Daily Links for the LA Angels including Morales’ real name is actually Kendrys, Kazmir takes a big step backwards, Scioscia reconsidering his prefence to carry 12 pitchers and much more…
The Story: Kendry Morales is henceforth to be known as Kendrys Morales.
The Monkey Says: Kendrys (note the brand spankin’ new “s” at the end of his name) is actually K-Mo’s birth name but some paperwork got screwed up along the way (either that or the agent that stole $300K from him also sole the “s”) and he never bothered to do anything about it. I’m guessing he probably didn’t want anyone looking at his birth records since Cuban players have a history of fudging their ages. Next thing we’ll find out is that Kendrys is really 39 years old and actually a secret Muslim born in Kenya. Wait, I think I’m getting confused here. Stupid birthers.
The Story: The Angel pitching struggled in an 8-1 loss to the Rockies yesterday.
The Monkey Says: Scott Kazmir gave up one unearned run, but he was pretty much a mess, walking four and allowing five hits in 3+ innings. The real culprit in this loss though was Trevor Reckling, who got bombed for seven runs, the latest implosion for him in an already awful spring. Don’t be the least bit shocked if Reckling ends up back in Double-A for a third straight season and maybe even gets converted to a reliever if he doesn’t get his act together in the minors.
The Story: Mike Scioscia is reconsidering carrying 12 pitchers to start the season.
The Monkey Says: Translation: Mark Trumbo is really good and I think we have no choice but to give him a shot at the majors. I really hope the Halos opt to carry just 11 pitchers even if it means cutting Jason Bulger or Rich Thompson loose. The offense needs as much flexibility and depth as possible, whereas the re-tooled bullpen can likely survive not having an extra mop-up man.
The Story: Former Angel reliever Brendan Donnelly is retiring.
The Monkey Says: Donnelly was a key reliever for the Angels for a few years so I am not going to say anything about him being named in the Mitchell Report, instead opting to wish him well in the next stage of his life.
The Story: Vernon Wells is optimistic about his fresh start with the Angels.
The Monkey Says: Let’s hope that optimism translates to some big performances from Wells who has been very up-and-down the last few years.
The Story: Kevin Jepsen is participating in Twitchange to raise money for charity.
The Monkey Says: What? I can get paid to tweet? Damn, I’ve been giving the goods away for free all this time!