Daily Links for the LA Angels including Morales advances his running therapy, Willits called up and Pettit sent down, the Rangers lose Hamilton for two months (hooray!) and much more…
The Story: Morales runs in the outfield, inching him closer to a return.
The Monkey Says: If I interpret the quotes right, Morales will focus on that for the rest of the week and then try running the bases. Once he conquers the bases (probably another week’s worth of that), the Angels will send him out on the much-awaited rehab assignment, which figures to be another two weeks or so. That seems to put him on track for a early-to-mid May return, but so much as one little setback very well could push his comeback all the way back to June.
The Story: Reggie Willits was called up and Chris Pettit demoted.
The Monkey Says: A lot of fans liked Pettit, but this is for his own good. He had barely played this season, and he has really seen little action since 2009 thank to his shoulder injury last year. He’ll now get to head to Salt Lake, play everyday and make a strong case to take Willits’ roster spot permanently next season.
The Story: The Rangers lost Josh Hamilton to a broken shoulder for six-to-eight weeks.
The Monkey Says: So much for that fast start, Texas. It should be interesting to see how the Rangers respond to Hamilton’s loss as they stagnated during his absence last season. Now would be a really good time for the Angels to get hot and do what they can to overtake the Rangers and build a cushion over them in the division before Hamilton returns.
The Story: A pitch/fx breakdown of Tyler Chatwood’s debut.
The Monkey Says: Interesting stuff, especially the parts about him not getting swings-and-misses from his heater. Still, this is just one game, but Chatwood has underachieved in terms of strikeouts in his brief minors career, so this might help explain why.
The Story: Are the Angels overworking their aces?
The Monkey Says: I was far more concerned about Haren’s relief outing than Weaver’s 125-pitch start. I feel like people have become overly concerned with pitch counts and need to realize they are entirely contextual as not all pitches and pitchers are created equal. Weaver, and Haren, for that matter, is a workhorse who has shown for several years now that his arm can handle lots of pitches and lots of innings. The Haren thing, as I said in the game preview yesterday, only worries me because it messes with his usual routine.
The Story: The Angel bullpen has found its collective groove.
The Monkey Says: Settle down, Saxon. Much as we shouldn’t have overreacted to the relievers’ struggles the first week of the season, we shouldn’t get too excited about them not sucking too much in the second week. Why don’t we give them a month to actually settle on which pitchers will comprise the bullpen before we start passing any real judgment.