Angels Fans DEMAND Answers | Is Halos’ Radio Silence a Sign of MAJOR Changes to Come?

Angels Fans DEMAND Answers | Is Halos’ Radio Silence a Sign of MAJOR Changes to Come?

Angel fans, is it unfair for us fans to expect clear and constant communication from our favorite team? You are Locked on Angels, your daily Los Angeles Angels podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Thanks for making Locked on Angels your first listen of the day. Why haven’t we heard anything anything from the Angels since the season ended? But other teams, they’re they’ve communicated very clearly with their fans. And should Barry Enright remain as the Angels pitching coach in 2026? And along those same lines, will Johnny Washington return as the hitting coach in 2026? Before we talk about our favorite team, we want to thank our sponsor, FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet $5. And if your bet wins, you’re going to get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app today. Happy Friday to you and thanks for being here for this episode of Locked on Angels, where it’s your team every day. You’ve got the first brothers here with you, aka the Super Halo Bros. My name is John and that’s my brother Mike and my name is Mike and that’s my brother John. Hey, we’ve been talking Angels baseball with you here at Lockdown Angels for the last four years, last four seasons. It’s been been a pleasure and a privilege. We love talking Angels baseball with you Monday through Friday. And we want to hear from you. We want you to grade the 2025 roster and we always do a roster report card after the season is over. we share those results on the show. So, get in the uh episode description, find the link that’s there, you’ll fill out a Google survey, you’ll give each player a rating, say a little something about each player and then we’ll tally up all the results and have that for you on Lockdown Angel soon. So, I hope that you’ll decide to participate in that. And while we love talking Angels baseball, the Angels don’t love talking to us. Isn’t that right, Mike? Yeah. Why Why haven’t we heard anything? I mean, we haven’t heard from our organization, our favorite team, about this last season. We haven’t heard from anything from Perry specifically about Ron Washington being dismissed. We haven’t heard anything from Arty about what he’s going to do with this team and where they’re headed. And so we wondered, is this an expectation that is unreasonable? Well, John and I don’t believe that it is. And here’s two examples. The Diamondbacks and the Mets. Now, the Diamondback’s general manager had a presser on September 30th. John, like right after the season was was over, spoke about this team. He said after a disappointing 80 and 82 season, they wanted to make some changes. John, this was a season where the Diamondbacks sold at the deadline and then they made a run at the end. The last five games they lost them, fell apart, but John, they were 80 and 77 after selling at the deadline and had an opportunity to maybe get to that third wild card spot. Now, their general manager said that we need to do a better job of putting together a bullpen. I think Tory Lavell, which is their manager, we he and I have talked about this and how they’re using the bullpen. We need to do a better job at that. Now, I share that with you because that’s one of two examples of teams after the season was over communicating with their fans why last season wasn’t great and what they’re going to do moving forward to be better. Now, the Diamondbacks didn’t say, “Here’s what we’re going to be doing moving forward.” They just talked about like using the bullpin better and and also putting a better bullpin together. There’s other things that they’re going to be doing. They said, “We don’t know that yet, but we’ll communicate that with you.” But they weren’t the only ones, were they, John? the Mets owner came out and said something, actually released a statement and I thought it was pretty great. Yeah. Steve Cohen said, “Met Mets fans everywhere, I owe you an apology. You did your part by showing up and supporting the team. We didn’t do our part. We will do a post-mortem and figure out the obvious and less obvious reasons why the team didn’t perform up to yours and my expectations. We’re all feeling very raw emotions today. I know how much time and effort you put into this team. The result was unacceptable. your emotions tell me how much you care and continues to motivate the organization to do better. Thank you to the best fans in sports. Yeah. So, the communication was immediate from those two teams specifically. It was clear. It wasn’t fully flushed out about all that they’re going to do, but it was a first step. Here’s some things that we’re thinking about. And what I love, John, is it showed appreciation to the