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Press Clips

(July 22, 2018)

July 22, 2018 Page 2 of 27

CLIPS CONTENT

FROM THE OC REGISTER (PAGE 3)

No Cy of relief for Angels in second straight loss to Houston Astros

Angels’ bullpen is about to feel a roster crunch, just in time for the trade deadline

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES (PAGE 6)

Justin Verlander’s K’s send Astros past Halos, 7-0

Angels get no relief from bullpen against Astros

MLB makes Mike Trout a scapegoat for its marketing fails

FROM ANGELS.COM (PAGE 11)

Tropeano’s solid return can’t pick up Angels

Shoemaker eyeing return to Angels this season

FROM ESPN.COM (PAGE 14)

Social media shows Mike Trout is everything that’s right about baseball

FROM SB NATION (PAGE 16)

MLB needs to stop using Mike Trout’s personality as a shield for its failures

FROM THE NEW YORK POST (PAGE 19)

Mike Trout has right approach to building his value

FROM NEWSDAY (PAGE 19)

Mike Trout handles Rob Manfred comment as you’d expect, doesn’t take the bait

FROM THE DETROIT FREE PRESS (PAGE 22)

Mitch Albom: Angels’ Mike Trout not worried about being a brand

FROM THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE (PAGE 24)

Houston’s Justin Anderson engineering a niche with Angels

FROM CBS SPORTS (PAGE 26)

Angels should sell at trade deadline, but a full blown rebuild probably won’t happen

July 22, 2018 Page 3 of 27

FROM THE OC REGISTER

No Cy of relief for Angels in second straight loss to Houston Astros

By J.P. Hoornstra

ANAHEIM – For the first time in eight days, the Angels’ opposing pitcher Sunday will have no Cy Young Awards on his resumé. Facing Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. hardly represents a gift, but the Angels could use one after drawing Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel and Clayton Kershaw on either side of the All-Star break.

Verlander did not allow a run over six innings Saturday as the Astros beat the Angels, 7-0, before an announced crowd of 44,264 at Angel Stadium.

The Angels’ third consecutive loss left them below .500 for the first time since Opening Day. At 49-50, they are firmly entrenched in the lonely middle class of the American League. Within their own division the Angels are positioned almost equally between the third-place Oakland A’s (55-43) and the fifth-place Texas Rangers (41-57).

That was not where the Angels hoped to end a three-game series against the first-place Astros (66-35). With the non-waiver trade deadline looming July 31, the Angels began the weekend with little reason to acquire short-term help with an eye toward the 2018 postseason. Now, they are even farther removed from the playoff hunt.

No amount of Rally Monkey leaps could bring the Angels back on Saturday. Houston did most of its damage in a five-run sixth inning. A grand slam by George Springer against reliever Noe Ramirez blew open a 3-0 game. The inning began when Josh Reddick hit a solo home run against Jose Alvarez and ended 26 minutes later when Reddick grounded into a double play.

Relievers Joe Smith, Brad Peacock and Tony Sipp completed the game for Houston. A leadoff double by Shohei Ohtani and a single by Jose Briceño in the ninth inning gave the Angels runners on second and third base with one out. But Sipp retired Martin Maldonado and David Fletcher quietly, sealing the Angels’ sixth shutout loss of the season.

Ohtani went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles. Rookie David Fletcher also had a pair of hits. The rest of the Angels’ lineup went a combined 3 for 26, one day after Keuchel took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

Tropeano pitched well in his first start since a shoulder injury sent him to the disabled list in June. The right-hander allowed one earned run in five innings. He allowed two hits, walked four batters and struck out five.

The Angels’ defense contributed to their early deficit.

With one out in the third inning, Alex Bregman hit a ground ball to Fletcher at third base. After diving to field the baseball, Fletcher had time to run to third base and force out the lead runner, Kyle Tucker. Instead he threw across the diamond to retire Bregman, putting runners on second and third base.

July 22, 2018 Page 4 of 27

After Tropeano walked Jose Altuve intentionally, Yuli Gurriel hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Tucker to tag up and score the game’s first run.

Marwin Gonzalez reached on a fielding error by Andrelton Simmons in the fourth inning, advanced a base when first baseman Luis Valbuena couldn’t catch Tropeano’s throw to first base, and scored on a double by Tony Kemp. That run was unearned.

Angels’ bullpen is about to feel a roster crunch, just in time for the trade deadline

By J.P. Hoornstra

ANAHEIM – The Angels’ bullpen is about to transform. Again.

The return of right-handed reliever Jim Johnson from the disabled list is close, Manager Mike Scioscia said, as is the return of starting pitcher Jamie Barría from the minor leagues. On Saturday, Eduardo Paredes was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City for the 10th time this season, leaving Scioscia with nine different options for relieving starter Nick Tropeano. The Angels’ bullpen will consist of eight men before long, Scioscia said.

Scioscia did not mention the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but this also brings the potential for a shakeup.

There is, at the moment, a league-wide run on relief pitching. The Royals have already traded Kelvin Herrera to the Nationals. The Padres traded Brad Hand and Adam Cimber to the Indians on Thursday. The Mets traded Jeurys Familia to the A’s on Saturday. Orioles closer Zach Britton could be traded soon as well, according to multiple reports.

As more playoff contenders race to acquire arms, some Angels pitchers could be auditioning for scouts with each pitch. It so happens that the trade deadline coincides with an internal roster crunch for the Angels’ bullpen.

“There will be some moves,” Scioscia said of the days to come, “and I don’t know where they’re going to come from.”

Of the Angels’ eight opening-day relievers, only four have thrown a pitch in July. Yet this is emerging as the most successful month yet for the Angels’ bullpen.

On July 10, Hansel Robles threw a 99-mph fastball to Jean Segura, the fastest he has thrown a baseball in almost two years. He entered Saturday’s game against the Astros riding a streak of eight consecutive scoreless outings. Josh Reddick’s home run Saturday was the first against left-hander Jose Alvarez since May 10.

Cam Bedrosian, Blake Parker, Justin Anderson and Taylor Cole have combined to make 22 appearances this month. The opponent scored in just four of them.

July 22, 2018 Page 5 of 27

“They’ve done just fine,” Scioscia said of his bullpen. “The first-batter efficiency, things like that, become important with runners on base. They’ve thrown more innings than virtually any bullpen in our league.”

Only the Rays, Padres and Marlins have logged more innings than the Angels’ bullpen. The Rays, who have strategically deployed “bullpen games” for most of the season, lead the league in relief innings by a wide margin.

“I think they’ve responded very well, especially with some of the guys that we’ve put a lot of faith in to be big parts of our bullpen who are injured,” Scioscia continued. “I think (catcher) Martin Maldonado has done a terrific job understanding each guy and (bullpen coach) Scott Radinsky has them prepared.”

INJURY UPDATES

Shohei Ohtani played catch for the third consecutive day, this time extending to 90 feet from his target. Ohtani was medically cleared to resume a throwing program on Thursday after his latest evaluation showed sufficient healing in his right ulnar collateral ligament.

