FIASCO: Kurt Suzuki's Opener Plan SPECTACULARLY FAILS as Angels Fall 7-2 to Cleveland Guardians

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:04]Angels manager Curt Suzuki saw the Blue Jays use an opener on Sunday and thought, "What if we did the same thing on Monday?" The problem is the Angels are not the Blue Jays and the results were not the same.

[00:00:22]You are Locked [music] On Angels, your daily Los Angeles Angels podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day.

[00:00:32]>> Thanks for being here for this episode of Locked On Angels, where it's your team every day. You've got John Fr, one half of the Super Halo Bros, one of the hosts on Locked On Angels. My brother Mike is normally here with us. However, he's not feeling too well, so I'm taking the show solo. We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network out there. On today's show, the doubters, the haters, the miserable ones. They might get exactly what they want. I'll tell you about that in segment three. What did Alec Manoa have to say about his outing after yesterday's game? But first, let's talk about the plan that backfired spectacularly.

[00:01:07]Spectacularly, that's hard to say. Uh the plan for this game for yesterday's game was for Brent Sudter to open for the Angels and he was going to be followed by Alec Manoa in just his second MLB appearance since May of 2024.

[00:01:23]Manoa ended up being the fourth pitcher to enter the game for the Angels who went Sudtor Jose Fine Kirby Yates and then Alec Manoa. Unfortunately, the Angels surrendered seven runs by the time that he entered. It was two in the second and a fiveun inning in the third altogether. The Angels bullpen that started this game. Five hits, seven earned runs, five walks and two strikeouts. Sudter worked a clean first inning and he was an out of way from completing the second when he walked Travis Bazanna with, you know, pitches that were kind of outside the zone.

[00:01:59]ended up loading the bases prompting the Angels to go for Jose Fermine to try to get out of the jam. He threw a decent 0 and2 slider, but Brian Beo reached down, got it into right field, and that was a two-run single for me comes back out to load the bases in the third inning by walking everybody. Kirby Aates comes in, gave up a walk that walked in a run, then a single and a double, and the Guardians took a 7 nothing lead. So, by the time Alec Manoa comes in, he finishes the game, and we'll talk more about him in segment two, but he goes five innings pitch, two hits, five walks, two strikeouts, and no earned runs on 91 pitches. Pitches, the Guardians win this one seven-2.

[00:02:48]They're 28-4 at home versus the Angels since 2014.

[00:02:56]The Angels do not play well in Cleveland. So, couple couple thoughts coming out of this game. Do I blame the Angels bullpen for this loss? Well, sure. They're the ones who gave up seven runs. Never mind that the offense was pretty absent in this one, too. Now, they had nine hits. They got two runs.

[00:03:19]They struck out nine times. They only walked three times. They were two for seven with runners in scoring position.

[00:03:26]Thank you, Von Gryom and Joe Adell. But this whole day was not well thought out from the beginning and it spiraled on Kurt Suzuki. Now I know he probably wanted Alec Manoa to come in with a clean inning. Sudtor pitches fine in the first inning, gets in the trouble in the second. They have Jose Firmine come in and you know he gives up that hit. I understand that. But then they bring Jose Fine back out in the third inning.

[00:04:00]Yeah, you don't expect him to have the issues that he did. He does walk people, but to load the bases, he just couldn't find the zone. So, I understand the circumstances here. I understand all of that, but I'm not here to be an understanding guy, especially as a frustrated Angels fan, as I'm sure you are, too. This whole plan was but backwards, and I could think of a worse word, but this is a family show, so I'm not going to say it. It wasn't clever.

[00:04:32]It wasn't creative. And the funny thing is just yesterday, Mike was talking about the emphasis on consistency. You got to have a consistent lineup. You got to know who's in front of you, who's behind you. Well, that hasn't worked.

[00:04:46]Consistency is only great when it's a winning formula. And the Angels have not had a winning formula for quite some time. Whether that's lineup construction, whether it's days like today where you think, "Oh yeah, we'll just have an opener and then we'll bring in Monoa." Well, that's not what happened. and it spiraled out of control on Kurt Suzuki. So, the irony is they finally do something different. They do have an opener. They bring in Alec Manoa, but it's after three other pitchers get into the game. So, when Mike and I talk about, hey Kurt, maybe try something else. Maybe try something different.