fans. Yeah. Now, let’s talk about our favorite team for a moment because it is Locked on Angels, right? It’s what we do. That’s what we do. Michael, the Angels have remained silent. Yeah. Arty Moreno didn’t even talk to Ron Washington, according to Ron Washington, before his option wasn’t picked up. Yeah. No conversation with the manager of the team that you you hired, you brought in. No conversation. You picked up you picked up from the airport and gave him the, you know, the luxury tour. Yeah. Yeah. Even after his health issues, you didn’t say a word to him. You had somebody else do it. So the question is why the radio silence? What does this say, John, about our favorite team and those who are on top and leading this organization for our favorite team? I think the first thing that comes to mind is we haven’t thought that far ahead, right, Mike? That’s been the theme of this season. And when I say we haven’t thought that far ahead, it points to the Angels not having a plan. And when’s the last time they had a plan, Mike? Well, the this this year’s plan was, hey, we’re gonna be competitive. We’re gonna try to get to the playoffs. And you want to know what the plan was before that? Hey, we’re gonna be competitive and we’re going to try to get to the playoffs. And then you know what it was three years ago in 2019? Tell me, we’re going to be competitive and we’re going to try to get to the playoffs. We go year by year with this team. Yeah. Year by year with this club. There’s never been a long-term plan. There’s never been a long-term vision for this team. It’s why we’ve gone through GM, manager, GM, manager, GM, manager. Right now we’re on the manager cycle again and maybe on the GM cycle again. So to me, what jumps out is the fact that the Angels don’t have a plan. And when the season came to an end, it took them by surprise. What? Only 162 games. What do we now? I don’t know what to do hands, right? That’s what they did. They don’t have a plan. They didn’t think that far ahead. And so they have nothing to tell us at the moment. That’s the problem. They don’t have a plan. They don’t have a vision. They don’t have something like Steve Cohen saying, “I owe you an apology.” They don’t have the GM of the Diamondbacks, Mike Hayes, saying, “You know what? We need a better bullpen in in next season. That’s what we need.” They don’t they don’t know. They have no idea what’s wrong with their team. Even though it’s very clear to all of us, it’s all clear to our everydayers. It’s clear to fans what the problems are in and off the field. They don’t know. They didn’t think that far ahead, Mike. And and here’s the problem with silence, John. When there’s silence, then we get to fill in the gap. We get to fill in what’s going to be said or what’s not going to be said or what is happening behind the scenes. And that’s why Angel fans get so frustrated with this organization and specifically get so frustrated with Arty Marino. If Arty is so driven by his ego that he doesn’t want to get booed in a video, so they take him out of the opening video, right? Then here’s the thing that I would say to Arty. Bro, if you just give us something, then that will help us. We we we will discuss it. We might not be in agreement with it, but it it gives us sort of a a thought process and not not this ambiguous, we’re going to try to be competitive. I I would love an apology from Marty Marino saying, “Man, we haven’t lived up to our expectations.” And it wasn’t like they just missed the playoffs this year. They missed the playoffs the last 10 years, right? And 11 years now. And you, we’ve heard nothing. We’ve heard nothing. It’s always been blame. It’s been blame on, well, what can I do? I can’t go in there and swing. What can I do? I can’t I I’ve signed players. What can I do? I’m losing money, right? There’s never been any like I’m going to I’m going to hold myself accountable here. Even though I feel like I’ve done what is necessary, whether that’s right or wrong, another conversation. But Arty saying, even though I felt like what I’ve done was necessary and needed, the team hasn’t performed. And ultimately, that’s on me. I’ve never heard that from him, and I don’t think I’ll ever hear that from him. But what we do then is we fill in the gap. So the questions come up like so what’s going on? Is Perry going to be a part of this future? Right. Right. Yeah. We don’t even know that. Are are we going to have a manager soon? Is it Albert? Is it Tori? Or is it somebody that we’re thinking about that they haven’t thought about or vice versa that they’ve thought about and we’re not thinking about? Like we don’t know. We don’t know anything. It feels so disconnected with the people that actually pay the bills. It feels so disconnected with you and I and other podcasts and other influencers who are are actually in