Pitcher Matt Shoemaker (strained right forearm) said he is throwing from flat ground at a distance of 90 feet. While Scioscia expressed confidence Ohtani will return this season if his rehabilitation progresses on schedule, he said that Shoemaker’s prognosis is being evaluated “one workout at a time.”

Shoemaker was more confident.

“I can’t give you a date yet,” he said, “but I see myself being back by the end of this year.”

The right-hander has been limited to one start this season due to his injury.

Scioscia said there is no timetable for the return of outfielder Chris Young, who hasn’t played since July 3 because of a strained left hamstring.

ALSO

During the All-Star break, a wall near the entrance to Angel Stadium was painted with a display reflecting Albert Pujols’ career statistics, and his place on the list of all-time leaders for hits, doubles, home runs, extra base hits and RBI. The display is located to the right of the home plate entrance, around the corner from the team store. … The Angels announced all but one of their probable starters for a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox beginning Monday. Felix Peña will start Tuesday against left-hander Carlos Rodon; Tyler Skaggs will start Wednesday against right-hander James Shields; Nick Tropeano will start Thursday against right-hander Dylan Covey … As for Monday, Barría is expected to be recalled from Class-A affiliate Inland Empire to oppose right-hander Lucas Giolito.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Andrew Heaney, 5-6, 3.78 ERA) vs. Houston (RHP Lance McCullers, 10-4, 3.77 ERA), 1 p.m., Fox Sports West

July 22, 2018 Page 6 of 27

FROM LOS ANGELES TIMES

Justin Verlander’s K’s send Astros past Halos, 7-0

By Jeff Miller

Justin Verlander is now two victories shy of 200 for his career.

It only feels like the first 198 have come against the Angels. In the past 11 months.

In his latest display of dominance, Houston’s Verlander pitched six more shutout innings in Anaheim on Saturday as the Astros cruised to a 7-0 win.

He now has strung together 23 consecutive scoreless innings at Angel Stadium, the longest stretch for an opponent since 1971.

“He’s got a second gear,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “He brought it out today.”

The Angels have lost three in a row and four of five and, at 49-50, are below .500 for the first time since losing on opening day.

Twice during Verlander’s career, they’ve won four of five games he started against them, stretches that now seem like they belong in a distant and forgotten era.

Because, since joining Houston last August, Verlander is 5-0 against the Angels with an ERA of 0.49 and 42 strikeouts in 37 innings.

On Saturday, they started a lineup that all time was 17 for 167 off him. That’s an average of .102, which is as sobering as the image the Angels must see when Verlander is on the mound.

Their best swings came from Shohei Ohtani, and he tried to bunt for a hit his first time up.

He followed that with a double off Verlander and then lining out to right field, both balls exiting Ohtani’s bat at or above 106 mph, an impressive number but the sort of hollow accomplishment the Angels were left holding on this day.

“All his pitches are plus pitches,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “I was able to put a good swing on his fastball.”

Ohtani added a ninth-inning double off reliever Tony Sipp to rebound well after striking out in all three of his at-bats Friday.

His failed second-inning bunt was what Scioscia called “a shift-buster,” Ohtani attempting to catch the Astros playing him to pull.

It followed a Justin Upton leadoff single and resulted in a forceout at second base, though Ian Kinsler then produced an infield single to put two runners aboard.

July 22, 2018 Page 7 of 27

Verlander responded by simply going to that second gear. He struck out Luis Valbuena with three straight fastballs that measured 95, 96 and 97 mph.

He then struck out Martin Maldonado on four pitches, the last of which was a slider that dipped, relatively speaking, to 89.5 mph.

The Angels put two runners on again in the fourth, Ohtani following Upton’s one-out single with his double to the wall in right.

Again, Verlander shifted, striking out Kinsler with a 99-mph fastball (his hardest pitch of the season) and Valbuena after falling behind in the count 3-1.

Mike Trout finished with two strikeouts and a walk in three plate appearances versus Verlander, against whom he’s hitting .069.

Over his past 25 games, Trout is 18 for 84 with two doubles and two solo homers. He hasn’t driven in one of his teammates since June 19.

“Every player is going to go through some periods where they aren’t squaring the ball up as well as they are at other times,” Scioscia said. “These little pockets are just baseball.”

Out since June 10 because of bursitis in his right shoulder, Nick Tropeano returned just in time to start opposite Verlander.

He gave up two runs (one unearned) and two hits in five innings and reported no problems with an issue that Tropeano said had been bothering him “pretty much all season.”

“The biggest thing for me was to come out of this healthy,” he said, the Angels’ hitters likewise glad to escape their latest Verlander encounter intact. Beaten soundly again, but intact.

Angels get no relief from bullpen against Astros

By Jeff Miller

In assessing Hansel Robles earlier this season, Sandy Alderson did a great job characterizing relievers in general.

“We’ve seen him pitch well,” the New York Mets general manager said. “We’ve seen him pitch less-well.”

That certainly sums up the Angels’ bullpen, of which Robles is now a part. The team claimed him off waivers last month after the Mets designated him for assignment.

With the Angels, he joined a group that at times has been solid and at other times — like Saturday — fragile and even flammable.

July 22, 2018 Page 8 of 27

With the Angels trailing 2-0, relievers José Álvarez and Noé Ramirez retired only one of seven batters faced as Houston scored five times — four on George Springer’s grand slam — to drain the game’s outcome of any doubt.

Entering Saturday, Angels’ relievers ranked 13th in baseball in ERA, 18th in batting average against and 19th in walks plus hits per inning.

They have blown 17 saves, a total topped by only three teams. The league average is 12.6. They’ve also given up 55 home runs, which is the second-most behind the Mets.

All that being said, the Angels’ bullpen has been asked to pitch more innings than every American League team but Tampa Bay, which has been routinely starting relievers for one- and two-inning stints.

The Angels also have lost Keynan Middleton and Blake Wood for the season and been without Jim Johnson since mid-June.

“I think they’ve responded very well,” manager Mike Scioscia said, “especially with some of the guys we had put a lot of faith in…who are injured.”

Robles has been trending in the direction of well. The right-hander has not been charged with a run in eight consecutive outings and 10 of his past 11.

He gave up a homer in his first appearance with the Angels but none in 12 appearances since.

“He’s throwing strikes,” Scioscia said. “He’s getting into good zones. He’s on a good run here. It’s nice to have another power arm you can bring in late in a game.”

Shoemaker optimistic

Matt Shoemaker’s progression from forearm surgery has been encouraging enough that he said his optimism about pitching for the Angels again this season is “very, very high.”

In May, the right-hander underwent a procedure designed to decompress a nerve and repair a tendon. He is still in the early stages of a throwing program that began 10 days ago.

“I can’t give you a time frame or a date,” Shoemaker said. “But given that we still have over two months…I see myself for sure, if everything goes well and feels great, I’m going to be back.”

Short hops

Reliever Eduardo Paredes, who has been up and down nine times already this season, was optioned to triple-A Salt Lake to make room for starter Nick Tropeano…Jaime Barria is expected to rejoin the Angels and start Monday.