[00:05:25]This was not that different thing to do.

[00:05:29]The fact that Jose Fine came back out in the third inning. Again, you don't expect him to blow up the way that he did, but they did and it put the Angels down 7 nothing right out of the gate before Monoa even got into the game. I understand he pitched the rest of the game, saved the bullpen. They keep talking about saving the bullpen. You use three arms in the bullpen. What are you talking about saving the bullpen?

[00:05:53]Well, you didn't use anybody else. You didn't use the high leverage guys like Zephr John and Sil Seth and Zach Sam Bachmann. You didn't use those guys. So, I get that. But at the end of the day, this was a horribly executed plan. Maybe it didn't go the way that they thought it would. Maybe you ask Brent Sudter to get you through two innings and then you go to Alec Manila. Maybe that was the plan. But at the end of the day, he went one inning just fine. So, you run him back out there. He gets the two outs.

[00:06:25]He's almost out of it. And then it un it spirals on him. Spiral on Sudter.

[00:06:32]Spiraled on Fine. It spiraled on Curt Suzuki. It's one loss among 26 losses everybody. But the way the Angels are game planning, the way the Angels have tried one thing, it doesn't work and they refuse to go to another thing. So today they try to get clever. They try to do something creative. It didn't work and it's not going to work. Not with this team. I said at the top of the show, Kurt Suzuki saw the Blue Jays do it on Sunday. Went, "Oh, that seems like a good idea." Well, I know that this was probably the plan before they saw the Blue Jays do it. But at the end of the day, you are not the Blue Jays. You're not that team. And the problem with the Angels is that they don't play like the Blue Jays. They don't hit like the Blue Jays. They don't pitch like the Blue Jays. The two relievers that started the game for the Blue Jays kept the Angels off the board. Wasn't until Eric Lowour came in, gave up a four-run inning, the Angels offense took off. I asked the question yesterday, is this a matter of the Angels finally clicking offensively or does Eric Lowour just stink? Well, if you want the answer to that, Eric Lowry was DFAD yesterday by the Blue Jays off the team.

[00:07:56]And the funny part is I think that it might be the latter of what I suggested yesterday. This offense didn't find their groove in the first game against the Guardians. Again, despite nine hits, he only cashed in two runs, two for seven with runners in scoring position.

[00:08:17]And I got to give it up. I know that we questioned whether or not Oswald PZA and Von Gryom would get more chances. They got more chances in this one. And they weren't even spectacular. I know Gryom got the RBI, one of two. I know Oswald PZA took a walk and so that moved runners to first and second, but to only have three walks and strike out nine times. I know it's not double digits and I know that's a win in the Angels book, but come on. Nine hits, two for seven with runners in scoring position. This offense was absent. They were noticeably absent, and it was very frustrating. And it didn't help that they had to come out of the gate with a sevenrun deficit. I know it was by the third inning, but come on, that's a that's out of the gate in my books. This plan backfired on Kurt Suzuki. It spiraled out of control. He didn't know how to handle it. He didn't know what to do next. He brought back FM out there because I don't know why not.

[00:09:26]I just don't think that they had a game plan from the beginning. They had a plan of sudder than Alec Manoa, but it didn't go the way they thought it would and they let things get out of control and that's really unfortunate. Thanks for making Lockdown Angels your first listen of the day. Coming up, we hear from Alec Manoa on his outing. say outing and not start because he came in halfway through the game. And he had some interesting things to say and I've got some interesting things to say about what he had to say. We'll talk about all of that coming right up.

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[00:12:28]Now, to remind everybody, Alec Manoa did get into this game. pitched five innings, gave up two hits. He did walk five, struck out two, didn't give up a run on 91 pitches. Now, Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register was able to report on what Alec Manoa had to say to the media after the game, and he did a great job covering that.

[00:12:54]Here's what Manoa had to say. He said, "I didn't know how many innings I was going to throw. I just didn't even think about that. just grab the ball and go make pitches. Early on, I was trying to be too perfect with some pitches. Then I remembered my job is to kind of keep us in the game, but also save that bullpen.

