting JC Ramirez

Angels starter hampered by cracked fingernail in loss to Indians

By Maria Guardado

ANAHEIM -- Justin Upton clung to the short wall in left field as the deep fly ball off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion caromed off the yellow foul line and rolled toward center field. Certain the ball was foul, Upton felt no urgency to pursue it. The assumption proved inaccurate and costly.

By the time Upton retrieved the ball and overthrew his cutoff man, the 35-year-old Encarnacion had completed his fortuitous trip around the bases, authoring the first inside-the-park home run against the Angels since 2009 and giving the Indians an early lead they would never relinquish in a 6-0 Cleveland victory.

"I ran after the ball, and I braced myself on the wall," Upton said. "I had no clue the ball was fair. I couldn't hear anything, so it was an inside-the-park home run."

Said Encarnacion: "I'm still tired."

April 3, 2018 Page 16 of 41

The Angels' vaunted defense faltered twice Monday night, while their offense was stifled by old friend Mike Clevinger, culminating in a loss that dampened the festivities of Opening Night at Angel Stadium.

"There were a couple plays that we didn't make and kind of put us behind the eight-ball," manager Mike Scioscia said.

The Angels (3-2) have now dropped 12 straight and 16 of their last 17 games to the Indians, matching their longest losing streak in club history against one team. They also lost 12 consecutive games to Baltimore from 1979-80 and to Kansas City in 1975.

Aside from Upton's misplay in the second inning, the Indians also scored on an error by Martin Maldonado in the third and padded their lead after Yonder Alonso and Tyler Naquin launched home runs off right-hander JC Ramirez in a three-run fourth.

Ramirez took the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits over 4 2/3 innings in his season debut. The 29-year-old cracked the nail of his right index finger while throwing a curveball Monday, which Scioscia said likely hampered his performance.

"When push came to shove, he made some mistakes to some good hitters, and those guys hit the ball hard at times," Scioscia said. "I don't think it was as bad as maybe his line score is going to show, but he didn't maintain his stuff, especially after he got a little crack in his nail."

Clevinger, a former Angels prospect who was dealt to Cleveland for reliever Vinnie Pestano in 2014, shut out his former organization over 5 1/3 innings, yielding four hits while walking two and striking out five. The Angels tallied only six hits against Cleveland's pitching staff and did not advance a runner past second base.

"It's good fun," said Clevinger, who improved to 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA in four starts against the Angels. "I came up there. I know a lot of people over there. I try to use emotion to my advantage."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Maldonado's rare defensive hiccup: One inning after Encarnacion's fluke home run, the Indians used another defensive breakdown from the Angels to extend their lead to 2-0. After reaching on an infield single, Bradley Zimmer stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball by Maldonado, the Angels' Gold Glove Award-winning catcher. Maldonado corralled the ball and tried to throw to third to nab Zimmer, but his throw went wide of Luis Valbuena, allowing Zimmer to score.

Alonso, Naquin go deep: Alonso led off the fourth by crushing a first-pitch slider 407 feet to right field for his second home run of the season. After Lonnie Chisenhall singled, Naquin launched a two-run shot -- his first of the year -- off Ramirez to put the Indians ahead 5-0.

"Two pitches that I missed in the middle," Ramirez said. "Two home runs. I think that was the game for me. I couldn't keep it close enough to where we could make a comeback."

April 3, 2018 Page 17 of 41

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS The last time the Angels allowed an inside-the-park home run was Sept. 12, 2009, when Scott Podsednik of the White Sox accomplished the feat against Ervin Santana.

MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY Andrelton Simmons, who finished 2-for-4, extended his hitting streak to five games after singling in the second inning and then dodged a pickoff attempt by Indians catcher Yan Gomes with a feet-first slide back into first base during an at-bat by Jefry Marte. The Indians challenged the call, but a replay review determined the ruling stands.

WHAT'S NEXT Garrett Richards will make his second start of the season Tuesday as the Angels continue their three-game series with the Indians at 7:07 p.m. PT at Angel Stadium. Richards gave up four runs over five innings in the Angels' Opening Day loss to the A's on Thursday. The 29-year-old right-hander is 1-0 with a 4.40 ERA in two previous starts against the Indians. Shohei Ohtani is also expected to return to the lineup as the Angels' designated hitter.

Prospect Jones shifting to second base

Heaney feels ‘fresh’ after pitching in intrasquad game

By Avery Yang

ANAHEIM -- The Angels are moving Jahmai Jones, the club's No. 4 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, from outfield to second base, effective immediately. Jones will open the 2018 season with the Angels' Class-A Advanced affiliate, the Inland Empire 66ers, and is also the No. 93 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline's rankings.

"The strength of his profile tools and his history of playing there in high school give us confidence that he can handle the transition," general manager Billy Eppler said Monday.

Jones, 20, hit .302/.368/.488 with five home runs and 17 RBIs in 191 plate appearances with Inland Empire last season after a late July promotion from Class A Burlington. He was the Angels' second-round Draft pick in 2015.

Heaney update

Andrew Heaney will have a second rehab assignment Friday, when he will throw 80 to 90 pitches in a Minor League game, putting him on track to return from the left elbow inflammation that has kept him out thus far this season. His first assignment, in an intrasquad game Sunday, yielded 69 pitches and an optimistic assessment from both Heaney and Eppler.

"I felt really good," Heaney said Monday. "After the game and today, it didn't really feel like I pitched. I felt that fresh."

April 3, 2018 Page 18 of 41

In Heaney's absence, the Angels have opted for a traditional five-man rotation in lieu of their originally planned six-man rotation. Whenever Heaney ends up returning from injury, expect the Angels to return to their six-man plan.

Cozart excited for home opener

As much as Zack Cozart may want to believe -- and as much as other players use -- the cliche that Monday's home opener is "just another game," it isn't for Cozart, who made his Angels debut at Angel Stadium on Monday night.

"For me personally, it'll be a little more special just because it's my first time here in Anaheim," Cozart said before the game. "I think guys try to take it one game at a time and not put too much pressure on one night, because we play so many games, but it's definitely a special moment. You only get one Opening Night, so you want it to be special."

Worth noting

• Though the Angels have not officially announced when Shohei Ohtani's next start on the mound will be, he has not pitched a game on fewer than six days' rest this year, so his next outing is unlikely to come before Sunday.

"There's no doubt that you have to be mindful that Shohei has a lot on his plate and we certainly want him to rebound as much as he can every time he pitches," manager Mike Scioscia said.

Scioscia again commended Ohtani's performance in Oakland on Sunday.

"Shohei gave us a chance to win and that's what we're asking from our starting rotation," Scioscia said. "It's just a great tribute to his poise. He gave up some runs, but he knuckled down and gave us some strong innings."

• The Angels' Minor League affiliates announced their initial rosters Monday, revealing where many of the organization's top prospects will begin the 2018 season.

Right-hander Jaime Barria, who is ranked the club's No. 7 prospect by MLB Pipeline, and outfielder Michael Hermosillo (No. 10) are listed on the Triple-A Salt Lake roster, while first baseman Matt Thaiss (No. 9) will break with Double-A Mobile. Inland Empire's roster will include Jones and right-hander Griffin Canning (No. 8). Outfielders Jo Adell (No. 2) and Brandon Marsh (No. 5) will open with Burlington.