MLB makes Mike Trout a scapegoat for its marketing failings

July 22, 2018 Page 9 of 27

By Bill Plaschke

It began with such promise. Baseball was happy. Baseball was human.

On the eve of the All-Star game, in its signature home run derby, the hometown boy made good. In front of a chanting crowd in the nation’s capital, Bryce Harper swung for the fences while wearing not a cap but a colorful headband in the image of the District of Columbia flag. We saw his face, we felt his joy, his burly father was the pitcher, we lived through their affection, it all felt so real.

When the competition was complete, Harper gloriously flipped his bat forward with two hands, the fans roared, and in that moment our ancient pastime felt fresh, engaged, connected.

But over the course of the next 72 hours, baseball again lost touch.

The All-Star game mirrored the season, home runs and strikeouts and few opportunities for the stars to display the athleticism that can make this game so breathtaking. And no bat flips. A record 10 home runs and not one exuberant bat flip.

After the game, the sport that has yet to figure out social media suffered a Twitter meltdown when news surfaced of old tweets from All-Star pitcher Josh Hader containing racist, homophobic and misogynistic slurs. Baseball powers reacted not with fines or suspension, but sensitivity training.

A day later, the great Manny Machado was traded to the powerful Dodgers, and it should have been the national headline, but on many sports shows, it wasn’t even the lead story. That spot was occupied by the San Antonio Spurs’ trade of Kawhi Leonard, a player whose season doesn’t even begin for three months.

In the middle of all this, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked about the sport’s marketing issues and took a shot at the understated personality of the Angels’ best player. So the Angels organization admirably fired back with a stunning rebuke in a press release defending their earnest and accommodating star.

Yeah, right, like this is Mike Trout’s fault.

Baseball indeed has a serious buzz problem, but he’s not the reason. Baseball’s problem is baseball.

Its culture doesn’t encourage players to individually shine. Its union doesn’t push players to publicly engage. And the game does little to keep the modern sports fan interested.

“Baseball may have lost a generation of fans,’’ said Jim Kahler, executive director of the AECOM Center for Sports Administration at Ohio University and former marketing boss for the Cleveland Cavaliers. “It needs to do a lot to bring it back.’’

Or, not. More than other sports fans, baseball purists preach love it or leave it. If you are bored by their timeless sport and can’t appreciate the beauty of its nine-inning evolution and ancient eccentricities, fine, go watch the mindless NBA dunk contest. Your loss.

July 22, 2018 Page 10 of 27

For the longest time, I was one of these purists. I covered the game as a beat reporter for 10 years, and have followed it closely as a columnist and feature writer for more than 30 years, and I never cared if the sport was increasingly losing its connection with fans. Why should it lower its revered traditions for anybody?

But then, this summer happened, when the sport I love has become marginalized almost beyond recognition by a soap opera known as the NBA offseason. During a time when everybody should be talking baseball, it’s difficult to find anybody talking baseball.

Attendance league-wide is trending toward the lowest figure in 15 years. And the television numbers in this town continue to trend near the bottom. How dare Manfred criticize Trout for not promoting the game when the commissioner himself won’t intercede in the Dodgers battle with DirecTV? And don’t kid yourself, this blackout had on-field implications this month when newcomer Max Muncy was not voted into the All-Star game. Who is going to vote for somebody they have never seen?

The Dodgers blackout is another example of baseball not understanding the importance of maintaining a brand, one being overshadowed here so that it feels as if the Lakers are playing games and the Dodgers are still in spring training.

With one tweet from his agent, LeBron James seemingly wiped out the buzz of five consecutive Dodgers division championships and a World Series appearance. The Lakers haven’t been in the playoff in each of those last five seasons, yet they own this town again. How does that happen?

“It all boils down to the NBA players got the playbook that says their personal brand is worth something, and they work at it,’’ Kahler said. “Baseball hasn’t caught on to this yet.’’

Basketball players are adept at twitter engagement. Baseball players are not. Basketball players are unafraid to embrace the personal dramas that captivate fans and summon attention. Baseball players remain mostly bland because they don’t want to rock the boat.

Actually, two Dodgers did literally rock the boat last week in a viral Instagram video showing Justin Turner and Alex Wood celebrating the Machado trade while lounging on a boat. The scene was staged but so what? Young Lakers who have accomplished far less than Turner or Wood have become popular by doing this sort of stuff.

“The issue is that baseball lends itself to thinking more about the team than the individual,’’ said Orel Hershiser, who has seen the sport from both sides as a player and a current TV analyst. “An individual like LeBron can carry a team, in baseball that’s almost impossible. Everyone in that baseball locker room knows they need each other, so nobody wants to stand out.’’

Manfred was wrong in questioning Trout because baseball’s greatest player is one of its greatest ambassadors in his unassuming way.

But there are guys who would love to show more of themselves. And the baseball culture needs to lighten up and let them do it.

July 22, 2018 Page 11 of 27

What’s wrong with a bat flip? What’s the harm in a strikeout fist pump? Why not dance around the bases on a home run trot and then tweet about it afterward?

Some of the most popular moments in basketball that keep it in the national conversation occur when players aren’t afraid to be human. Remember this spring when Steph Curry shimmied at Chris Paul? Remember Paul’s return shimmy?

This doesn’t happen in baseball, a difficult game filled with failure, where many players are afraid that any public display beyond a walkoff home run or no-hitter celebration will lead to them being humbled the next night or nailed with a fastball in the hip.

But there are showmen out there and they should be celebrated, not punished. Why not erase the unwritten rules and allow players to be themselves? Why not encourage pregame Facebook Live broadcasts? Why not mike players during regular-season games? If NBA coaches can be interviewed between quarters, couldn’t an outfielder chat on the field between innings?

Part of the NBA’s popularity comes from its postseason television tradition of showing players in their street clothes, both walking into the arena before games and sitting on interview stages after games. In baseball, you usually only see the stars during games, as some of them can’t even be convinced to come to an interview stage afterward.

Baseball should do whatever it takes to make Los Angeles aware that Machado is in his first days, Clayton Kershaw could be in his final months, the Dodgers are creeping toward the home stretch as the league’s best team with another shot at winning their first World Series title in 30 years and …

Wait. Did you hear? The Lakers just signed Michael Beasley! Sigh.

FROM ANGELS.COM

Tropeano’s solid return can’t pick up Angels

By Maria Guardado

ANAHEIM -- They had been slipping toward this point for a while, but on Saturday, it finally happened: Following their 7-0 loss to the Astros at Angel Stadium, the Angels fell below .500 for the first time since Opening Day.

Right-hander Nick Tropeano pitched five solid innings in his return from the disabled list, but his performance was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dreary day for the Angels. Their slumping offense was overmatched by Houston ace Justin Verlander, their normally stout defense committed three errors and their bullpen allowed the Astros to break the game open with a five-run sixth inning that was capped by a grand slam from George Springer.

"We just didn't do enough on the field this afternoon," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We're going to have to continue to work hard and do things a little bit better tomorrow."