love with this team and really love the players. It feels so disconnected. I wonder what it’s like being a player. I wonder what it’s like being a part of the organization. Like does does Trent Rush and Terry Smith and Wayne Randazzo and Mark Guba do do they know anything? Yeah, because I’m guessing that they probably don’t because there’s been nothing but silence. And so what we do as Angel fans is we’re going to fill in the gap. So let me fill in the gap. I don’t think Perry’s coming back. I don’t think they have a plan. I don’t think that they’re gonna sign anybody. I don’t think that it’s it’s going to be a really impactful off season. I don’t even know if it’s going to be Albert. I’m assuming it’s probably going to be somebody who maybe is a bit cheaper. I mean, now is all of that true? I don’t know because they haven’t said anything to us, John. We got to fill in the gaps. And that’s the problem is everybody’s going to speculate and have opinions and things to say about everything that they do. And that’s what we do as fans. That’s why we are fans. That’s why we follow the team that we follow so that we can speculate and have feelings and thoughts towards our favorite team that we follow. The problem is eventually you need answers. The Angels are out of answers, Mike. They don’t have any. They didn’t think about the questions ahead of time. They didn’t study for the test ahead of time. And so again, it goes back to the phrase, “We didn’t think that far ahead.” That’s the epitome of this season. It’s the epitome of this club. It’s the epitome of this off seasonason. And look, maybe they’re preoccupied. They’ve got the Tyler Scaggs trial going on at the moment. Maybe that’s taking up all of their time. Of course, we’ve yet to discuss that at length and we’re going to save that conversation for a different show because it requires some sensitivities. It requires some thoughtfulness and you know, Mike and I want to get our thoughts together on all of that and have that for you as a separate show. But having said that, you knew it was coming, right? It was always on the calendar. But like I said, did did game 162 take them by surprise? What? No more baseball. What do we do now? And and did this did this trial take you by surprise, right? Like this is not new, guys. This is not news flash to you. This is all stuff that you knew was coming down the pipeline. John, in sports, taking it game by game, day by day is what you say as a player or as a coach or a manager when the media is asking you uh about the future, whether you’re winning or whether you’re losing. You know what? We’re just playing right now. We’re taking it day by day, right? Unfortunately, the the top brass in the Angels organization have adopted that mantra. We’re just taking it day by day, right? Hour by hour. We haven’t thought that far ahead. Here’s here’s a minute. Thank you. Here is here is the reality is that if you’re going to lead an organization, you need to be six months to a year ahead. Right off air before we we started, I shared with John something about my real life job and I’m preparing for something in January and and you were like January. It’s October, right? Because I’m ahead. I’m the leader of the organization. I’m thinking about where we’re going to be. I’m thinking about and planning for that. Does Arty do that? Does John Carpino do that? Does Perry Manassian do that? The silence tells me absolutely not. Now, I’m uh Any chance I can get a Michael McDonald reference in there, I’m all about it. Thanks for making Log Angels, your first listen of the day. Coming up, which coaches are going to stay, which coaches are going to go, who should stay or who should go? We’re going to tell you all about it coming right up. Today’s show is brought to you by our friends at Prize Picks. It’s the daily fantasy app where making the right call can actually pay off. We make decisions every single day, but on Price Picks, being right means that you can cash in. But Johnny, um, you tried to cash in. Yeah. So, tell me what you have on Price Picks. Thanks for going uh one inning yesterday, you Darvish. I took him for the over on three and a halfks and didn’t get that one. Mike screwed up my whole lineup. Thanks, Darvish. Well, price picks is really easy to use. Even if you aren’t really great at it and it’s simple. You just pick more or less on two to six player projections. It would have been easy. You Jarvis, yeah, of course he’s going to get more than three three strikeouts, right? But the Cubs knocked him out of an inning. So, that was not good. But when you make your decisions, we know you’re going to be right and you can win real prizes all in less than 60 seconds. Download the app today. Use our promo code locked on MLB. You’re going to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Again, promo