Biggest breakout prospect for each AL West team

By Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo and Mike Rosenbaum

April 3, 2018 Page 19 of 41

Some prospects are highly touted heading into a season and then live up to advanced billing. Others are a bit more under the radar, either because they are coming off of injuries, haven't performed up to expectations or perhaps are just getting started on their pro careers. MLB Pipeline selected one of these type of prospects from each organization as a 2018 breakout candidate. We might not be talking much about the prospects below now, but they could jump on the scene in a big way this season.

Houston: Freudis Nova, SS (No. 5 on Astros Top 30) Nova looked destined to sign with the Marlins for $2.5 million out of the Dominican Republic, but that deal disappeared when he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in February 2016. After he passed several subsequent drug tests, the Astros landed him for $1.2 million five months later. The best prospect from their franchise-record $17.5 million spending on bonuses and penalty taxes for international players in 2016-17, he has drawn comparisons to Hanley Ramirez and Edgar Renteria.

Houston loves Nova's tools as well as his performance in various analytic measures of strength, speed and condition. He has bat speed and loft in his right-handed stroke, shows promising plate discipline, has the quickness to steal bases and the tools to stay at shortstop. He batted .247/.342/.355 as a 17-year-old in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League in 2017 and could jump to low Class A for his U.S. debut this season.

"He's so explosive," Astros farm director Pete Putila said. "He's a legitimate shortstop with power and contact and speed. He drew walks in the DSL and when he chases, he still barrels the ball. He has a good mindset. He's not distracted, he keeps working."

Los Angeles: Jerryell Rivera, LHP (No. 22 on Angels Top 30) Rivera was an under-the-radar high school lefty in Puerto Rico who was seen by many as a soft-tossing southpaw. The Angels thought there was more in the tank and took him in the 11th round, giving him $450,000 to sign. He pitched well, albeit sparingly, during his pro debut in the rookie-level Arizona League, and he's already added some ticks on his fastball since signing.

"He's incredibly athletic," Angels director of Minor League operations Mike LaCassa said. "He has an advanced feel from what we may have thought prior to him becoming an Angel, both with his fastball command and his changeup, which is his best secondary pitch. He continues to get better at a pretty impressive pace."

Oakland: Sean Murphy, C (No. 8 on A's Top 30) Undrafted out of high school and a preferred walk-on at Wright State, Murphy emerged as a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and earned All-League honors in 2015-16. After becoming the second-highest pick in Raiders history when the A's drafted him in the third round, Murphy earned California League All-Star honors (after bypassing the Class A level) before a midseason promotion up to Double-A. The 23-year-old backstop elevated his stock even more in the Arizona Fall League with a standout performance on both sides of the ball against advanced competition.

One of the better catch-and-throw backstops in the Minors, Murphy stymies the running game with plus-plus arm strength and above-average pop times, so much so that only 46 baserunners attempted to steal against him over 91 games in 2017. At the plate, the right-handed hitter exhibits a strong approach with natural hitting ability and raw power to his pull side.

April 3, 2018 Page 20 of 41

"He didn't have a lot of technique but he had very good hands," A's director of player development Keith Liepmann said. "He'll learn a lot in big league camp, pitch calling and sequences. He's a sponge. He has an eight arm -- he can really throw. He's got a really good demeanor and has a chance to be a gap-to-gap guy, maybe 15 homers a year. He's just got to learn to use the opposite field a little more."

Seattle: Wyatt Mills, C (No. 10 on Mariners Top 30) Mills opted to return for his senior season at Gonzaga, in the process passing on a 17th-round selection by the Rays, and turned in a dominant campaign, as he posted a 1.79 ERA and 12 saves to finish with the second-most saves in program history (21). The Mariners made Mills their third-round pick in June, and he proved to be far more than just a money-saving senior discount during a stellar pro debut in which he reached full-season ball.

A side-armed right-hander with two above-average pitches, Mills pairs a low-90s fastball that touches 95 mph with a tight slider. The combination makes him highly effective against same-sided hitters, and he's already impressed Mariners club officials with his ability to throw strikes from his unique slot.

"Mills is a kid we talked about in our top five rounds," Mariners director of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said. "He reminds me of Joe Smith and Steve Cishek. A guy with a unique arm slot, and the ability to throw as many strikes as he does … From the angle he's doing it from, he could be a quick mover, if he keeps doing the same things."

Texas: Hans Crouse, RHP (No. 4 on Rangers Top 30) Crouse had one of the best high school arms in the 2017 Draft, as well as a track record of success against top competition, but the effort in his delivery and his animated demeanor on the mound left some clubs unsure what to make of him. The Rangers loved his stuff and his makeup, so they gladly paid him an over-slot $1.45 million bonus when he dropped to them in the second round. He was spectacular in his pro debut, logging a 41 percent strikeout rate and a .109 opponent average in 20 Rookie-level Arizona League innings.

Crouse can destroy hitters with a mid-90s fastball that features riding life, as well as with an overpowering slider than he can manipulate into a power curveball when he wants. He also shows some promising fade on a changeup that should be a solid third offering once he develops enough separation in velocity from his heater. Though he has a lot going on with his mechanics, he keeps them in sync enough to find the strike zone on a consistent basis.

"He's so unique," Rangers assistant GM Josh Boyd said. "He has a pair of huge plus pitches and throws strikes. He regularly hits 99 mph and he has a wipeout slider. It's a unique delivery, but he repeats it and he's on time."

FROM THE ATHLETIC

Angels set the stage for a perfect home opener…and then the game started

By Steve Dilbeck

April 3, 2018 Page 21 of 41

They had the bunting. They had the giant American flag that stretched over nearly the entire outfield.

They had the pregame flyover.

A four-piece band played outside the stadium, there were pregame player introductions and fireworks

and all the obligatory home-opener necessities.

Everything … but a thrilling game.

Drama took the night off for the Angels in the first game back in Anaheim, the team coming home after

taking their last three games from the A’s, feeling all excited, and then falling flat.

Their vaunted defense handed over the first two runs. Starting pitcher JC Ramírez gave up three homers.

The offense managed six hits, three of the infield variety. Their No. 2–5 hitters — Mike Trout, Justin

Upton, Albert Pujols and Kole Calhoun — went a combined 0 for 13.

They could not scrape a run against Cleveland’s Mike Clevinger, a long-haired right-hander who was

originally a fourth-round draft pick of the Angels, falling 6-0 Monday before a hushed sellout crowd.

“There was a lot going on,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

And Scioscia was talking about a single play, and not the overall night, though the play was more than

foretelling.

It’s not that losing to the Indians is anything new for the Angels. Monday marked their 12th consecutive

loss to Cleveland (matching the club’s longest losing streak to one team) and their 16th loss in their last

17 games to the Indians.

Yet this one got off to disheartening start for the Angels when Edwin Encarnacion lifted a fly down the

left-field line in the second inning. Upton gave chase, the ball landing at the base of the short wall just

beneath the foul pole.

Upton reached and missed and, thinking it had landed on the foul side of the yellow line, gave little

notice as the ball ricocheted back into left field and the somewhat less-than-fleet Encarnacion continued

to slog around the bases.

“I ran after the ball and braced myself for the wall,” Upton said. “I thought it was foul. I didn’t hear

anything.”