July 22, 2018 Page 12 of 27

The Angels mustered only five hits against Verlander, who struck out 11 over six innings to extend his scoreless streak at Angel Stadium to 23 innings. Their offense has now been held to three or fewer runs in 10 of their 15 games in July, dropping the club to 6-9 this month. They are hitting .220 and have averaged 3.33 runs per game over that span.

The Angels' best scoring opportunity against Verlander came in the fourth inning. After Justin Upton reached on a one-out single, Shohei Ohtani turned on a 95.7 mph inside fastball from Verlander and rifled it off the right-field wall for a double, putting runners on second and third.

"All his pitches are really plus pitches," said Ohtani, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles. "I didn't know what to expect, but I was able to put a good swing on the fastball. That was something really positive from today's game."

Still, Verlander escaped the jam by striking out Ian Kinsler and Luis Valbuena swinging on fastballs that were clocked at 99.2 and 98.4 mph.

"Justin Verlander, he's tough to hit," Scioscia said. "He's even tougher when guys get in scoring position. He's got that second gear that he brought out today against Kins and then Luis Valbuena when we had second and third. He got two strikeouts that were big at that point in the game, obviously, with us trying to get back into it."

At 49-50, the Angels are now 10 1/2 games behind the Mariners for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. They have a losing record for the first time since they were 0-1 following their season-opening loss to the A's on March 29.

Tropeano yielded two runs (one earned) on two hits in his first start for the Angels since June 10. Tropeano, who missed nearly six weeks with right shoulder inflammation, walked four, struck out five and threw 75 pitches.

"I felt pretty good physically," Tropeano said. "I think the first few innings, I was kind of rushing my front side a little bit. Just caused a little too many balls. I thought [catcher Martin Maldonado] did a good job using all my pitches, working both sides of the plate. My main goal was to come out healthy. I feel good now. Hopefully that continues throughout the week."

In the third inning, the Astros put runners on first and second with no outs after Kyle Tucker singled and Springer walked. Third baseman David Fletcher then made an impressive diving stop on a hard-hit grounder off the bat of Alex Bregman, but instead of stepping on third to get the lead runner, he fired to first to retire Bregman.

"He made a great play on the ball," Scioscia said. "Of course, if he can get up and get the forceout at third, it could help some things. But I think he got an out on that ball, which is all you can expect."

With runners on second and third and one out, the Angels intentionally walked Jose Altuve to load the bases for Yuli Gurriel, who delivered a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Tucker from third and give the Astros a 1-0 lead.

July 22, 2018 Page 13 of 27

Another pair of defensive miscues allowed the Astros to expand their lead in the fourth. Marwin Gonzalez opened the inning by hitting a routine grounder to Andrelton Simmons, but the Gold Glove-winning shortstop uncharacteristically misplayed the ball, allowing Gonzalez to reach on an error. Gonzalez then advanced to second after an attempted pickoff by Tropeano got past first baseman Valbuena, setting up Tony Kemp's RBI double to right field.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Tropeano departed with the Angels trailing by two runs, but the bullpen couldn't keep it close. Left-hander Jose Alvarez replaced Tropeano to start the sixth, but he surrendered a leadoff homer to Josh Reddick that made it 3-0 Astros. It was the first home run Alvarez had permitted since May 10.

After giving up a single to Gonzalez and walking Kemp, Alvarez was lifted in favor of Noe Ramirez, who issued another walk to Max Stassi to load the bases. Springer then hammered a misplaced curveball over the center-field fence for his fifth career grand slam, putting the game out of reach for the Angels.

SOUND SMART Even Mike Trout hasn't been immune from the Angels' team-wide slump. Over his last 25 games, Trout is hitting just .214 with two home runs and two RBIs.

"Every player is going to go through some periods where they're not squaring the ball up as well as they are some other times," Scioscia said. "It's just baseball. Sometimes you're going to hit the ball hard at people. Sometimes you're going to go a little out of sync when you're not squaring balls up. Mike's fine."

UP NEXT Left-hander Andrew Heaney (5-6, 3.78 ERA) will oppose right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (10-4, 3.77 ERA) on Sunday as the Angels and Astros close out their three-game series at 1:07 p.m. PT at Angel Stadium. Heaney last faced the Astros on May 14, when he earned the win after firing eight innings of one-run ball. In three career starts against Houston, Heaney is 1-0 with a 0.95 ERA.

Shoemaker eyeing return to Angels this season

By Maria Guardado

ANAHEIM -- Matt Shoemaker hasn't pitched for the Angels since March 31, but the 31-year-old right-hander said his level of optimism is "very, very high" that he'll return to the mound before the end of the season.

Shoemaker, who underwent surgery May 29 to decompress a nerve and repair the pronator teres tendon in his right forearm, began a throwing progression last week and has advanced to throwing from a distance of 90 feet. Shoemaker said he's gradually adding 5 to 10 feet per day to slowly build up his arm strength.

"The good thing is that I feel like I can be further back, but we're sticking with the program, so we don't get ahead of ourselves," Shoemaker said Saturday. "But I'm very optimistic. I feel great. Just moving forward."

July 22, 2018 Page 14 of 27

Shoemaker made only one start for the Angels this season before landing on the disabled list with a right forearm strain April 3. It was a frustrating setback for Shoemaker, who dealt with a similar forearm issue in 2017 that ultimately required season-ending surgery.

Shoemaker's potential return is still several weeks away, as he will have to progress to throwing bullpens and then log a few rehab starts before he's ready to rejoin the Angels' rotation, but he said he's confident he's on the right track with his recovery.

"I can't give you a timeframe or a date, but given that we still have over two months, I see myself being back, for sure, by the end of the season," Shoemaker said. "If everything goes well and feels great, I'm going to be back."

Shoemaker is one of nine Angels pitchers currently on the disabled list, though the unit is projected to get a bit healthier in the second half. Nick Tropeano was activated off the disabled list Saturday and started against the Astros after missing more than a month with right shoulder inflammation, and Shohei Ohtani was cleared to begin his own throwing progression Thursday after his sprained elbow ligament showed improved healing.

The Angels are also expecting veteran right-hander Jim Johnson to rejoin their bullpen soon. Johnson, who has been sidelined since June 15 with a lumbar strain, pitched a scoreless inning for Triple-A Salt Lake in his third rehab outing Friday.

• The Angels optioned right-hander Eduardo Paredes to Salt Lake on Saturday to clear a roster spot for Tropeano.

FROM ESPN.COM

Social media shows Mike Trout is everything that’s right about baseball

By Alden Gonzalez

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The strange back-and-forth between Major League Baseball and the Los Angeles Angels over Mike Trout's popularity, or lack thereof, spawned something unexpected:

Appreciation.

In the days leading up to the Angels' first second-half game on Friday afternoon, Twitter lit up with fans sharing personal photos, videos and anecdotes relaying their unique interactions with Trout, the 26-year-old center fielder who is already considered one of the greatest players in baseball history.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred enraged some in the Angels' front office by suggesting -- innocuously, it seemed -- that Trout lacks fame because he is not "actively engaged" in his own marketability. The Angels followed with a strongly worded statement in which they praised Trout's "humility" and charitable endeavors, adding that "his brand is built upon generously spending his time engaging with fans."