code locked on MLB. $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Price picks. Unless you’re John, it’s good to be right. This is the Lockdown Podcast Network, where it’s your team every day. Thanks for making Lockdown Angels your first listen of the day. Look, what you want to do is this. Whether you’re watching or listening, you want to make sure you’re subscribed on Apple Podcast, Spotify, on YouTube. You want to hit that like button and subscribe button and and make sure you leave a comment because it’s the best way to get in touch with us and be part of the conversation. And you’re going to want to do that because there is plenty of Angels news despite their radio silence. We know that there’s going to be a lot to talk about this off season and we want you here for it. Hit us up on social media, lockdown angels, super halo bros, wherever you like to social your medias. Posting on the uh on the Tik Toks, Mike, we’re doing that now. So uh thank you for joining us over there if you’re on Tik Tok. And uh Good. I’m glad you followed. You ought to be following. But uh yes, we appreciate you being part of the conversation and want you to be here every day as some of our locked on everydayers. The dominant conversation this week on locked on angels, John, was about the managerial position because we had talked about like what are they going to do? And then there was the rumor about Albert Puhol. You and I have talked about Tory Hunter. But then that also brings up some other questions. Will will the staff the coaching staff will they be retained or will the new manager be able to put together his new staff? The these are questions we don’t have answers to because it’s been radio silent from the Angels. So, we’re going to share who should stay and who should go. Talking about musical references, who should stay and who should go and and if we’re picking the coaching staff, if we’re getting hired as the manager, here’s our thoughts. So, John, let’s start with Barry Enright. Let me share some stats with you first. The Angels finished with the third worst ERA in baseball overall, starters and relievers at 4.89. They had an expected ERA of 4.47. They had a FIP fielding independent uh pitching, which is what kind of gives you a sense of if the ERA is inflated or if it’s if it’s low. This this is basically what the pitcher can control. Their FIP was 4.78. Their expected FIP was 4.54. Now, the Angels pitching staff was second to last in war. They had a 6.4 war. The Rockies had 1.1. That’s bad. Their pitching staff was terrible. It was really awful. So, at least we’re not that. We are second to last, but at least we’re not that. Angels were 24th in the league in Ks at 8.05. They were last in the league at walks per nine, 3.90 walks per nine. They were in the bottom 10 in Babip with a 296 average. So that’s batting average for balls in play. So a lot of balls got knocked into play and they got knocked four hits when they were when they made contact, which is why contact is a really good thing. Uh Angels were second to last in the league in home runs per nine. John 1.4. 4 almost one and a half home runs per nine innings. So this is just a small sample size, just a bite of the stats that are out there. We could do specific players. We could talk about some wins and some losses, but let me ask you, looking at these stats, you and I have been more in the corner of Barry Enright than not in the corner. Everydayers have been very divided on Barry Enright. There’s one every day that jokes about, “Hey, Barry comes out and talks to the pitcher and then tells him what to do and then the next pitch they get a hit or home run or you know Ste Steve G on YouTube.” Yeah, Steve, you’re not wrong. You’re absolutely not wrong. So, thanks for paying attention. The Angels aren’t. You are. And that’s what’s interesting about this team. So, John, there’s a lot of wins, a lot of losses with Barry Enright. We’re more in the corner than we are not looking at these just small stats that we shared. Would you get rid of Barry or would you bring him back? These numbers here are the kind of numbers that are going to make make you lose your job, right, Mike? And and you know, I think about like a 4.89 erra for the entire staff. To me, I’m like, that’s not bad. But then you find out it’s third worst in baseball, and that’s not good. And when you think about where the Angels have been in the past, sadly, Mike, this is a step forward, especially given last year. And and I know like even even into the years that uh Barry Enright wasn’t here, you had Show Otani on the mound and and for as good as he was on the mound, it brings a lot of those other bad stats way down. So here’s my thing. These are the kind of numbers that are going to help you lose your job. The problem is it’s hard with a pitching coach because