When Howie Kendrick was first called up back in 2006 it wasn't a question of if he would win a batting title, it was a question of how many would he win? It was believed that Kendrick was some kind of hitting savant who was going to hit .330 just by showing up for work. It was an expectation that was so unrealistic that it bordered on criminal, yet we all bought into it.

Well, after seven full and partial seasons, Kendrick has exactly zero batting titles to his name. In fact, he has only twice hit over .300, back in 2007 and 2008, but he had 353 and 361 plate appearances in those seasons, so he never would've qualified for the title. Since then, Kendrick has been a full-time starter for the Angels and a pretty good one at that, he just hasn't been anything resembling a batting champ.

That's not a knock on Howie, mind you. He is betting .295 for his career, so he has still been a very good hitter, just not a great one. What we found out about Kendrick in the majors is that he is a fairly free swinger who doesn't do so well with breaking balls. If the backbone of your offensive success is feasting on fastballs, it is really going to limit your ability to hit for an elite average.

What those pretty obvious weaknesses, after so many years, finally convinced those who followed the Angels of is that Kendrick would never challenge for a batting title. It just wasn't going to happen. He'll calmly click along for years hitting around .290 and we would all be perfectly happy with that even though we would all reserve the right to make "Howie batting title count" jokes as if we are somehow displeased with having a borderline All-Star second baseman on the team. But then Howie had to go and hit .335 through the first 70 games of the 2013 season.

That sonuvabitch. How dare he go and get our hopes up all over again. Sure, a batting title doesn't have the same kind of prestige it used to, but it represents the supposed potential that we all thought Kendrick had left on the table. Now we have to entertain the idea that Kendrick has finally blossomed into the hitter we all had long hoped he would be now that he is just weeks shy of his 30th birthday.

Dare we dream that dream? Is this performance for real? Can he sustain this level of production not only for the rest of this season but maybe even beyond?

The June 18th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Hamilton doesn't know why he didn't play on Sunday, Madson resumes throwing and much more...

The Story: Ryan Madson has resumed playing long toss but is still dealing with pain.

The Monkey Says: That he is throwing is nice and all, but even he admits that they still don't know what the source of the pain is. This is not looking promising.

The Story: Josh Hamilton still doesn't know exactly why he was scratched from the lineup on Sunday.

The Monkey Says: Scioscia claims it was both mental and physical, but basic logic suggests that it was just that Sosh didn't think Hamilton could be effective against C.C. Sabathia. Why he couldn't make that clear to Hamilton though is a mystery.

Over the years the Angels have done well by themselves by beating up on the drecks of the AL West. If they are going to emerge from their season long slumber, they'd be wise to start doing that very thing once more. Granted, it didn't work out so well against the Astros, but when all else fails, there are the Seattle Mariners.

For a minute there it looked like the Halos were going to squander their opportunity to smack around Seattle. They scored four runs early of Aaron Harang on a dozen hits, but he kept on wiggling off the hook. It would have been just another game where the Angel offense looked productive, but somehow just couldn't turn those hits and walks into runs.

And then the sixth inning rolled around and all of those concerns faded away. Singles, doubles, walks, infield hits, errors. Everything went the Angels way and they finally kicked the tails of an inferior team like they should have. One big seven-run inning erased all those concerns for one night. Let's hope they can keep it going.

Angels 11, Mariners 3

During the recent draft, I happened to be on vacation, and even though I love this game and I LOVE prospects, there isn’t much that could take my focus away from my wife, the Atlantic waves and a cocktail.  Still, I’d done some homework before the draft on some players and did a little more digging following the draft as well.  We here at MWAH do our best to talk to the right people when dealing with prospects we haven’t scouted for ourselves.  Of the ones I have had the opportunity to watch, it’s been in shorter video clips, so I did the best I could.  Obviously, we’ll all get a better read on these guys once the season starts and can start watching them on a regular basis.  However, for now, here’s what we have on the newly drafted Angels prospects.