As Upton stood, looking at the umpires and waiting for a call that never came, Encarnacion alertly kept

circling the bases. By the time Trout had rushed over to retrieve the ball, the Cleveland designated hitter

had crossed the plate with an unlikely inside-the-park home run.

April 3, 2018 Page 22 of 41

“We thought it was foul, too,” Scioscia said. “The ball flew back it seemed like 10 feet, which doesn’t

happen very often. With right-handers when they pull that ball to the left side of the foul pole, it’s

hooking.

“Encarnacion’s really stayed inside and the ball came back. I don’t know if the wind helped it too.”

Scioscia is always loath to criticize his players and would not hold Upton at fault for failing to chase after

the ball until the outfielder knew for certain it was foul. Upton just stood near on the warning track

looking confused.

“He thought the ball was foul and was looking for a call,” Scioscia said.

Ramírez stood on the mound, helpless.

“I didn’t expect that,” he said. “I just saw the guy running, running. Nobody got the ball. It happens.

(Upton) was confused. I thought it was a foul ball too.”

The Angels believe they are one of baseball’s finest defensive teams, if not its best, but the defense also

let them down to allow the second run to score.

Bradley Zimmer beat Ramírez to first on an infield tapper in the third inning and stole second. Martin

Maldonado, the Angels’ Gold Glove catcher, was charged with a passed ball and Zimmer took third.

Maldonado fired to third anyway, and his throw sailed into left as Zimmer scored on the throwing error.

The Angels were down 2-0 and not going to recover.

Ramírez, one of their surprising rotation fill-ins last season, gave up a solo home run to Yonder Alonso

and a two-run homer to Tyler Naquin in the fourth and the Angels' homecoming was not going to be a

party.

“Two pitches I missed in the middle, two home runs,” Ramírez said. “That was the game for me.”

A game, as teams are fond of saying when they lose, that in the larger picture is just one of 162. For

openers, however, the Angels had suffered their first shutout.

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Encarnacion’s inside-park HR highlights Indians’ 6-0 win

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Cleveland Indians loved the sight of 35-year-old Edwin Encarnacion chugging

around the bases on his way to a standup inside-the-park home run.

April 3, 2018 Page 23 of 41

"I knew he had wheels, but ..." starter Mike Clevinger said with a laugh. "You see something new every

day."

Encarnacion hit his second career inside-the-park homer and Tyler Naquin and Yonder Alonso cleared

the fences for the Indians, who beat Los Angeles 6-0 Monday night to spoil the Angels' home opener and

snap their three-game win streak.

Encarnacion hit a high fly ball off JC Ramirez that left fielder Justin Uptontracked into the corner with

one out in the second inning. The ball hit the yellow line on the padding below the foul pole and

caromed several feet away from Upton, coming to a stop on the warning track.

Upton leaned over the short fence for just a moment, apparently thinking the ball had landed foul. By

the time Upton chased it down and threw it in, the 230-pound Encarnacion was steaming around third

base on his way to scoring standing up.

Encarnacion also hit an inside-the-park homer on Aug. 31, 2007, against St. Louis while with

the Cincinnati Reds, back when he was 24. He homered twice Sunday in a loss at Seattle.

How did this one feel?

"I was too tired," he said. "I just see the ball and when the ball go away from Upton, I said in my mind,

`I've got to make it to the plate.' It was a lot of running. But I like it. It's good."

The most recent inside-the-park homer by the Indians was Naquin's remarkable game-ending hit on

Aug. 19, 2016, against Toronto.

"That's a lot of praise for Edwin," Naquin said. "That man's hit a lot of homers. It's not easy to get an

inside-the-park home run, so that obviously says Eddie's running hard. He plays the game the right way

and he showed up. You're either going to have a triple or a homer in the books. Doesn't matter how you

get it."

Encarnacion was welcomed back to the dugout with high-fives and a teammate fanning him off with a

towel.

"It was fun. Everybody was laughing about it. Everybody enjoyed it. That's good," he said.

"I ran after the ball and I braced myself on the wall, had no clue the ball was fair, couldn't hear

anything," Upton said. "(Mike) Trout was yelling but I couldn't hear anything, so it was an inside-the-

park home run.

"I thought it was going to either hit in the stands or I was going to have a chance to catch it. The wind

just swirls in the stadium. That's just how it goes. Most balls that go foul end up drifting back a little bit.

That one just came back more than usual."

April 3, 2018 Page 24 of 41

Clevinger (1-0), a former Angels farmhand, scattered four hits and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings in his

season debut.

Shohei Ohtani, the Angels' two-way star from Japan, had the night off after his impressive pitching

debut on Sunday, when he threw three-hit ball over six innings in a 7-4 victory at Oakland. Ohtani made

his hitting debut as the designated hitter on opening day, collecting his first big league hit on his first

swing.

The Indians homered twice off Ramirez in the fourth. Alonso hit a leadoff shot to right, his second, and

Naquin belted a two-run drive to right-center with two outs, his first.

Ramirez (0-1) allowed five runs, four earned, in five innings in his season debut. Manager Mike Scioscia

said he had a little crack in one of his fingernails.

Cleveland scored an unearned run in the third on catcher Martin Maldonado's throwing error. Brandon

Guyer hit an RBI double in the eighth.

MOTIVATION

"It's always good fun," Clevinger said of facing the Angels. He was drafted by Los Angeles in 2011 and

missed most of the 2012 and 2013 seasons after having reconstructive elbow surgery. He was traded to

Cleveland in 2014 and made his big league debut in 2016. "I came up there and know a lot of people

there and always want to leave a good impression. I try to use my emotions to my advantage."

OHTANI

Scioscia said Ohtani will DH on Tuesday night. The Japanese star "feels good," after Sunday's start,

Scioscia said.

UP NEXT

Indians: RHP Josh Tomlin will make his season debut on eight days' rest after making his final spring start

on March 25.

Angels: RHP Garrett Richards (0-0, 7.20 ERA) makes his second start after not factoring in the decision in

an opening-day loss at Oakland.

Average age of a major league player drops below 29 on Opening Day

NEW YORK -- The average age of a major league player on Opening Day dropped to 28.91 years from

29.13 at the start of last season.

April 3, 2018 Page 25 of 41

The Philadelphia Phillies are the youngest team at 26.92, according to the commissioner's office. Other

teams with young averages are Cincinnati (27.49), Miami (27.85), Pittsburgh (27.97), St. Louis (28.02)

and the New York Yankees(28.04).

Toronto is the oldest team, averaging 31.01. Others averaging over 30 are the Los Angeles

Angels (30.32), Seattle (30.17), San Francisco (30.15) and Cleveland 30.08).

The MLB average was 29.17 in 2015 and 29.04 in 2016.

FROM ESPN.COM

Should Shohei Ohtani stay a two-way player? Exactly 100 years ago, the Red Sox

faced the same question with Babe Ruth

By Sam Miller

Now we've seen it for real: Shohei Ohtani got a hit in his first major league at-bat, and then he got a win

in his major league debut. He sat at 98 mph as a pitcher, after rapping grounders 95, 102 and 104 mph

as a batter. The extraordinary experiment he and the Los Angeles Angels are embarking on this year -- to

make him the game's first two-way superstar in a century -- looks credible.