I think you have to weigh the talent versus the teaching. And when you have talent like you do on this team, and I say that not in like a they’re super talented, but just like the players on the team, I mean, look, a fielding independent pitching of 4.78, it’s right in line with about where their RA was. That’s the that’s by virtue of having a ton of ground ball pitchers, right? or soft tossing guys. A babip batting average on balls in play of nearly 300. That’s that’s the result of having a lot of soft tossers and ground ball guys and fly ball guys. You had three of them, no four of them on the team. You had Kanoitz, you had Sorano, and don’t get me wrong, Sorano is great and and and he can strike you out and get you to ground out. You had Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks. Come on. Like these are the numbers you’re going to get with any pitching coach in my opinion, no matter who’s in charge. Now, I’m probably going to sound like a hypocrite because later on in the show, we’re going to talk about Johnny Washington and everybody knows how I feel about him and how you feel about him. But here’s the thing. I think that the hitting side of this team is more talented inherently than the pitching side of this team. And what I mean by that is this. You have guys who didn’t live up to their capabilities at the plate and I think that’s the result of coaching. When it comes to this stuff in terms of pitching, well, Jackahanowitz, Barry Enright did not have success with him and they tried to send him down. They called him right back up to send him down again. Right back up. That’s not his decision. That’s front office decision, right? And and management’s decision. However, when I think about what Barry has been able to do in terms of, hey, let’s put Reed Demer in the bullpen, get him out of his head, turn him into a dog, and teach him to attack the zone. That’s where I think you got to get into the nitty-gritty. And you could say the same thing about Johnny Washington. Look at the season Joe Adell had, right? I think that has a lot to do with the work that Johnny put in with him last year in 2024. I think Zach Neto has a lot to do with the work that Johnny Wash put in last year with Zack Neto. Same thing could be said for Mike Trout trying to figure out his swing and his mechanics and whatnot. So it it’s really hard to be like, “Ah, that guy’s got to stay. That guy’s got to go when yes, again, these are the kind of numbers that will get you fired, but at the same time, the people who are going to make these kinds of decisions have to look at the nuance of it all.” I guess you could say where how did Barry help guys improve? Where did they take steps back? How much of this is just Kyle Hendricks being in his last year probably and how much of this is Tyler Anderson being the same kind of Tyler Anderson he’s always been right like you really have to weigh that kind of stuff. So I don’t know. I mean, in my opinion, I would keep Barry Enright because I think there’s been more good than bad, but it’s like we said yesterday, everything sucks with the organization. But when you’re at the top of that, maybe it’s not so much your fault as it is the kind of staff you’ve been given, the kind of talent you’ve been given. So, that’s my opinion on it. I would at least keep him unless uh, you know, Albert does become the manager and Adam Wayright can come be the pitching coach. Uh because we’re getting all the former for former Cardinals at this point. Yeah, John, I would keep Barry Enright. And here’s why. The difference between him and Johnny Washington is I felt like Johnny Washington was a lid for our hitters. I felt like Barry Enright is removing the lid. I feel like he’s bringing the players up. Johnny, I wouldn’t say is keeping them down, but he certainly isn’t lifting them up. So, for conversation sake, Barry is lifting up. Johnny’s pushing down. And that’s why I would keep Barry in. Right. Yeah. The numbers aren’t great, but what I’ve seen in the nuanced relationship with a lot of these guys and helping them to get better, I’ve seen them work on some things. I’ve seen them have a better mindset. I’ve also seen Barry work with Cminus players, Cminus pitching staff, right? He doesn’t have top-notch talented stars, which Johnny Washington does. And that’s why there’s a difference between these two. I think Barry has earned another year because this is he just finished year two, right? And so year three is really where you start to see the impact that you’ve had in the previous two years. It becomes yours. It’s it’s now your pitching staff. They’re now your pitchers. It’s now your philosophy and your strategy. and it’s now year three of consistently preaching the same things. I think that he deserves another opportunity. I think he learned under the best and Brent