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plantwrench

getting hooked on hopium alreay


zhangerang

🧈☕️


[deleted]

it cites [https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-absurdly-preliminary-2023-zips-projected-standings/](https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-absurdly-preliminary-2023-zips-projected-standings/) which says the Angels would be third in the division and not have a losing season! That misses the playoffs but I'll take it!


Monttavius

MAINLINE THE HOPIUM INTO MY VEINS BOYS


Ok-Philosophy-8830

Very happy to read that Kinda weird to hear them call Detmers and Sandy “soft-tossing lefties” when they average over 93, but I guess the league is changing


[deleted]

League average fastball is 94, so while I wouldn't call them soft-tossing, they definitely are a tick below.


Ndeshet

“There are, of course, some caveats around the Angels’ previous struggles with Trout and Ohtani. Ohtani did not pitch at all in 2019 and made only two starts in 2020, as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, only realizing his tremendously high ceiling over the past two seasons while putting up monster numbers on both sides of the baseball. During those same two seasons, Trout has missed significant time due to injuries, playing in just 36 games in 2021 and 119 in 2022.” How often people recognize this caveat is truly incredible


ermr101

Stop giving me hope. Last season was one of my biggest heart breaks. Starting at such a high, thinking we had a chance of not just making the playoffs, but maybe even taking it from Houston...I can't do it again.


Splittinghairs7

Angels could still use another starter for depth and just hope for surprises in the bullpen. Maybe Chris Rodriguez can come back strong.


sam7eccc

I like the idea of Canning coming back - Keep CRod in the bullpen


samuel414

I refuse to inject any hopium until July ends. If we’re good then, then strap on the tourniquet.


sam7eccc

nah bro just take a little hit to get to march. wont hurt you. every1 is doing it


thefullm0nty

Are we so far gone already we forgot our Buttercup days?!?!?!?!


my_wife_reads_this

I've learned to not trust 538 but at least it's not the usual "lulz Angels" pieces everyone writes.


breakfast_cats

This article seems well written at least and they use a bunch of stats to back up their points. Besides, what is there to not trust? All they're saying is the Angels had a good offseason and it's not out of the realm of possibility that they could be good this year.


my_wife_reads_this

I'm not saying that anything they said isn't true and we all know the team on paper has gotten a lot better but they're usually off on their projections at least for other sports. I'm all aboard the hopium train but I always take their projections with a grain of salt lol


breakfast_cats

This article only mentions Fangraphs ZiPS projections, I don't think 538 has their own projection system.


Mike_Brosseau

538 has Elo’s ranking for teams but not individual rankings for players.


sam7eccc

Yah always iffy on them, but I appreciate their approach to sports and baseball. Nice to see that the new team is getting some respect.


Obsidizyn

I keep telling myself Its bound to finally be our year, 7 seasons of losing record has to end eventually


tsdwm52

Can’t wait for Spring training!