Which isn't to say that it looks simple. Every decision the Angels make in how they use Ohtani will be

difficult, just as it was difficult for the Boston Red Soxto decide how to use Babe Ruth 100 years ago --

almost exactly 100 years ago, in fact. In April 1918, Babe Ruth was a full-time pitcher pleading to be

allowed to play the field. His manager, Ed Barrow, was resistant, in part fearful that he'd be a

laughingstock. The decision, which came to a head in early May of that season, looks obvious in

retrospect. But what exactly was Barrow choosing between at the time? We invented an analytics

department for the 1918 Red Sox to find out.

May 5, 1918

To: Manager Ed Barrow

From: Analytics Department, Boston Red Sox

CC: Team President Harry Frazee

Mr. Barrow:

First off, congratulations on your excellent start to the season. We're sure you felt some nerves taking

on the managerial job in Boston this year, but you've guided our club to a 12-5 record and a spot atop

the AL standings.

April 3, 2018 Page 26 of 41

We understand it hasn't been without drama. Babe Ruth has been agitating to bat full-time, and one

does like to respect a player's wishes and comfort. On the other hand, as you told Harry Hooper, you

believe assenting to this request would make you "the laughingstock of baseball." Because we don't

have an official game scheduled today, Mr. Frazee asked that we in the club's analytics department run

some calculations to make your decision easier.

1. How good is Babe Ruth as a pitcher?

Over the past two seasons, Babe has been one of the three best pitchers in baseball and clearly the best

left-hander. Only two pitchers have thrown more innings: Walter Johnson and Pete Alexander. Only two

pitchers (Alexander and Eddie Cicotte) have lower ERAs than Babe. In that time, Ruth has allowed just

two home runs, in 650 innings, the lowest rate of any pitcher. In big games, he's even better: Recall his

14-inning complete game in the 1916 World Series or note his 6-1 record in head-to-head matchups

against Johnson. Add to this the value he brings at the plate when he pitches, and he has been one of

the two most valuable pitchers in baseball, according to our proprietary, all-in-one stat, Whoopla

Achieved Relatively (or WAR). Most staggeringly, Ruth has only just turned 23, which makes him nearly a

decade younger than Johnson and Alexander.

Babe isn't a good pitcher; he's a historic one. He's one of the three best pitchers in the world, in his early

20s, with a career-defining World Series performance and spectacular value to his team. If you just stick

with him on the mound, in 100 years he'll probably be as famous as Tim Keefe, John Clarkson and Jim

McCormick! Any change would be a huge gamble, and for it to pay off, you'd have to think Babe could

become the greatest hitter of all time.

2. How good is Babe Ruth as a hitter?

This is the tricky part because we haven't seen enough of him to know. Here's the case for "elite" hitter:

Before he became a professional ballplayer, he was considered an elite amateur hitter.

According to our scoutsi, opposing right fielders would back up so far that they would actually

leave the field and stand on far distant fields in the middle of far distant games. Ruth has hit

some of the longest home runs we've ever seen, including the longest in Sportsman's Park

history.

As a professional ballplayer, in small samples, he has been very good. In 1915, for instance, he

led the Red Sox in home runs, despite batting just 103 times. He had more than half the league-

leading home run total that year! In his career, he has homered about seven times more

frequently than the average AL hitter, and he has doubled and tripled more frequently than the

average hitter. By our calculations, he has been about 50 percent more valuable as a hitter than

the average American Leaguer, which is about as good during that stretch as Rogers Hornsby,

Eddie Collins and George Sisler -- all of them Hale Orb Flatteners. Babe, as a hitter, might well

turn out to be a HOFer, too.

Harry Hooper believes he should be a hitter, and so do many of Babe's teammates. Hooper

knows a lot about baseball, and his expertise carries a lot of weight.

April 3, 2018 Page 27 of 41

But there's also a strong case against Ruth being a truly elite hitter.

Babe might have once been an extraordinary hitter, as an amateur and as a rookie in 1915, but

his numbers nosedived in 1916 and weren't quite out of this world (just two homers) in 1917.

Hitting at a high level requires extraordinary cognitive training, and Ruth has basically sacrificed

five years of that crucial development time by being a full-time pitcher. There's an argument to

be made that had Babe chosen hitting when he was 17, he would have gone on to be a better

hitter than pitcher, maybe even the greatest hitter ever. But it might well be too late to play

catchup. (To be fair, it might well be the opposite: Maybe he has enormous untapped

development potential as a hitter. We just can't know without testing. But there's a reason

more hitters convert to pitching late than vice versa. The development demands are daunting.)

Over the past two years, he's only 18th in the majors in batting average. By a proprietary club

metric we call Owkwardly Paired Statistics, or OPS, he's 10th. That's very good! But it's way, way

behind the truly elite hitters, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Remember: As

a pitcher, Ruth already is the truly elite.

Now, hitters tend to age more predictably than pitchers. We might expect Babe to get better as

a hitter as he matures but not necessarily as a pitcher. But Babe's such an odd hitter: He strikes

out way more than his peers. His 17 percent strikeout rate would be the highest of all time if he

were a non-pitcher, almost double the league average. He also walks less than the average

American Leaguer. There's no doubt he's strong and hits the ball hard, but his plate discipline is

terrible, and his strikeouts suggest he might really struggle when exposed to more good

pitching.

Hooper might like him as a hitter, but if Babe were really that good, you'd think his managers

would have noticed it, too. Babe's previous managers have batted him ninth, and he pinch hit

only 11 times last year. That's a lot -- for a pitcher! But if this guy were really the world's

greatest hitter, a smart manager would find a place for him to pinch hit almost every day. We're

big believers not just in stats but also in trusting the judgment of experts such as Jack Barry and

Bill Carrigan, Ruth's previous managers.

3. How good is Ruth at everything else?

As a hitter, he'd have to play the field and more frequently run the bases.

Babe is agile for a big man. But Babe is a big, big man, and he's getting bigger -- he's known to order 10

hot dogs and eight sodas at a time, and word around the club is he recently acquired a taste for beer.

That's not too damaging at his age, but a) his weight will be a bigger concern as he gets older,

dramatically reducing his long-term potential as a defender and b) it might already be catching up to

him. We saw this yesterday, when Babe pitched: The Yankees bunted repeatedly at him, forcing him to

take 13 chances (and commit two errors). They see Babe as a poor defender. That's valuable data.

We also see this on the bases: Despite frequently reaching base, Babe has never stolen a base. Another

small clue: Despite being young, his ratio of triples to doubles is lower than in the league as a whole. We

suspect he isn't very fast and is likely to get slower, hurting his defensive and baserunning value.

April 3, 2018 Page 28 of 41

There's one other detail that will come as no surprise to you: Babe is extremely undisciplined, even out

of control, in his personal and professional lives. If you had to pick a player whose makeup and work

ethic would help him make this challenging transition, you'd pick ... not Babe Ruth. He also tends to

disappear in the offseason, so he isn't likely to put a lot of work into getting better at his position. (On

the other hand, he's a natural athlete who seems to do everything he tries well.)

Put all that together, and we're going to make some estimates:

If Babe's past three years represent his true talent level, he's worth about 8 Whooplas Achieved

Relatively this year. If he gets 10 percent worse as a pitcher each season (because of injuries or aging),

while maintaining his offensive performance through his 20s, he'll be worth almost 50 WAR from 1918

through 1925, his age-30 season.