Stum. I think that he’s somebody that the Angels should give a chance for next year to be on this this coaching staff and to coach this pitching staff because he has been dealt really terrible cards. He’s got a two and he’s got a five and he’s got a seven and he’s got a a nine, right? He doesn’t have a king, a jack, a queen. He doesn’t have any of that. And yet you see them in little moments with little notches, little volume turns getting better. He has removed the lid. And that’s why I would keep him. I would give him to me, Mike, it’s 50/50, honestly, because I agree with everything you said about keeping him, giving him a third year to to really just take ownership of this whole thing. And then there’s moments, like I said, where guys, you know, turn the notches in the right direction. And then there’s Ryan Zephr John. Yeah. Starting with his sweeper at nearly every at bat, right? Like, yep, bro, you throw 100 miles an hour. Don’t start with the sweeper. Yeah. Throw in 100 miles an hour, get strike one. Right. And I think a bigger difference here, Mike, is when Barry Enright came on the scene and Sam Blum interviewed him at prior to 2024 and said, “What’s the plan?” And he said, “We’re gonna throw strikes.” Right. Yeah. and and they spent all year trying to get guys to throw strikes. And I think honestly that’s why it took Demmer as long as it did to be like, “Bro, throw strikes. Stop not trusting your stuff. Have some confidence for crying out loud. Put your big boy pants on and throw strikes because your stuff is good.” It took a year and a half to get that, Mike. It took him going to the bullpen to get that. But did it happen? It’s It most certainly did. It certainly did. And with Johnny Washington, he gave us kind of a well, I’m not really going to tell you what my strategy is to Sam Blum. And at first, we went, I don’t know if I like that very much. But it turned out him actually having an overall strategy, well, that wasn’t good. And we’ll get into that in just a minute. The NFL season is right in the midst of heating up, getting exciting. Week four is here and FanDuel is making sure that you’re ready for all of it right now. If you’re a new customer, you can bet $5 and if your bet wins, you’re going to get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love FanDuel because you can bet however you like. There’s player props and you can build a same game parlay or maybe as the action unfolds, jumping in live, watching that, placing a bet. That’s what I love about FanDuel. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s the best way to add a little bit more excitement on Sunday. So download the FanDuel app right now and go to fanduel.com to get started. Again, fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. Continuing our conversation on the coaching staff and it really comes down to two big players. Barry Enright for the pitching staff, Johnny Washington for the offense. So how about the offensive side of things? Got Johnny Washington, the current hitting coach, and under him the Angels did the following. They were fourth in the league in home runs with 226. They were bottom 10 in walks with 484. They were last in the league in batting average with 225. Third worst in on base percentage at 298. Bottom 10 with a 695 OPS. That’s despite having 226 home runs being fourth in the league. Biggest and most glaring stat is the strikeouts. The Halos led the league in striking out with 1,627. The team that was behind them uh was the Rockies and they had 100 less just about five uh 1,531. So now there’s playoff teams that strike out a lot during the regular seasons and you know the Yankees for example, they struck out 1,463 times. But here’s the difference. their on base percentage was nearly 40 points higher than the Angels. So, yes, can teams mash their way and hit a ton of home runs and still be a playoff team? Absolutely. Can they strike out a lot? Absolutely. But it’s the stuff in between the home runs and the strikeouts, Mike. The stuff that happens on the bases that really matters, doesn’t it? Yeah. Yeah. You got to walk, you got to cause havoc on the bases, you got to steal, right? There’s a lot that you need to do. So looking at these stats, the question we’re wrestling with is would you still get rid of Johnny Washington? John, I know that some of the push back for the coaching for the manager spot is going to be, you know, well, the players have to play and you’re absolutely right. The players do need to play. They are not without accusation in this situation, especially on the offensive side, but there’s a reason why you hire coaches. There’s a reason why you bring in people to work with these players. If if you felt like it’s all on the players, then you shouldn’t hire a coach. You should just hire a manager who’s going to be a CEO who’s going