The June 11th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Wilson voted most overrated, C.J. upset at CarGo’s bunt hit, Hawkins activated and much more…
The Story: A poll of MLB players rated C.J. Wilson as the most overrated pitcher.
The Monkey Says: Man, I’d sure hate to see how good Wilson would be if he was pitching up the unjustified hype that he is supposedly getting. The thing to keep in mind is that this was an off-season poll, so players may have been a bit jealous of the big money and attention he got. Also, Texas fans were hating on him big time (and still are) so it has become somewhat trendy to bash Wilson in recent months. For his part, Wilson says the poll doesn’t bother him.
The Monkey Says: Oh, right, this is why everyone thinks Wilson is a douchebag. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a bunt there. Not only was it very early in the game, but it was a 2-0 at the time.
The Story: LaTroy Hawkins was activated from the disabled list with Bobby Cassevah being sent down to Triple-A.
The Monkey Says: Hawk is coming back just in time as Walden has gone into a funk again. As for Cassevah, good riddance to bad rubbish.
The Story: Mike Scioscia has no intention of asking Mike Trout to play more carefully to prevent injury.
The Monkey Says: Amazingly, these comments were made BEFORE Trouty faceplanted into the outfield wall twice Sunday afternoon. I actually agree with Scioscia though. Letting instinct take over is almost always better than trying to get a guy to constantly think about what the right thing to do is. It is when apprehension or hesitation slip into the decision-making process that bad things happen. That being said, I don’t see how Trout is going to be able to avoid the DL if he continues to play with such reckless abandon. That might work for him at age 20, but when he bounces off a wall at age 30, he may not get up so quickly.
The Monkey Says: Hopefully this doesn’t turn into a larger setback.
The Story: Despite his greatly reduced role, the Angels insist that they aren’t looking to trade Peter Bourjos.
The Monkey Says: I have the feeling this is going to be a statement the front office has to issue every two weeks.
The Story: Mike Trout feasts on pitchers when he sees them for the second or third time in the game.
The Monkey Says: We are dealing with very small sample sizes in those stats being shown, but it does highlight Trout’s ability to make adjustments very quickly. However, sooner or later teams will adjust to Trout and stop throwing him so many fastballs.
The Story: Albert Pujols credits increased patience at the plate for his recent improvement with the bat.
The Monkey Says: Not swinging at everything is a good idea? Who knew?
The Story: Jerry Dipoto is feeling “comfortable” with the current roster.
The Monkey Says: The team is clicking right now, so it is easy to see why he says that. However, Dipoto strikes me as a shark, always moving. If he gets a chance to bring some stability to the two-hole and/or third base, I very much expect him to jump on it.