*Note – If you don’t see anything on a particular prospect that was drafted, just know that I couldn’t find anything substantial on them and have heard nothing from anyone within the Angels organization about this player either.

36th round pick Brandon Bayardi – He’s a very well-built corner OF from UNLV.  An impressive blend of speed, strength and power.  I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking at here, but I am impressed by the numbers Bayardi put up against competition that wasn’t exactly the easiest among the college ranks. 

35th round pick Eric Weiss – A third baseman from the University of Texas.  He played for the Team USA collegiate team, so obviously he was a decent college player.  He doesn’t have a ton of power, but there’s lots of athleticism and projection here.  Very similar to a high school player in that he’s raw but has upside.   Listed as a catcher on the Angels website, so that’s either a mistake or a move they’re hoping to make.

34th round pick LF Eric Aguilera – Aguilera fits the profile of a big athletic OF whose value is tied into his ability to climb the ladder quickly.  Collegiate 34th round picks rarely make any headway in the minors but Aguilera actually has quite a bit going for him.  There’s considerable power, and he has a sweet swing from the left-side.  His coach even claimed he was one of the best hitters in the Midwest.  We’ll have to take a closer look.

28th round pick Miguel Hermosillo – This one I’m actually a bit excited about.  Hermosillo was a running back for the University of Illinois and was considered to be one of the better RB in the country, even projected to possibly play in the NFL.  He’s reportedly excellent defensively, very explosive and quick.  He’s probably the best pure athlete of the draft, and that’s saying something considering who the Angels drafted in the 3rd round.

24th round pick Mark Shannon – Before you do anything else, check out this catch he made:

He has a solid mix of speed and gap power.

RANK	PLAYER	CHANGE	COMMENTS
1		-- 0 Last Week: 1	Mike Trout - With the week he just had, the Angels should see to it that his entire extended family attends every single one of his games. I imagine giving him a fat contract extension would allow for him to pay for that himself. Sounds like a win-win.
2		-- 0 Last Week: 2	Howie Kendrick - It is official, Kendrick is in the conversation for a batting title now. I never thought this day would come. I can't wait to see how he screws it up.
3		+2 Last Week: 5	Jason Vargas - It was good to see him have a strong bounceback start in a bandbox stadium against potent lineup.
4		-1 Last Week: 3	Jered Weaver - That's weird. It is almost like him recovering a few ticks of velocity didn't fix everything.
5		-1 Last Week: 4	Mark Trumbo - Trumbo seems to be starting his second half swoon a little bit early this year.
6		+1 Last Week: 7	Albert Pujols - A great week for The Machine marred by him ending it with a strikeout to abort what would've been an epic comeback victory for the Halos.
7		+1 Last Week: 8	Kevin Jepsen - He allowed his first run since coming back from injury, but it was unearned. He is making this not believing in him thing really difficult.
8		+4 Last Week: 12	Ernesto Frieri - Three innings, no hits, no walks and six strikeouts. Now this is the Ernasty we've been looking for.
9		+1 Last Week: 10	Chris Iannetta - He can't throw out base stealers, but at least he can pick guys off now.
10		+1 Last Week: 11	Michael Kohn - Two appearances, two batters faced, two strikeouts. Talk about making the most of limited opportunities.
11		-5 Last Week: 6	Erick Aybar - How has nobody mentioned that Aybar has ONE stolen base this season?!
12		+2 Last Week: 14	C.J. Wilson - Wilson had one of his best starts of the year but did it without Conger catching. Maybe Scioscia should see if that can become a trend.
13		+3 Last Week: 16	Tommy Hanson - Hanson looked fantastic this week, but was it because he was facing a lame Yankees lineup or because he is finally rounded into form after his long layoff?
14		-5 Last Week: 9	Jerome Williams - Solid start against a good team? Still not good enough to replace Joe Blanton.
15		-- 0 Last Week: n/a	Peter Bourjos - After his home run robbing catch against J.J. Hardly, I think we can all put the "Trout belong in center" debate to bed.
16		-3 Last Week: 13	Scott Downs - Downs has one job, getting lefties out and now he can't even do that right.
17		+4 Last Week: 21	Garrett Richards - It has got to be the lack of nasty, crunchy long hair.
18		+4 Last Week: 19	Hank Conger - The whirly, over-the-head follow through on Hank's home run swings give me a great deal enjoyment.
19		-4 Last Week: 15	Alberto Callaspo - Callaspo has a .541 OPS this month. In completely unrelated news, Luis Jimenez has a .908 OPS this month. If you try and tie those two facts together to form a roster move suggestion, that's on you.
20		-2 Last Week: 18	Josh Hamilton - The power came out a bit, but thus far it doesn't look like the two-hole experiment is going to work out.
21		-1 Last Week: 20	J.B. Shuck  - As a guy who comes off the bench to try and draw a walk, Shuck is pretty useful. Let's try and keep him in that role.
22		-5 Last Week: 17	Dane De La Rosa - Back already? I didn't even get a chance to drop him from the rankings so I could re-add him.
23		-- 0 Last Week: 23	Joe Blanton - Best week ever! Blanton didn't pitch once. Let's do it again some time.
24		-- 0 Last Week: 24	Brendan Harris - We live in a world where having Brendan Harris play first base with Josh Hamilton on the bench and it doesn't really raise any eyebrows.
25		-- 0 Last Week: n/a	Brad Hawpe - I'm still confused about the fact that Brad Hawpe even still exists.