July 22, 2018 Page 15 of 27

Then social media provided a multitude of examples.

Eddie Matz, a senior writer for ESPN, shared a story of Trout plucking a random child out of the stands from Oriole Park at Camden Yards and hanging out with him throughout batting practice.

Others resurfaced popular videos, like this one of Trout surprising a fan in the Angels' dugout.

Or this one of Trout playing catch with another.

AngelsWin, a popular blog run by Angels fans, started the hashtag "#MikeTroutMoments" for fans to share their own personal experiences and received an assortment of responses. One showed Trout delivering a surprise birthday message.

Another showed him snapping selfies with sailors.

Another showed him holding a crying baby.

Trout, who released his own statement hoping to "just move forward," saw the posts.

"It's cool," Trout said. "Obviously not a lot of people see it, but I take time every day. I make sure I do that. As a kid growing up, I could see myself being in the same shoes as that kid wanting an autograph or wanting to meet their favorite player. I think it's cool to put a smile on people's faces."

Trout doesn't play for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs or Los Angeles Dodgers and has been to the playoffs only once, in 2014, when the Angels were swept out of the first round. His popularity doesn't come close to matching his outsize talent, but the fault doesn't really lie with anything outside of the Angels' level of success.

Baseball in the modern age doesn't lend itself toward creating transcendent stars the way professional basketball and professional football do. Trout, as authentically straightforward as they come, doesn't really care for that anyway. But his constant interaction with kids -- most of it off camera -- should help baseball bridge the gap with a younger generation that eludes it, more so than any Q score would.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia witnesses these interactions "every day."

"Every day," Scioscia repeated. "He understands, I think, things that are important to fans that goes with a guy of his ability, and he's incredible at it. He's able to do things like that and still focus on playing the game. I think that's what it's all about."

For proof, there's this video of Trout bonding with kids after a spring training game.

And this picture taken before a regular-season contest.

And this one, from a random afternoon.

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"I've always been doing it," Trout said. "It's for the fans. They come to the ballpark to see you, they spend a lot of money to see their team and their players, and I think it's pretty cool when you go out there and make a kid's day."

FROM SB NATION

MLB needs to stop using Mike Trout’s personality as a shield for its failures

Leave Trout alone and promote those who want to be promoted.

By Whitney McIntosh

In mid-April, MLB suspended baseball Twitter account @PitchingNinja, for his frequent (and valued) practice of posting pitch gifs for fans to enjoy and break down. They reinstated him a week later after a fan outcry, and he is now aligned in some unspecified way that will let him continue posting gifs for the foreseeable future if he so chooses, spreading an understand and love of baseball to fans all over the internet through his 76,000 followers.

For five seasons now, fans in one of baseball’s biggest markets haven’t been able to watch their own team play because of ongoing cable company stubbornness and can’t stream the games because of league blackout rules. MLB is now trying to help Dodgers fans with a proposed streaming solution, or by helping to lessen the divide between DirecTV and Charter, but you could forgive Dodgers diehards for treating that as an empty offer until an actual solution is found.

Fans in states without major league teams, like Iowa, Louisiana, or Montana, are prevented from watching teams who are based hundreds of miles away. People in Baton Rouge are blacked out from watching Astros and Rangers games (255 miles and 367 miles away, respectively), those in Helena from the Mariners (489 miles away), and anyone in Iowa City from watching the Brewers, Cardinals, Royals, Cubs, White Sox, and Twins games.

Recently, the league decided it would behoove them to crack down on some players’ personal touches that they had been adding to their uniforms. Creative cleats, meaningful arm sleeves, or patterns that might make fans feel like they know these players a little more intimately? Absolutely not. That’s for leagues who know how to market themselves (the NBA says hello.)

We’ve known for a long time that MLB has a marketing problem. The sport isn’t dying, and framing this problem in that context would be far afield of what we’re talking about here, but they are by far the worst of the four major sports at building an environment where players can have fun, fans can actually watch, and those who are most passionate about the game can easily and widely share examples of why they love the game in the hopes of attracting new fans. The only league that even comes close to being as terrible at baseball in these areas is the one where players routinely die from a degenerative brain disease, but not before they are insulted and denigrated by owners whenever they try to express opinions about civil rights or free speech. Not great company!

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None of MLB’s marketing problems have anything to do with Mike Trout. It’s truly wild that I even have to say that, that this is a sentence that needs to be written. That I’m sitting here defending the best baseball player in the world from the very league he plays for.

In case you missed it, on Tuesday MLB Commissioner Manfred said of Trout’s lack of broad recognizability:

“Mike has made decisions on what he wants to do, doesn’t want to do, how he wants to spend his free time or not spend his free time. I think we could help him make his brand very big. But he has to make a decision to engage. It takes time and effort.”

On Wednesday, the Angels defended their star player by puncturing Manfred’s argument that this is about Trout’s brand rather than the league’s desire to have a better brand themselves, or that he owes the league anything.

Mike Trout does not owe this league anything. He’s the best player they have, but he’s not the only good player they have to work with when it comes to marketing and brands. On Tuesday, during the All-Star Game red carpet, I watched more objectively famous and recognizable players decline to sign autographs for fans or barely wave for photos yet give soundbites for press. Trout took the time to sign multiple fans’ memorabilia and pose for photos, despite appearing shy in the limelight and hesitant to talk to reporters.

While neither of these behaviors should be diminished — players talking to reporters is also a form of taking time to engage with local audiences and fans, it just doesn’t involve a Sharpie and a smile — both help grow the game simply by being present and talking about themselves and the sport.

But which is the method that will most endear fans to players? To get them hooked on the sport on an emotional level, and feel attached to athletes even if they don’t play for their city’s team? Is appearing in an Under Armour commercial, which makes the league and a clothing conglomerate more money, actually as worthwhile for spreading a love of baseball as taking part in community activities or spending time using his fame to promote and support local charities?

In response to his boss’ boss’ boss questioning his commitment to marketing a sport, which he absolutely is not required to do as part of his contract or by being part of the league, Trout said “Everything is cool between the Commissioner and myself. End of story. I am ready to just play some baseball!”

Being an incredible baseball player does not naturally lead someone to also want to be an incredible public personality, or to want to plunge their life into the spotlight even further. Trout just wants to hit a baseball, spend time with his wife, and maybe watch some Eagles football. The league has known this about him for going on seven years, and to just now decide that their marketing efforts begin and end with whether Trout wants to be a top-tier celebrity is a joke.

“The league needs to market Mike Trout better” or “Mike Trout should be more famous, he needs to take part in more advertising” has become a shorthand for a large swath of issues that affect not just Trout and not just the Angels but every team and player across the league.

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No, MLB can’t market a player without his participation. But it’s not a league built on one player or one brand. If they’re so limited in their creativity as to really believe that line of thinking than it turns out we’ve been giving the league even more credit than they deserve the past few years. Bryce Harper, as we saw with his goofing off during the Home Run Derby, is more than happy to be the face of the league and as he also is a committed family man who spends time supporting the community.