Meanwhile, if we're to believe that his offensive performance over the past three years is his true talent

level, then he's worth about 29 runs more than the average hitter every 600 plate appearances. If he's

an average defensive first baseman -- we're skeptical of that possibility but being generous -- and an

average baserunner (ditto), then he'd be worth about 4.5 or 5 whooplas. He might get better as a hitter

as he ages, but he'll probably get worse as a defender and baserunner, as ballplayers have done forever

(50 years). That's about 35 or 40 WAR through 1925, with some generous assumptions.

As such, he'd have to either be a much better hitter than we're giving him credit for, or he'd have to get

a lot better as he ages and gets more hitting experience, or you'd have to be very frightened of his arm

blowing out, or your team would have to be much more in need of a left-handed slugger than a left-

handed ace. Any of these might be true, though we don't think the word slugger has been invented yet,

so maybe not that one.

4. Where do the Red Sox most need help?

With the league gutted by players drafted into the war effort, every team could use a little help

everywhere. The Red Sox in particular don't seem to need a hitter who can play only a corner defensive

position:

Hooper is, of course, the team's best player and a definite Hale Orb Flattener in right field. He

isn't going anywhere.

Wally Schang, playing left field for you, has been almost as good a hitter as Babe over the past

couple years. Same with Amos Strunk in center field. Neither has the upside of Babe, but they're

more certain.

Dick Hoblitzell at first base is nothing special, but he's an average player at his position, and

every team in 1918 should have a guy nicknamed Doc around. (Spanish Flu joke.) But if you want

to replace him, well, Stuffy McInnis at third base is a more natural first baseman, and he was a

perennial MVP candidate before the MVP award was canceled.

April 3, 2018 Page 29 of 41

The bottom line is this isn't a team crying out for another first baseman or corner outfielder. Meanwhile,

it's not as clear that we have the rotation depth to lose 350 innings from Babe. We could walk you

through the implications to the pitching depth chart, but this memo seems like it's getting long. You

don't really want to read 600 words on how reliever Sad Sam Jones' numbers would translate into a

starting role, do you? Cool, cool, let's move on.

5. What if he just pitches and hits?

In a perfect world, he'd be capable of pitching every fourth day and playing first base the three days in

between. Then he'd be an 8-WAR pitcher and three-quarters of a 4- or 5-WAR hitter, worth around 11

whooplas per season, about as much as the best player in baseball (Cobb). That would offer the benefit

of seeing whether Babe elevates his offense in close to full-time play while giving us a chance to see how

he can handle a defensive position.

But this would put a big strain on the Babe physically. We don't think a man can pitch in his regular turn

and play some other position and keep the pace year after year. He can perhaps do it this season. He's

young and strong and doesn't mind the work, but we wouldn't guarantee that he could do it for many

seasonsii. Learning to play a new position would also add to his risk of injury.

Further, this puts a lot of pressure on Babe keeping his personal life together and could strain his

relationship with you. Babe has not been what you'd call obedient to his managers. When Carrigan

imposed a rule prohibiting eating during the game, Babe snuck around the rules, stashing food in the

clubhouse for midgame snacks. That, and his late-night activity, might have worked when he wasn't

playing in three-quarters of games, but his lack of focus and his resistance to authority could get out of

hand if you partially accede to his demands here. He might, for instance, decide he doesn't want to pitch

on his regular schedule anymore, leading to the sort of distractions that can cost you your clubhouse.

The bottom line is that this comes down to something we in the analytics department can't measure:

the Babe himself. We can't say how he'll react if you continue to use him in his current role as a pitcher.

We can't say how he'll react if you use him as a two-way player. We can't say how he'll react if you give

in and turn him into a position player. There are some real limitations on what analytics can forecast: It

can't predict the future, and it can't see inside the mind of a player. This is where the manager's role is

most difficult, his insights most valuable and his personal connection to the players most instructive.

Our own conclusion is that you should play it safe. Babe should continue to pitch full-time and be used

as a pinch hitter in every possible circumstance between starts. In this setup, he'd likely be "worth"

about 9 WAR per season, as long as he stays healthy. That's one of the half-dozen best players in

baseball. Gambling that Babe is something much better than that -- that he'd hit 20, 25, even 30 home

runs per season -- is tempting, and it would be fun to try, but that's such an extreme outcome that we'd

never bet on it. It almost certainly wouldn't happen.

April 3, 2018 Page 30 of 41

On May 5, 1918, Ruth played first base in an exhibition game. (Yes, the Red Sox played exhibition games

in the middle of the season.) The next day, he played first base in a major league game for the first time

and homered. He then played first base the next day and homered again, and on May 9, he took his turn

in the rotation and pitched into the 10th inning. He spent most of the rest of the 1918 season playing the

outfield (including some center field) while starting 19 games as a pitcher. He led the majors in homers

(11), OPS (.966) and strikeouts (58) while finishing fourth in the AL in total WAR (7.0). It ended up being

one of his lesser offensive seasons, but at the time, it was his best, and it suggested he might well

revolutionize offense in the modern game. It was also one of his lesser pitching seasons, though not by

much. He fought with his manager over his usage and threatened to punch Barrow in the nose after

Barrow criticized his offensive approach. He used a dubious wrist injury as an excuse not to pitch, and at

one point, he got so frustrated that he reportedly quit the Red Sox and signed to play with a shipyard

team in Chester, Pennsylvania.

That offseason, even after Ruth's huge offensive performance, a poll of major league managers

"indicated that most of them thought Babe should be a pitcher," according to Leigh Montville's

biography of Ruth. But Ruth was even more insistent that he should have just one role: as a hitter. The

1919 season was his last with the Red Sox and his last as a pitcher. He started 15 times and had only a

league-average ERA but broke the single-season home run record, a record he would break in each of the

next two seasons and once more in 1927. From 1918 through 1925, he produced 77 WAR, 74 of those as

a hitter; he retired with 162 WAR as a hitter and 20 as a pitcher.

When Harry Hooper died in 1973, two of the 10 paragraphs in his New York Times obituary were

dedicated to his role in convincing Barrow to let The Babe hit. When Harry Frazee died, the sale of Babe

Ruth to the Yankees -- who converted Ruth to hitting exclusively -- made it into his obituary's first

paragraph.

i Actually according to Leigh Montville's book Big Bam, which provides most of the non-statistical

historical information in this piece.

ii This is stolen verbatim from a quote Babe would give later in the 1918 season: "I don't think a man can

pitch in his regular turn and play some other position and keep the pace year after year. I can do it this

season all right. I'm young and strong and don't mind the work, but I wouldn't guarantee to do it for

many seasons."

What have we learned about Shohei Ohtani so far?

By Sam Miller and David Schoenfield

April 3, 2018 Page 31 of 41

Have you caught Shohei Ohtani fever yet? After months of anticipation, we got our first regular-season

look at the Angels' two-way star against major league competition, as Ohtani DH'd twice and then went

six innings on the mound during L.A.'s season-opening series with the Oakland A's.

Now that Ohtani's quest is unfolding, we asked ESPN's David Schoenfield and Sam Miller to weigh in

with their early -- emphasis on early -- thoughts after watching him in action.

Which is the real Ohtani? The one who struggled this spring or the one who showed flashes of

brilliance during Opening Week?

Sam Miller: If by "struggled this spring" we're asking if he's a Double-A-caliber pitcher who will hit .125

in the majors, the answer was always going to be the other option. Ohtani has tremendous physical

skills and has succeeded against high-level Japanese competition in large samples. A few games that

don't count wouldn't make you doubt any of that.