to set the lineup for you and that’s it, right? But there a reason why you bring in coaches is to help them identify things where they’re where they’re lacking and to help them to improve in certain areas, to help them stay on course, to help them be consistent, to help them do the right workouts and swing the right way to identify things that maybe you’re not seeing because you’re your head is in the game. You’re focused on trying to get a hit or trying to catch the ball. A coach can take a step back and go, “Here’s what’s happening.” It just didn’t feel like that happened this year. It didn’t feel like that happened at all. In fact, it didn’t feel like the strategy was ever adjusted. It didn’t feel like as the game got later, it didn’t feel like there was ever a conversation about choking up. I mean, we’ve heard Mike Trout and Taylor Ward both gave quotes to Jeff Fletcher. My two strike approach, I need to probably change that this off seasonason. I don’t know if I want to choke up because it it shrinks the bat a little bit, but maybe I need to do that. You’re figuring this out. Like that those are the conversations on game 160. Yes, those are the conversations that Johnny Washington should be not having, should be demanding. Yeah. And should be saying, “Hey, guess what? Make contact. Look at look at had before.” Look at right field. It’s open. Stop swinging for the fences. And the biggest sign of the struggle of the struggle with this team is John, at the at the end of the day when when you got to the end of the game, nothing changed. They were still swinging for the fences there. How many games were they down by a couple and then the ninth inning was strikeout looking, strikeout, swinging, strikeout, swinging? I mean, that tells me that that is more coaching than anything else. So, I would I would move on from Johnny Washington. I want somebody who’s going to help this team be a bit more competitive at the plate, make contact, and get on base in a lot of different ways, not just trying to mash the ball. The worst thing that a coach can do, whether it’s pitching or hitting, is make their players one-dimensional. And this is what happened to the Angels this season. They were an all or nothing team. As much as you can pile on the Yankees for all they do is hit home runs and that’s how they win their games, well, they’re in the playoffs and the Angels are not. And they do a lot of the little things in between that differently than the Angels. You got Jazz Chisum scoring from first base the other night, Mike, to get the go-ahad run for the Yankees, right? Uh JD Haffron of Lockdown Cardinals and I, we do game night together and he had a really interesting thought about the Reds facing Blake Snell and Yoshu Yamamoto. And the thing that they did wrong was that they were attacking Blake Snell and Yamamoto. What’s the quickest way to get Blake Snell out of the game? You make him work. That guy, how many, you know, that’s that’s always been Snell’s problem. He throws a ton of pitches in four innings because he walks a lot of guys because he’s deceptive. and Reed Demer, right? Right. When you go when you go chasing his stuff out of the zone, that’s why Blake Snell gets nine strikeouts and goes seven innings like he did the other night. Right. But if you lay off that stuff and let it fall out of the zone and you take your walks and you create traffic on the base pass, Blake Snell’s done by the fourth inning because he’s thrown 95 pitches. And so that’s not what the Reds did. They really should have resisted the urge to attack those guys. Even though when the Reds put the ball in play, that’s their go-to. But but that’s the thing, Mike, the strategy didn’t change from game one to two. And I bring that up because for the Angels, the strategy never changed. They let guys come in and dominate them. Guys who shouldn’t have dominated them, right? We saw a lot of that this season where they make, you know, stinkers look like aces out there because they never change the strategy. You get struck out with a fast ball high because you’re trying to mash it, they’re going to try that again on you. They’re gonna get you with that again if you don’t change your approach. So, if you don’t lay off that stuff or, you know, you take it the other way or what have you. I I just, you know, the strategy never changed. I think that’s an indictment of Johnny Washington and and the the team, the offensive coordinator and all that stuff, right? I think that’s an indictment of the kind of approach the Angels had this season where in years past we’ve said they feel approachless. Well, they certainly had an approach this year and it was all or nothing. Y and that doesn’t work. That strategy does not work. And yes, to be fair, there is nuance in the hitting where it’s like, hey, maybe he helped Ato take a