The World Series-winning Astros have Justin Verlander(married to a famous model! definitely known to fans!), Jose Altuve, and Carlos Correa. Each willing to engage with fans and take part in advertising efforts for the league on some level. The most recognizable team in the league has Aaron Judge, MVP candidate and easily recognizable personality. Judge’s teammates Didi Gregorius and Luis Severino are young and are also making names for themselves — they can’t help market the league? Giancarlo Stanton is in New York, too, and already widely known. MVP candidate Mookie Betts isn’t having enough fun in Boston to engage fans? Max Muncy would probably be happy to take advantage of his sudden success and would film a commercial next week if you asked him.

MLB pretending as if they have no other options, that Mike Trout is the be all and end all of the league’s future with young audiences, is nothing more than using a person’s decision to spend his time off the field privately with his family and causes he cares about as a shield for their other shortcomings. One player, whether it’s Judge or Harper or Trout, will not fix MLB’s penchant to cut off their nose to spite their face.

Adding mound visits restrictions and a pitch clock to games won’t reverse the effects of the league limiting the way fans can watch or share fun moments from the sport. Or fix the very real race issues some teams have either internally or with their fans. You’re telling me Mike Trout filming a New Era commercial is going to make (the recently fired) Mike Matheny or Bud Norris more palatable humans? Good luck!

Trout is not the problem, and something (his status as the most powerful man in baseball) tells me Manfred knows this. He’s not an idiot, but he does know fan opinion of the league isn’t at an all-time high. More than a few teams are tanking. Fans can see that. Players are more vocal about contract structures and artificially lowered salaries than ever, and fans notice that too.

Baseball needs to fix its shit, in multiple areas. Marketing the sport as a whole and its players outside their own markets is a big step towards fans experiencing the game as more than a regional passion. The first step on that journey should be to stop blaming Mike Trout for not being more gregarious. Just let him watch his Eagles play, jeez.

July 22, 2018 Page 19 of 27

FROM THE NEW YORK POST

Mike Trout has right approach to building his value

By Ken Davidoff

Commissioner Rob Manfred’s matter-of-fact speaking style got him in some hot water this past week regarding baseball’s best player. While meeting with the Baseball Writers Association of America in Washington, Manfred received a question about Mike Trout’s low Q factor and whether Major League Baseball could or should be doing more to help with that.

“Player marketing requires one thing, for sure: the player,” Manfred said. “Mike is a great, great player, and a really nice person, but he’s made certain decisions with what he wants to do and what he doesn’t want to do, and how he wants to spend his free time and how he doesn’t want to spend his free time. … If he wants to engage and be more active in that area, I think we could help him make his brand really, really big, but he has to make a decision that he’s prepared to engage in that area. It takes time and effort.”

I was in the room when Manfred said this, and it didn’t strike me as critical as much as realistic. Nevertheless, the Angels responded with a spirited defense of Trout, and Manfred got roasted on talk radio.

Manfred’s intent notwithstanding, a level of frustration clearly does exist within MLB regarding Trout’s choices, and folks who feel that way must let it go. There’s no perfect way to build a brand — even Derek Jeter’s fame came with negative consequences (like the 2014 Yankees prioritizing Jeter’s pride over winning games).

Every time Trout opts out of a commercial shoot, or the World Baseball Classic, or the Home Run Derby, he opts into giving more of his energy to the Angels. And if the Angels ever surround Trout with a good enough supporting cast, he’ll boost his brand plenty on the best platform of all: October.

FROM NEWSDAY

Mike Trout handles Rob Manfred comment as you’d expect, doesn’t take the bait

By David Lennon

A year ago, during the All-Star break, commissioner Rob Manfred was positively giddy the morning after the Home Run Derby at Marlins Park.

The event was won by Aaron Judge, who teamed with then-Marlin Giancarlo Stanton to launch roof-scraping bombs for an awestruck ESPN audience. And it had everything Manfred could possibly want: video-game homers, superhero-sized hitters. A Yankee emerging as the champion.

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No wonder Manfred gushed about Judge the next day at his annual meeting with the Baseball Writers Association of America. In his eyes, a star was born. A bona-fide, marketable, Madison Avenue-caliber star, something MLB craves more than sub-three-hour games.

“He is a tremendous talent on the field,” Manfred said back then. “A really appealing off-the-field personality, the kind of player that can become the face of the game.”

At that point in Judge’s very young career, he had played 111 games — including a strikeout-saturated two months in 2016 — and none in the postseason yet. But Manfred was so smitten with Judge, and so anxious for the next Derek Jeter, he couldn’t help himself. That said, the commissioner was probably right.

So what happened between Manfred and Mike Trout this week?

In one of the stranger — and perhaps overly stretched — controversies involving a commissioner and a sport’s best player, Manfred found himself taking fire for questioning Trout’s appetite for self-promotion. A closer examination of what really happened during that 36-hour span suggests that Manfred wasn’t really ripping Trout for how he chooses to take care of business, either on or off the field. That wouldn’t be very smart for someone in his position.

But Manfred’s response, to a very specific question about Trout’s national profile, was indicative of MLB’s frustration at times with promoting a sport that doesn’t lend itself to the same splashier styles of the NFL and NBA — two leagues that don’t seem to have any difficulty making their biggest stars household names with crossover appeal.

Let’s start with that question to Manfred first. It was asked by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, and this is the text, word for word:

“We hear all the time about how it’s a problem for Major League Baseball that Mike Trout does not choose to put himself on the big stage, and obviously the Angels have been unable to put him in the playoffs or World Series. Is that a problem for Major League Baseball?”

Based on the way the question was posed, this obviously wasn’t the first time it’s been asked of Manfred. As the commissioner began to answer, he referenced another recent story on the same topic — this one by Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times — that appeared under the headline, “Mike Trout, the best player in his sport, is the mostly unrecognizable face of baseball.”

A quick summation: Trout’s profile is hurt some by playing on the West Coast, where most of those games happen in the middle of the night for the large East Coast markets, and he rarely gets in front of a national TV audience. Also, the laid-back Trout is not a big self-promoter, or in today’s parlance, reluctant to push his “brand” recognition. Simply put, the two-time MVP prefers to let his play speak for him.

That has always been an admirable quality among athletes. The choice to lead by example. But in this social-media era, if your message isn’t dotted with emojis and doesn’t loop on Instagram, it tends to get missed. There also is frustration on MLB’s part, however, that Trout has never participated in the Home

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Run Derby — a made-for-TV event that shows stodgy baseball in a looser, livelier setting — or signed on for the offseason All-Star tours in Japan (there is another one scheduled for this November).

Trout isn’t alone in that. Bryce Harper admitted the only reason he competed in this year’s Derby is because it took place at Nationals Park, yet he won the slugfest in a memorable blizzard of homers to overtake the Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber. It’s worth nothing that both Judge and Stanton took a pass this year. As for the overseas promotional tours, which have been going on since Babe Ruth, it’s not easy recruiting players to give up their vacation time.