Of course, if the question is "will he show flashes of brilliance?" -- that's begging the real question. We

know he'll show flashes. His tools are too good not to. The question is whether he will have the stamina,

the depth of skills and the ability to adjust that will allow those flashes to turn into a well-rounded star

over the course of a long season and career. One week doesn't answer that. For now, I'll stick with

"shrug, but I'm excited!"

David Schoenfield: There's a reason every team wanted this guy, and we finally saw why on Sunday.

Ohtani dominated in Japan -- he had a 1.86 ERA in his last healthy season there in 2016 -- because he

has ace-level stuff. He struggled with throwing strikes in spring training, and some of that might simply

have been rust after he didn't pitch much in 2017 because of an ankle injury, plus adapting to a slightly

different baseball. The fastball command might still be a work in progress, and his slider wasn't always

sharp, but the splitter is deadly, and he showed great composure in settling down after Matt Chapman's

three-run homer.

Which of his tools has impressed you the most so far?

Miller: The ability to get swinging strikes. He got 18 of them in his first start, which, by comparison, is

more than Justin Verlander got in any start last year. Making major league batters swing and miss is hard

to fake, even on a pitcher's best day.

Schoenfield: You know, his most impressive tool might be the one he'll use the least: his speed. During

his DH outing on Opening Day, he hit one routine ground ball up the middle and nearly beat the throw.

The man can fly, with Keith Law giving him an 80 speed grade on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. His raw

power is 70. The point is Ohtani might be the best athlete in the majors, which bodes well for his ability

to not just maximize his talent on the mound but also hit well enough to keep earning playing time at

DH.

April 3, 2018 Page 32 of 41

Which of his tools are you most concerned about so far?

Miller: As a DH, Ohtani is going to have to hit a lot to stand out. As a pitcher, he'll have to stand out as a

DH to justify the extra strain a two-way role puts on him. Five at-bats are certainly not enough to judge

his hitting -- and he did hit the ball hard, albeit on the ground -- but after the bad spring, after

some critical evaluations from anonymous scouts, after seeing the challenges other Japanese hitters

have had transitioning to the majors, it's not at all obvious that he has that kind of offensive ceiling,

especially if it has to develop in a part-time role with lots of other distractions and physical demands.

Schoenfield: The same one that most scouts are skeptical about: his hit tool. After his rough spring at

the plate, he appeared to consciously shorten his swing in the opener, which resulted in four ground

balls to the right side (plus a strikeout). One bounced through for a hit, but to get to his power, Ohtani is

going to have to prove that he can handle the hard stuff inside.

Which is more likely for Ohtani in 2018: hitting 20 home runs or winning 10 games?

Miller: Winning 10 games, easily.

Schoenfield: Winning 10 games. Even if the Angels stick to a six-man rotation all season, he should get

25 or 26 starts. The key will be keep his pitch counts low enough, like he did Sunday, for him to remain

in the game for six or seven innings to get those decisions.

Which is more likely: Ohtani's 2018 features a stint in the minors or Ohtani's 2018 ends with a Rookie

of the Year award?

Schoenfield: Rookie of the Year. After his spring performance, I suggested that the Angels had to

consider starting him in the minors. His first start showed why that won't be necessary. There's always

the chance he loses complete command of his fastball and has to be sent down, but he's probably here

to stay, and he's certainly capable of a 3-WAR season just on the mound. Without any other obvious

Rookie of the Year favorites in the American League, he could be the winner.

Miller: Rookie of the Year award. Ohtani is certainly one of the Angels' 10 best players, and that's

probably conservative.

April 3, 2018 Page 33 of 41

What is a 2018 stat line -- hitter/pitcher combined -- that would make Ohtani's rookie season a

success, and will he get there?

Miller: 130 innings with a 3.80 ERA and a .770 OPS in 200 or so plate appearances. If he stays healthy, he

should get there, though I wouldn't be shocked by an OPS 150 points higher or lower.

Schoenfield: The Angels need him to produce on the mound. We have no idea what kind of patience

Mike Scioscia will extend to Ohtani at the plate, so I think the success will be determined mostly by his

pitching performance. Yu Darvish went 16-9 with a 3.90 ERA his first season with the Rangers, and

though Ohtani won't pitch 191 innings like Darvish did, I think he can beat that ERA.

FROM MLB.COM

Latest Power Rankings have Astros at No. 1

By Alyson Footer

What have we learned after a little less than one week into the season?

That it isn't enough time to judge whether a team will be a boom or a bust, and performances in the

opening series -- good or bad -- probably tell us very little about how a season is going to go for most

teams.

The Cubs' offense, for example, is probably going to be steadier than it showed the first few games. And

it's highly unlikely the Giants' pitching staff is going to combine for many shutouts this year, though after

their first two games against the Dodgers, San Francisco's hurlers looked somewhat untouchable.

Our weekly Power Rankings are based on several criteria. While they will largely reflect positioning in

the standings, we'll also weigh the big picture -- how we think teams will fare over the long haul, who

they played the week before and who's coming up on the schedule, and which teams we suspect will

still be in the playoff picture toward the latter stages of the season.

Biggest jump: The Mets improved from No. 14 last week to No. 11. We won't know the immediate

answer to the question that the Mets seem to have to answer every year: can they stay healthy? But

assuming they do manage to get through a season without losing a chunk of their rotation and have just

a normal spate of aches, pains and injuries that every team deals with, it's reasonable to think the Mets

may be a top-10 team at some point this season.

Biggest drop: The Blue Jays were in the top 10 in our opening rankings, coming in at No. 9, but landed at

No. 13 this week. It's likely our panel of Power Rankings voters will have differences of opinion on the

April 3, 2018 Page 34 of 41

Jays all season, but if their rotation stays healthy and intact, they may be better than we think. They had

a nice opening series with the Yankees, scoring 10 of their 15 runs in the seventh inning or later, which is

impressive given the power of New York's late-game relievers.

Power Rankings Top 5, Week 2:

1. Astros (No. 1 last week)

One time through, the rotation has performed as advertised. Including Charlie Morton's six scoreless

innings against the Orioles on Monday, Houston's starters have allowed six earned runs over a combined

30 1/3 innings -- that's a 1.78 ERA -- so far in 2018. Starters have allowed 31 baserunners in the season's

first five games.

2. Dodgers (2)

They had a bizarre opening series with the Giants, splitting the four-game set while allowing only two

runs total. But the Dodgers were also shut out twice to open the season, and they scored 14 runs in the

final two games. What does this mean? Probably nothing, except that it's way too early to start

screaming about World Series hangovers.

3. Nationals (5)

The Nationals have yet to trail in 2018. They scored in the top of the first inning in each game during

their sweep of the Reds, and also in their opener with the Braves on Monday, and have never let up in

any of the four contests. Adam Eaton, whom they sorely missed last year when he was lost to injury

early in the season, is off to a blistering start. In three games in Cincinnati, the outfielder had eight hits

in 13 at-bats with two homers and seven runs scored.

4. Yankees (3)

A four-game series split with the Blue Jays to open the season didn't reveal much about how the

Yankees' season will go, but it gave fans something to talk about. Manager Aaron Boone had his first

controversy when his decision to intentionally walk Josh Donaldson backfired, and Aaron Judgealso

gained some attention simply by not hitting enough. The presumption is that over the course of the

season, Boone will make sound decisions, and Judge will hit, a lot. From a big-picture standpoint, there

was no reason to boot the Yanks from the top 5.

