- The Story: Joe Saunders was placed on the disabled list with shoulder tightness and Jose Arredondo was called up to take his place. The Monkey Says: The Saunders injury is simply devastating on so many levels for the Angels, more on that later today.
- The Story: Can the Angels really win the AL West if they can’t bet the Rangers? The Monkey Says: In short, yes, it just won’t be easy. The Halos will really need to take care of business against everyone else which the generally have been doing lately.
- The Story: Kevin Jepsen and Jason Bulger are coming into their own. The Monkey Says: I’m pretty sure this is like the 17th time in the last month the Angel website has run a version of this same story. The two have been good, but the Angels PR staff wants us to think they are both the second-coming of Mariano Rivera.
- The Story: Triple-A pitcher Trevor Bell is looking like he will get the call up to take the place of Joe Saunders in the rotation. The Monkey Says: Oy, another guy who hasn’t pitched about Single-A before this year. Sooner or later the Halos’ luck is going to run out with these rookie starters. Bell seems like a stopgap until a definitive timeline is set for Saunders’s injury.
- The Story: Scot Shields is ahead of schedule in his recovery from knee surgery. The Monkey Says: This won’t help the Angels this year, but it means that Shields should be 100% healthy by Spring Training 2010.
- The Story: Torii Hunter could begin a rehab assignment in Rancho Cucamonga as soon as Tuesday. The Monkey Says: That would be great news for the Angels as it would put Torii on pace to be back with the team by this weekend.
- The Story: The Angels think Jose Arredondo is ready to contribute again. The Monkey Says: His stats in Triple-A weren’t all that great, but the team seems to believe he finally has recaptured command of his fastball which should make him far more consistently effective. Let’s hope they’re right.