[00:13:14]So, I just started attacking and I was able to finish it off. Now, Jeff Fletcher notes that Alec Manoa's four seam fast ball averaged about 88 miles an hour and the sinker sat about 89 miles an hour. And Jeff makes mention that both of those are down from where he was before his Tommy John surgery two years ago. And then even down from his 92 mph average on Friday night. Remember he came in in relief and threw seven strikes, 11 pitches total, had a strikeout, had a clean inning in Toronto. So you kind of hope, all right, well that was a good start for Alec Manoa. So he comes in as the bulk guy after the bullpen completely falls apart. Kurt Suzuki's backup plan failed.

[00:14:06]But this was what sticks out to me when Jeff Fletcher or somebody in that room mentioned his VO being down. Manoa answered the questions what Jeff writes.

[00:14:18]He answered the question about his velocity with another question. He said, "How cold was it out there?"

[00:14:26]Jeff notes it was 53 degrees at first pitch. And here's what Monoa went on to say. Seven run ball game. I'm not really worried about velocity, man. I know it's going to come for me right now. It's just consistency, rhythm, and just doing my job when my name is called. So, Alec Manoa is not worried about where his VO has gone. says it was real cold in Cleveland. It was. I understand that.

[00:15:00]But he's not worried about it.

[00:15:02]Am I going to sit here and have to say that I'm the one who's worried about his velocity? I want to know where it went.

[00:15:12]Where'd you put those miles per hour, Alec Manoa? You just had him on Friday.

[00:15:17]I understand it was one inning, but at the same time, you haven't had your VO since spring training and you are not in a position to sit there and say, "Yeah, well, whatever, man. My VO, it's going to come around."

[00:15:34]Like, you're not you're not the dude, right? You can't sit there. That's just like your opinion, man. Where's the VO been? Because it wasn't there in spring.

[00:15:44]It was there when you started and then it would trail off. And that happens to pitchers. You come out hot and then your VO starts to tick down as you get more tired. But this is a problem for me.

[00:15:57]You're not worried about your VO. I'm worried about your VO. I'm worried if you can even be a viable arm. I'm worried whether Alec Manoa can even be a viable starter because all indications are he's going to have to do this again and there's still a hole in this rotation. Now Grayson Rodriguez seems like he's working his way back. Ryan Johnson is an option. Sam Algari is an option. They've tried George Clawson in the past, right? But all indications are the next time this turn through the rotation comes up in some form or fashion, whether he takes the first inning or the fourth inning, Alec Manoa is going to have to come into the game. Are they going to do an opener thing again? Well, after yesterday, I certainly hope not because when things don't go according to the Angels plan, it all falls apart. And isn't that reflective of the hitting, too? They have one game plan against one pitcher.

[00:17:00]They can't adjust. They don't do anything to fix their approach. That's what it felt like yesterday. But all that to say, Alec Manoa, you are not in a position to be yeah well whatevering anybody when it comes to asking questions about your performance and asking questions about your mechanics and asking questions about your velocity.

[00:17:28]The truth is this is not somebody that Mike, myself, many of our everydayers and Angel fans wanted to count on coming into the season. And now the Angels are going to have to count on him, especially given the circumstances of the rotation right now. So, the fact that they're going to have to count on Alec Manoa, even though we all didn't want to, he's in a position to say, "Don't worry about my VO. It's fine. I just need to be consistent. I need to get out there. I need to do this. I need to do that."

[00:18:05]No, you are in no position to know that and to say that you had you had a fingernail issue. You had a bruised fingernail.

[00:18:19]It's not a lat strain. It's not an elbow issue. It's not a forearm thing. You already had the Tommy John. And when you recovered from that, you showed that you still had some VO. So, where did it go?

[00:18:34]I understand pitchers when they have a bruised finger. You can't grip the ball right. You can't do all that stuff right. I understand that. But for your velocity to not be back, like I said, this is not a physical issue like elbow, lat, forearm. Yeah, your fingy hurt. You had a hurt fingy. You had a boo boo. And I get that you can't pitch with that, but to write off your VO drop is absolutely ridiculous. And here's what gets me. Alec Manoa, [laughter] you have no clout. You have no track record and you have no reputation.