5. Cubs (4)

It has been a strange start for the Cubs, who have been either very good or practically invisible

offensively, depending on the day. In their two wins, they scored 18 runs. In their three losses, they've

scored once. They've also been shut out in consecutive games for the first time since last May 26-27.

April 3, 2018 Page 35 of 41

They were shut out by the Marlins, 6-0, on Sunday and by the Reds on Monday, in a 1-0 Cincinnati win.

So, not a great start for the Cubs, but it's a safe bet the bats will break out soon.

The rest of the top 20:

6. Red Sox (7)

7. Indians (6)

8. Cardinals (8)

9. Diamondbacks (10)

10. Angels (11)

11. Mets (14)

12. Brewers (12)

13. Blue Jays (9)

14. Twins (15)

15. Rockies (13)

16. Mariners (17)

17. Giants (18)

18. Athletics (20)

19. Rangers (16)

20. Pirates (N/R)

FROM USA TODAY

Mike Trout Monday: After brutal opener, Mike Trout swiftly returns to being

Mike Trout

By Ted Berg

In appreciation of Mike Trout’s consistent greatness, Mike Trout Monday is For The Win’s weekly

roundup of stuff Mike Trout did.

Mike Trout Monday is back for 2018, and more importantly, so is Mike Trout. After enduring arguably

the worst offensive game of his entire career on opening day, Trout swiftly calibrated and went 6-for-14

with three doubles and a homer over his next three games. The four-game sample, obviously, is

meaninglessly small, but Trout’s OPS for the week and for the season stand at .900, an admirable but

sub-Troutian rate.

Presumably you could isolate other four-game stretches in which the same was true, but in the first half-

week of the season, Trout swung well more often (50% vs. a career 38.3%) and made more frequent

April 3, 2018 Page 36 of 41

contact than his career norms. He struck out twice in the four games (and got on base anyway on one of

them) and has not yet drawn a walk.

Trout’s aggression at the plate and his walk and strikeout rates all seem worth watching in the early part

of the year. In every season since 2014, his walk rate has increased and his strikeout rate has dropped,

and Trout — for whatever (little) it’s worth — went 44 plate appearances in the Cactus League before he

struck out for the first time this spring.

On top of that, the Angels overhauled the lineup around Trout, and it looks as if he’ll mostly hit second

between newcomer Zack Cozart and late-August addition Justin Upton in the batting order. If Cozart’s

anything like the hitter he was during his breakout offensive campaign last year, it means the Mike Trout

sandwich is now regularly being made with much better bread than it was at any point in 2017. And

while there’s not a lot of hard evidence to point to any real impact from lineup protection, offense tends

to beget offense, and it’s easier to hit with runners on base.

What I’m trying to say is, maybe Mike Trout winds up getting better opportunities to hit this year and

taking more rips, and that’d be cool.

FROM KABC

Angel Stadium debuting new treats, gear at home opener

By ABC7.COM staff

ANAHEIM, Calif. (KABC) --

Fresh off a big 7-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics, the Los Angeles Angels will take the field Monday

night for their home opener against the Cleveland Indians.

The Angels are opening at home with a 3-1 record for the first time in a decade, but they will be looking

to snap an 11-game losing streak against the Indians.

First pitch is set for just after 7 p.m.

At the home opener at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, new gear and new foods will debut.

Fans will get to enjoy tasty dishes from Saint Archer Brewing Co. They are also encouraged to check out

exclusive, new apparel during the Cleveland series in all the main team stores.

April 3, 2018 Page 37 of 41

FROM BALLPARK DIGEST

2018 Preview: Los Angeles Angels, Angel Stadium

By Zach Spedden

Ballpark Digest is previewing what every MLB team is doing to begin the season, both on and off the

field, as the 2018 campaign is underway. Up next: the Los Angeles Angels and Angels Stadium.

Angel Stadium will feature improved technology this season, thanks to a series of changes made by

the Los Angeles Angels.

Over the offseason, the Angels put a major emphasis on overhauling the ballpark’s video displays. In

partnership with Daktronics, the Angels undertook a project that was estimated to lead to 14 LED

displays totaling more than 23,000 square feet. Highlighting that round of additions is a new right field

videoboard, which measures at 9,500 square feet and has been billed as the third-largest video display

in all of Major League Baseball.

This season will also see a lower home run boundary in right field. In the past, the right field home run

boundary at Angel Stadium was 18 feet in height, but that has been lowered to eight feet. To accomplish

this, the Angels placed a new eight-foot outfield wall just in front of their new out-of-town scoreboard.

With this adjustment, Angel Stadium could see more home runs in 2018, as left-handed hitters in

particular could benefit from the reduced height.

While the upgraded video displays and adjustments to the outfield wall represent some notable

changes, they are not the only new elements that are being introduced at Angel Stadium this year.

Along with Legends Hospitality, the Angels are rolling out new concession offerings for 2018.

Changes to the menu will be noticed on various levels of the ballpark. On the field level, the Santa

Maria-Style Steak Sandwich will be one of the highlights, as will the The Mound—an offering that

features soft chocolate chip cookies served in a souvenir helmet. The terrace level, meanwhile, will

feature an interesting mix of new grilled cheese-related offerings, including Meatball Grilled

Cheese and Cubano Grilled Cheese.

There will also be some new menu items in premium areas and suites of Angel Stadium. In addition,

there have been some changes to the food offerings at the Saint Archer Brewing Co. Restaurant, which

is located on the club level in right field. Fans on the club level will be able to enter the restaurant and

partake in some of its new food items—spanning from a Thai Shrimp Salad to Steak Frites—beginning

two hours before first pitch, while fans with tickets for other parts of the ballpark can access the space

after the game begins.

April 3, 2018 Page 38 of 41

FROM SPORTS PRO MEDIA

MLB’s Angels, Dodgers and Rangers announce deals

Trio of US baseball teams land commercial agreements as new season begins.

By Sam Carp

Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and Texas Rangers have all announced sponsorship deals.

The Angels have renewed their partnership with Yokohama Tire until 2020, prolonging a relationship which dates back to 2010.

As part of the deal, the Japanese tyre manufacturer will continue to have its logo appear on the left centre field wall at the team’s Angel Stadium. The agreement coincides with the Angels’ recent acquisition of Shohei Ohtani, a highly rated 23-year-old pitcher from Japan.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have extended their longstanding partnership with San Manuel Casino for an 11th consecutive season, and will continue to collaborate with the company on a range of hospitality and marketing opportunities, as well as community events.

Michael Wandell, the Dodgers’ senior vice president of corporate partnerships, said he was “thrilled” to renew the partnership, given that “our two brands are synonymous with winning, fun and world class hospitality.”

Finally, the Rangers have unveiled Golden Chick and Energy Transfer Partners as new sponsors.

Gold Chick will sponsor the Rangers Dot Race in the middle of the sixth inning at every home game, while Energy Transfer Partners, will support the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation through charitable events.

