The June 6th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Conger called up, Angels draft heavy on college pitchers, Iannetta could be back in two weeks and much more…
The Story: Hank Conger was called up with Bobby Wilson being placed on the 7-day concussion DL.
The Monkey Says: It sounds as if Conger will get the majority of the starts until Iannetta or Wilson return if only because he can hit left-handed. What he really needs to do though is show Scioscia that he can hold his own defensively and do so without sacrificing the focus on his offense like he did during his time with the club last season.
The Story: The Angels made 13 draft picks yesterday with a heavy focus on college players and relief pitchers.
The Monkey Says: 12 of the 13 selections were college players. Eight of the draftees were pitchers and of those eight, at least five figure to be relievers. It is an interesting strategy for the first year of Dipoto’s regime as they clearly are looking to beef up the depth of the system by taking college players who can help in the big leagues very fast. The sterling example of this was their first selection, Roy “RJ” Alvarez who is pretty much a finished product as a reliever and could easily have a shot at breaking into the majors in 2013. We’ll have a more in-depth post on the Angels draft selections a little later today.
The Monkey Says: That’s good news for the Halos as they need to get some consistent production from their catcher’s spot. Iannetta wasn’t hitting for much of an average, but he was getting on base and showing some pop. It is bad news for the aforementioned Hank Conger who won’t get much time to prove he deserves to take over as the club’s primary catcher in 2013.
The Monkey Says: This is why the campaign to get Trumbo or Trout voted in just isn’t going to work. The Angels have never mobilized an effective effort to stuff the ballot box like other teams do. Just look at all the Rangers way up there in the voting. Christ, freaking David Murphy is sixth in outfield voting. The Rangers have had measures in place for years to get fans to fill out dozens of fans anytime they are near the stadium. I’ve heard stories for a long time that there are restaurants near the ballpark where you are basically given 100 ballots to fill out while you wait for your food.
The Monkey Says: My apologies for linking to something written by Jeff Miller, but really, all the info is in the headline above, so don’t bother clicking the link unless you are some kind of masochist.
The Monkey Says: That is a little bit frustrating since it was first thought that Hawk was going to be activated Thursday. However, I suppose the off-day for the Angels on Thursday means that they don’t need to rush him back since the relievers should all be well-rested when the next series starts in Colorado.