The May 10th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Dan Haren dealing with back spasms, Bourjos patiently waits for more playing time, Rodney complains about how Angels handled him and much more…
The Story: Dan Haren is dealing with back spasms but doesn’t expect to miss his next start.
The Monkey Says: That would certainly explain his iffy effort on Tuesday, but it doesn’t mean that the spasms are behind him. I’m sure he will give it a go for his next start, but there is no guarantee that he will be effective.
The Story: Peter Bourjos continues to sit and bide his time.
The Monkey Says: It really is a bit absurd that he hasn’t played more than he has in the last two weeks. Bourjos got off to a terrible start this year, but it seems unfair that he has been cast aside so readily while other struggling Angels like Erick Aybar, Vernon Wells and Alberto Callaspo have gotten ample opportunity to get their season on track. One would think he would get his chance sooner or later, but he was also supposed to “get heavy playing time” against the Twins, yet only started one out of three games.
The Story: Fernando Rodney complains that the Angels “asked him to throw more strikes.”
The Monkey Says: Yes, what a terrible idea. Throwing strikes is such a bad thing, right? And how dare they monkey with his mechanics when half the time he steps on the mound he has no idea where the ball is going. Oh, did I mention that in a season where Rodney is enjoying immense success, he is also throwing a much higher percentage of his pitches for strikes than he has in any season of his career. Yeah, stupid Angels!
The Story: Chris Iannetta hit the weakest home run of the season so far.
The Monkey Says: Have you seen the Angel offense this season? We’ll take what we can get.
The Story: A graphical look at which Angel player fans get most riled up about when not in the lineup.
The Monkey Says: Not pictured: Alberto Callaspo or Erick Aybar. I don’t think that is a coincidence.