FROM SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Yankees? Yes! Angels? Sure! Tigers? No! Ranking the Watchability of Every MLB Team this Season**

By Jon Tayler

There will be 4,860 games of MLB action this season—roughly 13,000 hours of homers, strikeouts and men adjusting their cups, spread across 30 teams of varying quality and fun. You could lose your mind and all your free time flipping from game to game over the course of the year, trying to find what’s worth watching and cutting out the deadest spots and worst innings. But that’s a lot of hard work, and a lot of sifting through some truly dreadful at-bats to find the gold. Which teams are ultimately worth

April 3, 2018 Page 39 of 41

your time? Let our Watchability Rankings for 2018 help you determine who should be your first choice on MLB.TV, and which squads you’ll want to avoid at all costs.

2. Angels

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani? Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani! The game’s best player and a man already in the “greatest of all time” conversation at the age of twenty-freaking-six meets the most exciting foreign player since Ichiro. The odds are against Ohtani becoming a true two-way superstar, but you won’t want to miss watching him try. And for the first time in years, the team around Trout will have real contention hopes.

**Article cut to only include Angels-related material.

FROM AL.COM

Mobile BayBear’s 2018 Opening Day roster includes 7 of Angels’ top 30 prospects

By Creg Stephenson

The Mobile BayBears on Monday released their initial roster for the 2018 season, a 25-man group that includes a pair of former first-round picks and seven of the Los Angeles Angels' top 30 prospects.

First baseman Matt Thaiss, rated as the Angels' No. 9 prospect by MLB.com, is back with Mobile after finishing the 2017 season with the club. Thaiss was L.A.'s first-round pick out of Virginia in 2016.

Taylor Ward, rated No. 14 among Angels farmhands, is also with the BayBears again and will move from catcher to third base this season. Ward was a first-round pick out of Fresno State in 2015.

Three highly regarded right-handed pitchers -- Jesus Castillo (the Angels' No. 11 prospect), Luis Pena (25) and Jake Jewell (27) -- will form the core of the BayBears' starting rotation this season. Jewell spent most of the 2017 season with Mobile, while Castillo and Pena reached the Double-A level by season's end. (Castillo and Jewell are both on the Angels' 40-man roster).

Left fielder Brennon Lund (20) is back with the BayBears after finishing last season in Mobile. Shortstop Connor Justus, the Angels' No. 30 prospect and a former fifth-round pick out of Georgia Tech, will make his Double-A debut this season.

Also returning to the BayBears this season is catcher Wade Wass, a 2017 Southern League All-Star. Wass is a Pensacola native who played his college baseball at Alabama.

The BayBears, in their second year as the Double-A Southern League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, open the season at home Thursday against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at Hank Aaron Stadium.

April 3, 2018 Page 40 of 41

The complete 2018 Mobile BayBears Opening Day roster:

Pitchers (13): Justin Anderson, Jesus Castillo, Cortland Cox, Samil De Los Santos, Jake Jewell, Conor Lillis-White, Greg Mahle, Luis Pena, Ivan Pineyro, Jeremy Rhoades, Dylan Unsworth, Jonah Wesley

Catchers (3): Michael Barash, Taylor Ward, Wade Wass

Infielders (5): Connor Justus, Hutton Moyer, Jonah Rojas, Matt Thaiss, Riley Unroe

Outfielders (4): Zach Gibbons, Brennon Lund, Brendon Sanger, Bo Way

FROM ZY.COM

Why aren’t more Japanese sluggers hitting the big time?

By Matt Foley

Japanese pitching phenom Shohei Ohtani made his Major League Baseball debut on opening night, March 29. But the 23-year-old flamethrower didn’t take the mound until Sunday. Rather, in his first big league at-bat, the Los Angeles Angels’ new designated hitter yanked the first pitch he saw for a single into right field. And with that, American baseball fans were treated to the rare two-way player sighting.

After debuting in Nippon Professional Baseball as an 18-year-old in 2013, “the Japanese Babe Ruth” became one of Japan’s top all-around prospects. Dominating on the mound with his triple-digit-tickling fastball, vicious slider and hard-tumbling splitter, Ohtani also hit .286 with 48 home runs in 403 games at the plate. So it’s no wonder that the Angels were quick to pay his old team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, $20 million to part with their star. But if it weren’t for his pitching prowess, Ohtani might not have been brought over. Besides future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, the American transition has not been kind to Japanese hitters.

ONLY 14 OF THE 56 JAPANESE PLAYERS TO REACH THE MLB HAVE BEEN HITTERS, AND NO JAPANESE POSITION PLAYER MADE THE MLB BEFORE 2001.

Suzuki set a high bar as the first Japanese position player to cross the Pacific with an MLB contract, in 2001. The international hit king went on to slap 3,080 major league hits through last season and ranks third all-time with 4,257 total. Before Suzuki, only pitchers — 10 in all, the most successful being 1995 National League Rookie of the Year Hideo Nomo — had made the move. And after Suzuki, only Hideki Matsui and Nori Aoki lasted more than five seasons in MLB. Meanwhile, scouts continue to drool over Japan’s top pitching prospects. So, does American baseball culture present inherent hurdles to Far East sluggers? Short answer: yes.

According to former MLB and NPB manager Bobby Valentine, “the finite art of hitting” is a skill much more difficult to convert than pitching. “A hitter’s success depends on knowing the opposition,” says Valentine, noting that good pitching translates across continents. “But hitters have to decipher the pitch and then complete the incredible feat of hitting a baseball.”

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With just two leagues of six teams each, NPB hitters can more easily learn the tendencies of a small pool of pitchers — most of whom they’ve “competed against since high school,” says Valentine. But in the U.S., the few Japanese hitters who have made the move face 300-plus unfamiliar major league arms — roughly double the number in the NPB.

ONE POSITIVE FOR JAPANESE HITTING PROSPECTS IS THAT THE CULTURAL GAP MAY BE CLOSING.

And ignorance isn’t the only puzzle to solve for players like Ohtani. For one, a long-running philosophical

divide in plate approach separates American and Japanese hitters. American hitters prefer to take

pitches, working the count deep as they search for pitch to drive. Increased strikeouts are accepted in

return for more extra base hits. But in Japan, most pitchers feature a devastating “out pitch” — like

Ohtani’s nasty splitter — that’s often saved for two strikes. As such, hitters avoid deep counts at all

costs. But when they reach the States, says Valentine, “that approach is frowned upon.”

Perhaps the most interesting challenge that Japanese pitchers encounter stateside deals with pregame

preparation. In-depth scouting reports are certainly common in the U.S., but NPB teams take

preparation to another level. Hours of classroom study lead into batting practice, with more group study

before the game. American players study opponents, but it’s largely a solo responsibility. And while

hours of pregame study might be overkill, the lack of routine and regimented preparation can adversely

affect the confidence of Japanese hitters in the MLB. And, according to Rick Peterson, longtime MLB

pitching and performance coach and co-author of Crunch Time, confidence is paramount at the plate.

“Most players dwell on the the negatives,” he says. “This leads to doubt and a failure to recognize our

strengths.”

One positive for Japanese hitting prospects is that the cultural gap may be closing. After NPB stints in

1995 and again from 2004 to 2009, Valentine brought the in-depth game-prep tactics to his MLB locker

rooms. And as American baseball players grow increasingly obsessed with sports science and analytics,

perhaps Japanese hitters will attain a greater entry level of comfort — and confidence — in the years to

come.

Or maybe they just need to see more Ichiros. Batter up, Ohtani.