This isn’t a Schadenfreude situation, because I want to see Joe Maddon and the Angels do well. They’ve got the best player on the planet on their team, they’re loaded with compelling talent, and Maddon is a Cubs hero. Just because it was time to move on from the Cubs doesn’t mean I want to see him struggle thereafter.
So I feel for how things have gone so far with the Angels, who are 10-22, the worst record in the American League. The frustration has to be mounting, because Maddon just got ejected for the second time in three days:
Maddon was, of course, right about that call. He was probably right about the one a couple days ago that got him the boot, too. Frustration mounts, man.
Still, it’s not like Maddon to get tossed THIS frequently. Yeah, he had a few good ones with the Cubs (hit the spin move!), but it was, what, like a couple times a year? Not a couple times in three days.
How the Angels are this bad, by the way, is kind of a mystery to me. They’ve got Mike Trout, obviously, and they’ve got Anthony Rendon hitting even better than Trout. David Fletcher is raking. Tommy La Stella and Brian Goodwin are raking. Both of their catchers are raking. Dylan Bundy and much of their bullpen are putting up some eye-popping numbers. They’ve had some struggles at the back of their rotation, but not like worst-in-the-AL struggles. Makes me wonder if there’s some bad luck here in the results – you’ll have that, as you know, over such a short stretch of time.
I can see Maddon being frustrated.