[00:19:14]You are not the guy from 2022, which was four years ago, by the way.

[00:19:22]You're not that guy anymore. And that's fine. That happens to pitchers. That happens to players. You can't be the same guy you always were. And the truth is, he really was that. When I say always was, really was that one year, 2022.

[00:19:39]You're not that guy anymore. So, stop acting like you are that guy. Because the guy who was in the Sai Young running for the Blue Jays was a huge surprise coming out of that rotation and a big star in Toronto at the time. You're not that guy. You haven't been that guy. And everything you've showed us since spring training is questionable. You had five walks in this game. I know you got through it. I know you uh got through it with no earned runs, but you put people on. You put people on base. You had two strikeouts. You kept throwing that change up over and over and over again.

[00:20:20]Maybe, you know what? Maybe it wasn't even a change up. Maybe that was your fast ball and Statcast just thought it was so slow that it marked it as a change up. Does that sound like the 2022 guy to you? Doesn't sound like it to me.

[00:20:34]You are in no position. You have no clout. You have no track record and no reputation to be writing off questions from the media about your velocity.

[00:20:46]So get out of here with that because one, it's disrespectful and two, you have no business pretending to be the guy that you think you are between the ears.

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[00:22:25]So, after yesterday's game, the Angels sit at 16 and 26. And I got to thinking, are the are the miserable ones, the haters, the doubters, are they going to get what they want? Well, here's what I mean. 16 and 26 is a 381 win percentage.

[00:22:49]And what is a 381 win percentage over a full season?

[00:22:55]It's exactly 62 and 100. meaning the Angels are on pace for a 100 losses right now. This would be the first team in Angels franchise history to ever do it if things continue the way that they go if the Angels stay on this trajectory. Now, do I think they'll do it? Do I think this will be the first team to lose a 100 games? No.

[00:23:26]To be honest with you, no. I didn't think they'd do it last year. I didn't think that they would do it in 2024, even though they lost 99. Still not 100, you bozos. And that's the thing, they've never done it. And I don't think this team will either.

[00:23:44]But isn't that what some Angel fans want? In fact, I know some everydayers who tune in every single day to lock down Angels that want to see this team lose a 100 games. They've been telling us for years. They've been telling Mike and I in the four years we've been doing this show, this is our fifth year, that oh 100 losses incoming. They've been telling us for years. The Angels have never done it and haven't done it in franchise history. There's one bozo out there who says they're going to lose 111 this year. I don't know if he's an everyday or not, but either way, people have claimed over and over and over again, 100 losses incoming, 115, this team will lose 120. They'll be lucky if they win 40 games. Well, probability tells you that they're going to win at least 40 games, right? So, say what you will about all of that. Say what you will about people claiming they're going to lose a 100 games. Again, I'll stand by it. And if they do lose 100 games, then we can talk about that at the end of the season. But I'll stand by it. I don't think they're going to lose 100 games. Not this team. They're not going to lose 100 games. Here's the thing, though. Wouldn't that just be the icing on the cake? That Arty Marino's Angels, the only team in franchise history to lose 100 games, would be under Arty Marino's Angels. What about Perry Manosians? Oh, we'll be fine. Angels to be the first team in franchise history to lose a 100 games. In fact, this Angels team, Arties, Perry's, they would be the last team in MLB to lose a 100 games. Every other franchise has done it except for the Angels. And it's going to be this year.

[00:25:42]Wouldn't it be the icing on the cake, the the cherry on top if one of the last things that happened under Arty Marino's regime was that he oversaw the only team in franchise history that lost a 100 games, the only team in franchise history to to break that threshold to be the last team in MLB to lose a 100 games under Arty Marino's ownership. What about Perry Manosian? Again, the obviously very competitive Angels as he said last year and this year with, "Oh, we'll be fine. Our best baseball is ahead of us." Well, it's been a week since he said that. And so far, I haven't seen any better baseball.

[00:26:26]The truth is, it would just be chef's kiss if a 100 losses happened to this team. And I don't say that because I want to disparage the guys on the team.

[00:26:39]I think the players are talented.

