Thaiss hopes to get into swing of things
Angels first-round pick in 2016 finds himself scrambling for a roster spot.
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — When the Angels used the 16th overall pick of the 2016 draft on Virginia catcher Matt Thaiss, they were convinced they were getting one of the top hitters in the country.
The left-handed-hitting Thaiss led his college team in batting (.375), home runs (10), RBIs (59), slugging (.578) and on-base percentage (.473) that season. His advanced plate discipline and power to all fields “led us to believe he’ll be an above-average hitter or better,” then-scouting director Ric Wilson said.
Five years into a professional career that began with a $2.15-million signing bonus, things haven’t gone quite as expected.
While several top picks from his draft class — Atlanta pitcher Ian Anderson, Seattle outfielder Kyle Lewis and Dodgers catcher Will Smith — have established themselves as big league regulars, Thaiss, 25, is scrambling for a roster spot.
Moved from catcher to first base after being drafted, Thaiss has played in 61 big league games at third base, first base, second base and left field, hitting .202 with nine homers and 24 RBIs.
After showing flashes of his potential in 2019, when he hit .211 with eight homers and 23 RBIs in 53 games, Thaiss played in only eight games in 2020, hitting .143 with one homer and one RBI.
Thaiss spent most of last summer at the alternate training site in Long Beach. This spring, he is battling for a utility role, his chances of making the team slim.
“I’m very thankful and very blessed to get the opportunity to be where I am today,” Thaiss said Wednesday, when asked how his career has gone compared with what he envisioned when he was drafted. “That being said, I don’t think anyone would be satisfied with where I am today.
“I think that’s something that can fuel me. Obviously, I want more, from a personal standpoint, from a team standpoint, and I’m excited to do whatever I can to get to that. It requires a lot of work.”
Thaiss has a solid .279 average and .808 on-base-plusslugging percentage in 404 minor league games, with 45 homers and 241 RBIs, but uneven playing time and mechanical inconsistencies with his stance and swing have prevented him from carrying that success to the big leagues.
“As cliche as it sounds, I’m trying to go back to the old me and why I got drafted, a contact hitter who can drive the ball at times,” Thaiss said. “I’m trying to make myself more athletic in the box.
“I think I got into a position at the beginning of last year where I was too wide [in my stance] and too unathletic, and it kind of prevented me from being as effective as I can be.”
Could Thaiss have put too much emphasis on launch angle and power?
“It could be that — it could be putting added pressure [on myself],” he said. “It could be a bunch of things. For me, I ran away from my contact swing, using the whole field. That’s what I’m trying to get back to.”
Thaiss doubled to leftcenter field in three at-bats in Wednesday’s 4-2 exhibition victory over Cleveland and is two for 12 (.167) this spring.
“The results are not there yet,” Thaiss said, “but feel like I’m working good at-bats, putting some good swings on the ball and finding barrels.”
Thaiss has expended energy learning new defensive positions, and he wasn’t prepared for some. Last Sept. 8, he made his first pro start at second base and made a tworun error in Texas. The next night he started in left field and had a catchable ball drop in front of him for a double.
Angels manager Joe Maddon said that the “larger resume [Thaiss] creates, the longer he’s going to be able to play in the big leagues.” But could playing so many positions be putting so much stress on Thaiss it’s affecting his offense?
“It could if you let it, and I think I’ve done a good job of not letting it so far,” Thaiss said. “I think it greatly improves my chances of getting back to the big leagues and staying there. Joe always says the more positions you can play the more opportunity there is, and that’s what I feel is the case here.”
Norm Sherry, whose suggestion to Dodgers teammate Sandy Koufax helped the future Hall of Fame pitcher reach his potential, has died. He was 89.
He played just five years in the majors, hitting .215 with 18 home runs and 69 RBIs as a catcher. But in spring training of 1961, his advice to Koufax that he take something off his fastball to improve his control contributed to the lefthander’s turnaround, and he went on to be one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history
Sherry’s brother, Larry, also pitched for the Dodgers. Norm Sherry managed the Angels to a record of 76-71 in 1976-77 before being fired. He was one of the small number of Jewish managers in MLB history.
Three months after Major League Baseball threw the Lancaster JetHawks out of the California League, the team has thrown in the towel.
“The JetHawks are no longer in business,” Lancaster City Manager Jason Caudle said Wednesday.
Caudle said the team and the city have reached agreement to terminate the JetHawks’ lease at the cityowned ballpark known as the Hangar. He declined to share the terms of the agreement before the City Council confirms it.
However, he blasted MLB officials for what he called a broken pledge to keep baseball in Lancaster, even after streamlining the minor leagues by stripping 43 teams of their affiliations with major league teams.
— Bill Shaikin
The Texas Rangers are on track to become the first team in Major League Baseball or any major U.S.-based sports league to have a fullcapacity crowd since the COVID-19 pandemic started altering the sports landscape a year ago . ... The Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto went on the injured list after testing positive for COVID-19. He will be away from the team for a minimum of 10 days under health and safety protocols.