But back to the question: Does Manfred consider Trout’s absence from the “big stage” a problem for MLB? This is how the commissioner responded:

“We hear a lot about player marketing, right?” Manfred said. “Player marketing requires one thing for sure — the player. You cannot market a player passively. You can’t market anything passively. You need people to engage with those to whom you are trying to market in order to have effective marketing. We are very interested in having our players more engaged in having higher-profile players and helping our players develop their individual brand. But that involves the player being actively engaged.”

It was here that Manfred referred to Shaikin’s article, and attempted to expand on the writer’s premise.

“I think the point — at least one of the points I took from Bill’s article is — Mike’s a great, great player. And a really nice person. But he’s made certain decisions about what he wants to do and what he doesn’t want to do, and how he wants to spend his free time, and how he doesn’t want to spend his free time. That’s up to him.

“If he wants to engage and be more active in that area, I think we could help him make his brand really, really big. But he has to make a decision that he’s prepared to engage in that area. It takes times and effort.”

Notice that Manfred wasn’t criticizing Trout for how he conducts himself in any arena, public or private. But he clearly wishes Trout would push those “branding” boundaries a little bit, as Manfred no doubt feels like his sport’s LeBron James — who now plays in California, too — is being underutilized by the MLB’s promotional machinery.

Somehow, this became a Manfred vs. Trout staredown, and the 48-hour period without baseball allowed it to blow up as everyone waited for the Manny Machado trade to the Dodgers to become official. Perhaps in an effort to grab some of that spotlight from their SoCal rivals, the Angels felt the need to fire back at the commissioner’s comments — or at least the public perception of them — by issuing a 161-word statement that trumpeted his “humility” along with his many charitable efforts as well as being an “exceptional ambassador for the game.”

“In addition, Mike spends quality time as a husband, son brother, uncle, and friend,” the statement said. “We applaud him for prioritizing his personal values over commercial self-promotion. That is rare in today’s society and stands out as much as his extraordinary talent.”

Not a surprising endorsement from the Angels, who had their MVP’s back. But the best commentary came from Trout himself in choosing to close the matter in the most Trout way possible.

July 22, 2018 Page 22 of 27

“I have received lots of questions about Commissioner Manfred‘s recent statement,” Trout said in the statement. “I am not a petty guy and would really encourage everyone to just move forward. Everything is cool between the Commissioner and myself. End of story.”

Oh, and there was one last sentence from Trout: “I am ready to just play some baseball!”

Is there a better slogan for the game? Somebody should put that on a T-shirt.

FROM THE DETROIT FREE PRESS

Mitch Albom: Angels’ Mike Trout not worried about being a brand

By Mitch Albom

There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who hear “brand” and think marketing, and those who hear “brand” and think a hot poker stuck into a cow.

I admit to being one of the latter. I’m slow to the whole “brand” dialogue. I get it for soda, cars and computers. But when I hear “brand” referred to human beings, it gets weird. I keep thinking about what happens when those people die; will the name on their tombstones have one of those copyright signs next to it?

The issue arose last week when the best player in baseball, Mike Trout, was mildly criticized by his commissioner for not being enough of a brand player.

The commissioner, Rob Manfred, a Harvard law grad, was being asked by the media why baseball is seeing a decline in attendance. He got into the profile of the game’s biggest talent, Trout, the 26-year-old seven-time All-Star and two-time American League MVP.

“We are very interested in…helping our players develop their individual brand,” Manfred said. “But that involves the player being actively engaged. … Mike’s a great, great player and really nice person, but he has made certain decisions about what he wants to do and what he doesn’t want to do and how he wants to spend his free time…

“I think we could help him make his brand really, really big. But he has to make a decision that he’s prepared to engage.”

Engage. Brand. Develop.

It’s a long way from hit, catch, throw.

Branding for the wrong reasons

Let’s talk about brands for a moment. LaVar Ball has one. Just ask him. He’s the loony father who decided to brand his three sons before they were old enough to shave. He created the Big Baller Brand,

July 22, 2018 Page 23 of 27

had his own shoes made, wore his own T-shirts, and marketed his hoop-star kids by being a loud-mouthed embarrassment every opportunity he got.

He has a brand. He also has one kid who’s off to a shaky NBA start, one kid he pulled from college after the kid was suspended for shoplifting in China, and one kid he yanked out of high school in a dispute with the coach.

But he has a brand.

Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson had a brand, too. Remember her? Then a 6-year-old with a potty mouth and a exploitative mother, she and her weird family dynamic were marketed into a TV show, which was wildly popular, until the mother was caught dating a convicted child molester. The show was cancelled. At last glance, Honey Boo Boo, now 12, was set to join a junior version of “Dancing With The Stars.”

But she has a brand.

Dennis Rodman has a brand. So do countless reality TV stars, former strippers who dated famous people, and famous-for-being-famous types like Paris Hilton. Kylie Jenner, a huge brand, has so many followers, when she complained on social media that she couldn’t get a certain $5,000 Cartier bracelet off her wrist, Cartier saw a huge jump in Internet interest.

The point is, you can have a brand, even one that brings you tens of millions of dollars, and not really have done anything of note, other than being popular, sometimes for all the wrong reasons.

What exactly is Trout doing wrong?

Now compare that to Trout, who has done everything a baseball team could want. He hits. He throws. He runs. He doesn’t get in off-field trouble.

He’s married to his high school girlfriend. He’s close with his family. According to his team, the Los Angeles Angels, he’s involved in community and charity and has great rapport with the fans.

So what exactly is he doing wrong? He doesn’t want to film some cutesy TV promotion? Doesn’t want to sit on a talk-show couch? Doesn’t want to tweet every second, video his every move, or be marketed as a force, a hurricane, or a thirst quencher?

He plays baseball. That’s his job. He does it amazingly well. And while it’s true, LeBron James, arguably the best in his sport, has more than 10 times the Twitter followers that Trout does, what Manfred is missing by criticizing Trout is that Trout is marketing the greatest lesson of all: that talent, hard work and accomplishments can speak for themselves.

Tell that to the branders who comprise TIME Magazine’s 2018 Most Influential People On The Internet, which include Vloggers, a game show host and a 6-year-old named Ryan who reviews toys on his own YouTube channel.

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And remind them that the origin of branding, going back to ancient Egypt, was to burn a symbol in the hide of an animal, so for the rest of its life, the owner could claim it.

Maybe Mike Trout, a man who is doing all that should be asked of him, doesn’t want to be on the end of anyone’s hot poker. Look around at some of the most “popular” people in this world. Honestly. Can you blame him?

FROM THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Houston’s Justin Anderson engineering a niche with Angels

By Hunter Atkins

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Justin Anderson surprised everyone, including himself, with his immediate success out of the Angels' bullpen this season.

After 160 games across four seasons in the minors, the 25-year-old rookie righthander and his 98 mph fastball seemed to burst on the major league scene out of nowhere.

His emergence began April 23 in Houston — his hometown. Anderson graduated from St. Pius X, attended UTSA and heard cheers from around 50 family and friends while he warmed up in the Minute Maid Park bullpen for his debut.

