The June 13th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Pujols takes a veiled shot at Mickey Hatcher, Santana talks about his ongoing struggles, David Pauley called up again and much more…
The Monkey Says: Albert may not have actually intended to insult Mickey Hatcher, but he did anyway. He also makes an incredibly salient point about the perceived inability of the Angel lineup to make in-game adjustments, something that was long a problem in Hatcher’s tenure, though that may not have actually been his fault (but it probably was).
The Story: Ervin Santana talks about his ongoing struggles.
The Monkey Says: Ervin is at least aware of the problems because it very much is his fastball command that is failing him and, no, he isn’t “all over the place” he is “all over the middle of the plate.” That’s a pretty big problem, one that should be fixable, but it sounds like neither he nor Mike Butcher can put their finger on the cause of the issue. It is also worth noting that the Angels will give Garrett Richards one more start before Jered Weaver returns, which could be Garrett’s final chance to impress Scioscia and potential steal Ervin’s rotation spot, though I still doubt that will happen (at least no until after the All-Star break).
The Monkey Says: Don’t worry (or get excited), Wells is just being moved to the 60-day DL to clear room for Pauley on the 40-man roster. His return window should remain the same. Pauley was added mainly for last night’s game as Ernesto Frieri, LaTroy Hawkins and Jason Isringhausen had all pitched on three consecutive days and were unavailable as was Scott Downs who was battling some soreness in his side after fielding a comebacker in Sunday’s game (thus explaining why he didn’t come in to bail out Jerome Williams last night). It is probably for the best that Kole Calhoun got demoted because he needs to start getting regular playing time again. Pauley should be demoted before long and there is a real chance that the Halos might carry three catchers when that happens, at least until Ryan Langerhans gets healthy.
The Story: Bobby Wilson will start a rehab stint with the Inland Empire 66ers tonight.
The Monkey Says: This story misreporeted it as Tuesday, but it will be tonight. He could return to the major league roster as soon as Friday.
The Story: Kendrys Morales and Vlad Guerrero will sign autographs this Saturday.
The Monkey Says: I normally don’t link to these events unless it is a slow news day, but this is newsworthy because this was announced the same morning that Vlad angrily opted out of his minor league deal with the Blue Jays. It is just odd and a little suspicious that he was playing for a team in Las Vegas yet still felt like he could plan ahead to make promotional appearance in Anaheim on the wekend. Either that or he quit the Jays and then felt compelled to sign autographs. Either way, there is an odd thought process here.
The Story: Things we learned from Vin Scully on Monday night.
The Monkey Says: Scully is still great though he does have the infrequent cranky old man moment now and again.
The Story: Mike Trout could be an All-Star this year, probably as a reserve though.
The Monkey Says: This is just one of about 7 million articles slobbering over Trout after he single-handedly won the game for the Halos on Monday.
The Story: A look at the effectiveness of Ernesto Frieri’s fastball.
The Monkey Says: Even more evidence that teams are better off sending righties up against him. As for saying it isn’t as devastating on paper, I wonder if the Pitch f/x (which I am not well-versed in) can speak to how much of that “only” above average movement comes late in the zone because that is sure how it looks to the naked eye.
The Story: OF Travis Witherspoon was named to the California League All-Star team.
The Monkey Says: Witherspoon is quickly establishing himself as one of the breakout stars of the Angel farm system. He was one of the many raw athletes Eddie Bane drafted, but after some up and down years, Witherspoon is only starting to put it all together now.
The Story: Umpire Manny Gonzalez looks like he may have wet his pants in Saturday’s Angels-Rockies game.
The Monkey Says: Ummmmm, no comment.