[00:26:41]However, I don't think enough players are very talented. But I think there's a huge difference in wanting to see Ry Marino wear that quote unquote badge of honor of again overseeing the only 100 loss team in franchise history. Perry Manosian and his obviously competitive best baseball ahead of us. We'll be fine. Angels losing 100 games. The only team in franchise history to do that.

[00:27:11]The last hold out across Major League Baseball. I think there's a huge difference in wanting that versus predicting a 100 losses. This team's going to lose 100 games. 100 plus games.

[00:27:24]100 100 losses incoming is what we always hear. But I think that's the difference between predicting it and wanting to see it because then the front office gets what it deserves. And I think they do deserve a 100 losses. I really do. I think they deserve to be the first franchise in team history to lose 100 games. I really do. And if Arty Marino has to wear that, Perry Manasian has to wear that. I think that's for me that's splitting the hair of wanting this team to lose 100 games and then seeing them lose 100 games and wanting those guys this front office this ownership to wear that. But every year someone arbitrarily throws out 100 losses incoming. To me that's just silly because at the end of the day it makes me think you want this team to lose 100 games. And maybe maybe you want them to lose a 100 games because you think the front office deserves it. Maybe you think they lose 100 games cuz Arty Marino deserves it, but they haven't ever done it yet. So, one thing that's not clear to me when Mike and I hear 100 losses incoming, what does that do?

[00:28:35]Who's that for?

[00:28:37]Because we're here rooting for the guys on the field. We root for the team. We root because we've been Angel fans before RD Marino and we'll be angel fans after RD Marino. We were Angel fans before Perry Minosian and will certainly be Angel fans after Perry Minosian.

[00:28:56]We'll still be here. And the truth is, I don't want to see them lose 100 games. I want these guys to have success. That's what a fan does. And so to arbitrarily throw out a 100 losses incoming, do I think they'll have a winning record? No, not at this point. Mike and I have always said this team ceiling is probably 500 and they're certainly not playing up to that level. and on that pace. And so if they're on pace to lose a 100 games, to go 62 and 100 as of this recording, well, that's on them. But it's mostly on the front office for not supporting the players on the field, actually signing guys over the off season that would actually make a difference on this team. How about a bunch of reclamation projects? How about Alec Manoa? And how about Jordan Romano, who's on a minor league deal with the Rockies now, right? That doesn't get the job done. and that's on the front office. And so again, trying to walk the line of I don't want to see these players lose. I want to see this franchise lose a 100 games because I want Perry Manasian to wear that. He's gone after this year, guys. I don't even think he makes it through this year to be honest with you. But if this team loses a 100 games, that would just be the ultimate badge of honor for Arty Marino, who's run this franchise into the ground and has taken every penny he can from this name of the Angels, squeezed it out like a sponge, and eventually he'll sell, and he'll ride off into the sunset with his billions, and we're going to have to pick up the scraps as fans. And if you and I are going to pick up the scraps, we can't be predicting a hundred losses incoming every single year.

[00:30:39]Thanks for making Lockdown Angels your first listen of the day. Reminder to join the Everydayer Club. Add free audio on your favorite podcast platforms or locked on Discord. So much fun. Head on over to lockdown angels.supcast.com to join the club.

[00:30:54]Be sure you give us a follow on Twitter, lockdown angels, and superheroes on Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Whether you're watching or listening, come on over to Today's Show on YouTube. Get in the comment section. I would love for you 100 losses incoming people to get at me in the comments. Are you wanting to see that happen because of Arty and Perry or are you just predicting that because it's the easy thing to do? I want to know. I really want to know. So, get in the comments on YouTube. Let me know. Find today's show. Get in the comments. On tomorrow's show, Mike and I will be here to recap game two. We have Robert Urania on the mound. Now, he's had two really good starts and one not so great start. Actually, no, three great starts now and one not so great starts. So, how's he going to perform against the Guardians? We're going to talk about that and also talk about Zach Neto and owning up to his mistakes on the field so far. We'll get into all of that on tomorrow's show. Until then, my name is John. My brother Mike will be back with us tomorrow. For all you sickos who love this team and all the every others who love to watch and listen, we will see you back here on Tuesday.

[00:32:03]Wednesday.

[00:32:05][laughter] I'm a day behind.