Dropped from rankings: Chris Nelson (DFA'd away), Robert Coello (fuckleballed up his shoulder)

Biggest Riser: Frieri, Conger, Richards; up four spots each

Biggest Dropper: Aybar, Williams, De La Rosa; down five spots each

Like MWAH on Facebook

Follow MWAH on Twitter

The June 17th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Scioscia to keep Hamilton in two-hole, the Dodgers cost the Angels TV revenue and much more...

The Story: Joe Blanton will return to the rotation on Tuesday.

The Monkey Says: Which you probably figured out after Jerome Williams threw three innings of relief on Sunday. This is absolutely the wrong move, but at least Scioscia seems to be inching closer and closer to finally pulling the plug on Blanton. Then again, he is only setup for success facing a lineup like Seattle, which was probably the whole point of pushing back his turn in the rotation.

The Story: The Dodgers ended up costing the Angels potentially billions of dollars in their TV contract.

The Monkey Says: Frank McCourt cut a sweetheart deal with Fox so he could try and use the money to pay his own personal debts. The league didn't allow it, but the Angels used that contract as a model for their own deal with Fox Sports. Had Moreno known how much the Dodgers would've ended up getting, he might've been able to get more, but I doubt he would have matched the deal. The impulse here is to blame McCourt for artificially lowering the value of TV contracts at the time, but it seems to me that the fault here lies more with the Angels for not reading the tea leaves properly. Not that they got a bad deal, but it would've been nice to get even more money.

Jesus Christ what a game. A highly un-Weaver-like start made it seem like the Angels were down and out for the count very early on, and that held up all the way until the 9th inning. A monster of an inning led the Angels to rally for 5 runs while down 6-0 to come one run within winning the game. Unfortunately with Trout up to bat with 2 men on he did the last thing we would have wanted to see, he walked....putting the game in Albert Pujols hands. Now I don't want to ride the poor guy into the ground, but Pujols is probably one of the last guys we want to see up to the plate with bases loaded and down by 1 against Mariano Rivera. Trout was the best hope the Angels had, two absolutely epic players battling in Trout and Rivera, two of the best in the game going head to head in a huge moment. It's unfortunate Trout took a base on balls, we could have all predicted a lousy strikeout by Pujols, at least with Trout it would have been easy to stomach.

Maybe now we can get Pujols out of the three hole?

Yankees 6 Angels 5