He entered with the Angels leading the Astros 2-0 in the eighth. He threw seven fastballs. The slowest was 98.2 mph. He struck out Carlos Correa to strand runners on the corners.

"I did not see this coming at all," Anderson said.

He continued to defy expectations until he changed them for good. Anderson began Saturday's game against the Astros with four saves, a 3.38 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings.

He allowed three runs to lose a game to the Blue Jays on June 23. Excluding that gaffe, Anderson has a 1.17 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 14 of his last 15 outings.

He has established himself as a fixture for Los Angeles and one of the hardest throwers in the game. He is averaging 97.6 mph on his heater, the 10th-fastest average in baseball.

"He's finally grown into his velocity," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's throwing strikes. He's made adjustments on his breaking pitch, which has been important."

Velocity in the high 90s nearly is a requirement these days for major league relievers, but Anderson became a late-inning mercenary because of his slider. The pitch has a 12-6 break and mid-80s velocity. It is so reliable that he throws it almost 60 percent of the time. He used it as the out pitch to convert 36 of his 45 strikeouts.

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With two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani reduced solely to designated hitter after injuring his throwing elbow, Anderson leads the Angels with a 29.6 strikeout percentage. He also has allowed just five extra-base hits (three doubles and two home runs), which account for 3.3 percent of the 152 batters he has faced, the lowest percentage allowed on the staff.

If there is an area of Anderson's young career to scrutinize, it is his performance in close games. In situations with the tying or go-ahead run on base or at the plate, Anderson has allowed a .390 average (16-for-41).

A 14th-round pick in 2014, Anderson converted in 2016 from a starter to a reliever. He continued to issue walks (31 in 64 innings last year) and throw his fastball 92-96 mph.

Concerned that Anderson, who was entering his mid-20s, might wind up out of baseball, Jay Franklin, Anderson's agent, stepped in to make changes to his client's pitching motion. Franklin, who had pitched 10 seasons in the minors, invited Anderson to his home in Oklahoma. Their three days together changed Anderson's life.

Anderson's new delivery was repeatable. He started to keep his shoulders closed to the plate longer in his delivery, which helped keep the ball behind him and more out of sight to batters. A little deeper dip with the ball as he brought his arm back also created more movement on his pitches.

He flashed a livelier fastball, sharper command and greater potential in spring training this year. The front office noticed.

He spent the beginning of the season at Class AA Mobile and Class AAA Salt Lake. He totaled 8 2/3 innings before getting an unexpected phone call: the Angels needed him.

The news made him so emotional he forgot to ask where he would debut April 23.

As a kid, Anderson ran the bases at the Astrodome as part of a postgame promotion. Later he and his family attended games at then-Enron Field.

His girlfriend and parents cried when he told them to clear their schedule for an upcoming Astros game. They were getting the chance to see him compete against the team he grew up supporting, in a ballpark 8 miles from his high school.

At 4, Anderson had earned a Most Valuable Player honor in T-ball. His coach awarded him a baseball inscribed with: "See you in the big leagues."

The sentiment came to fruition more than 20 years later. But Anderson is humble. When someone asks what he does for a living, he occasionally says he is an engineer.

There is plenty of truth to that fib. His rebuilding process required converting to the bullpen, redesigning his motion and testing his abilities at the highest level. He engineered his success on the field.

July 22, 2018 Page 26 of 27

FROM CBS SPORTS

Angels should sell at trade deadline, but a full blown rebuild probably won’t happen

By Mike Axisa

Friday night the Angels were spared the indignity of being no-hit and were simply beaten by Dallas Keuchel and the Astros (HOU 3, LAA 1). Keuchel took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished the night with two hits and one run allowed in 7 2/3 innings. On Saturday, Justin Verlander and three relievers shut out the Halos, 7-0.

With the losses the Angels are now 49-50 and 16 games back in the AL West. They're 10 games back of the second AL wild-card spot and SportsLine puts their postseason odds at a mere 2.3 percent. Losing 22 of your last 34 games will do that. The Angels dropped right out of the postseason race this last month.

Given their place in the standings, it stands to reason the Angels will look to unload some veterans prior to the July 31 trade deadline. Is Mike Trout getting traded? Of course not. But impending free agents like Ian Kinsler, Martin Maldonado, Chris Young, and Luis Valbuena could generate interest around the league.

"They need to be sellers. Their season's done. I wanted Trout to get into the playoffs. I really thought that they had a chance, but they just haven't had consistent performance," said former Marlins team president David Samson on CBS Sports HQ.

Samson continued: "What I think the Angels need to do is to absolutely start moving some of their veterans, and start seeing if they can do anything to help Trout out over the next year or two."

The Angels are in a difficult position right now, and not only because they're 10 games back of a postseason spot. They are undoubtedly trying to win before Trout can qualify for free agency during the 2020-21 offseason. It's hard to believe the Halos have only played three postseason games (all losses) in the Mike Trout era. It's a shame for the Angels and a shame for baseball.

Of course the Halos want to win with Trout, so a total tear-down is not happening. They might take a step back and retool a bit, and cash in Kinsler and Maldonado as trade chips to build organizational depth, but they're not going to embark on an Astros-style rebuild. Not with Trout. Rebuilding a farm system is much easier than having the best player in the world in his prime on your roster.

At the same time, they're stuck in the same division as the powerhouse Astros and the up-and-coming Athletics (and Mariners), so short-term contention won't be easy. Impossible? Nope. But not easy.

The Angels don't have to start from scratch, fortunately. They have some quality building blocks:

Mike Trout: The best player in the world. Andrelton Simmons: A brilliant all-around player and the best defensive player in the game,

regardless of position.

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Shohei Ohtani: A 24-year-old who's hit like an All-Star and pitched like an ace early in his MLB career.

Andrew Heaney & Tyler Skaggs: Two young lefties with multiple years of control.

Pretty strong core right there. Could do worse. Add in a productive veteran like Justin Upton and you have the makings of a good lineup and a good rotation. The supporting cast needs a lot of help though. The Angels aren't going to miss the postseason this year because their best players are underperforming. It's because no one else is holding up their end of the bargain.

Unfortunately for the Halos, they lost their best impending free agent trade chip earlier this month, when Garrett Richards blew out his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. He would've fetched a nice return had he stayed healthy. There are always contenders that need pitching. Others like Kinsler, Maldonado, and Young might bring back some OK prospects at the deadline, but that's about it.

Perhaps the Angels should consider trading Heaney and Skaggs. Both have had Tommy John surgery in the recent past, so they've already blown out once, and there's always a tremendous demand for young starters with years of control. The Yankees in particular stand out as a team that would offer some good young talent to get a guy like Skaggs or Heaney. Right now, it seems the Angels will hang on to them and gear up for a run next year.

The clock is very much ticking on the Halos. The goal is clear: Get to the postseason before Trout can leave as a free agent. He's the best player in baseball -- the best player in franchise history, really -- and the Angels don't want their peak with him to be getting swept in the 2014 ALDS.

They only have so many veterans to trade at the deadline. Selling feels like a must. That alone won't get the Angels into contention next season though. There's a lot of work to be done over the winter.