step forward. Maybe he helped Joe Adell figure out the leg kick nonsense, yada yada yada. But then on the other side, how long did it take Mike Trout to figure out what was going wrong with him where he was saying that he wasn’t keeping both eyes on the ball? It was just one eye and that was throwing him off. What do you do, Mike? He figured it out in the last week of the season. And and yeah, the last weekend hit five home runs in like six games or something stupid like that. It was crazy. Yeah, but but where was that all season? Why couldn’t they figure that out sooner? I don’t know if Trout went to to Jaywash for that. I know that he went for to jwash for other stuff, but all that to say, it’s too little too late. I I and and to have these kind of results. I mean, look, that that’s 695 OPS despite all the home runs, that’s crazy to me. That’s absolutely insane. It should be like at least mid mid700s. Oh, 100%. 100%. Because home runs slugging, right? But you know what brings that number down? The on base percentage 298. That’s not going to get it done. In fact, you know what I always say? A 300 average, a 400 on base, and a 500 slugging. That’s how you should feel about your team. The way you feel about a 300 average on a guy is the way you should feel about a 400 on base and a 500 slugging. Now, do you guys hit that all the time? No. But, but when you see a 300 hitter and you’re like, “Oh, that guy’s good.” Well, if you see a 400 on base and a 500 slugging, it’s the equivalent of a 300 hitter and the way you feel about that hitter, the results just weren’t there, Mike. And so, I think it truly is time to move on, especially if they get a new manager. Thanks for making Lockdown Angels your first listen of the day. Now, for your next listen, check out Lockdown MLB Game Night. Every game, every night until the World Series champion is crowned, you can find Game Night on the Lockdown MLB YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, be sure you give us a follow on Twitter at Lockdown Angels and Super Halo Bros on Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to come on over to YouTube. Get in the conversation in the comment section. Hit that subscribe button. Hit that like button. It really helps us out and it’s free to do because uh like I said, it helps us out. So, come on, give us give us a little something. Come on over, hit that subscribe button. Mike, what do we got on deck when we come back on Monday? Man, there’s a lot to talk about. The Angels are the best team to talk about in the offseason. Maybe not in the regular season, but there’s a lot to talk about. The big question is, are we going to hear from our favorite team? Will they make a decision about the manager over the weekend? We’re going to talk all about that on Monday and we’re going to have all the late breaking news. So, make sure you are subscribed because it’ll ping you. It’ll let you know when John does a a quick short or when we actually are doing a show. We’ll have all the information for you. This is the best place for you to be on Monday on Locked on Angels. All right. Looking forward to that. I’m going to make a prediction and let’s hope that you’re watching this early in the morning or listening. They’re going to say something today. It’s an off day for the playoffs. They’re going to say something today. We’ll see what happens. I know they don’t have any media scheduled, but I’m sure we’ll we’ll hear something as of today. All right, friends. We hope you’ll come back and join us on Monday. Until then, my name is John, and that’s my brother Mike. And my name is Mike, and that’s my brother John. Stay tuned. It’s going to be a wild ride. And we’ll see you back here on Monday. Minute by minute. Every time you

Why has the Los Angeles Angels front office gone silent? The Frisch brothers dive into the organization’s puzzling lack of communication following the 2025 season. From coaching staff evaluations to long-term planning concerns, this episode breaks down the Angels’ current state of affairs. Will Barry Enright return as pitching coach? Is Johnny Washington the right fit for hitting coach? The hosts analyze player performance stats and compare the Angels’ lack of messaging to the Diamondbacks’ and Mets’ front offices. Hear their take on how one-dimensional coaching may be holding back the team’s potential. Tune in for an in-depth look at the Angels’ organizational challenges and what changes might be on the horizon!

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0:00 Intro

5:08 Angels lack long-term vision and planning

10:58 Analyzing Barry Enright’s performance as pitching coach

17:20 Weighing talent vs teaching for pitching staff

25:47 Johnny Washington’s impact on Angels’ offense

30:28 Strategy never changed for Angels hitters

34:48 Preview of upcoming show topics