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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim   (16-13) @ Boston Red Sox (13-15)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Dan Haren (4-1, 1.23 ERA)  BOS – Jon Lester (3-1, 2.52 ERA)

Game Info: 4:10 AM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

I hate that it is the first week of May and I am already all up in my head about the Boston Red Sox.  The sad part is that I know I am not alone.  Seeing as how the Angels have lost their first five games against the hated BoSox and 14 of their last 15 dating back to last season, this game is approaching "must-win" territory if only for the sanity of the roster and the fan base.  Now would be a really good time for the team's second ace to step up and do what the primary ace couldn't do.

If ever there was a time to rely on the Angels' starting pitching strength, it is now.  In an ideal world, having two ace caliber pitchers should mean that no team should really be able to beat them both on consecutive nights, or so says the general guideline of good pitching usually beating good hitting.  With Weaver already failing (not really his fault, but still), the Halos need Dan Haren to step up and show that he can be just as good and just as dominant as the other half of the Angels' dynamic duo.

It was another wet week for Mike Trout and the Travelers (is it just me or does that sound like the name of a pretty good rockabilly band?).  The Travs did manage to squeeze in three full games plus two seven-inning contests this week, so at least thing are progressing on that front.

As for our future savior, things continued to be a bit soggy for him. 

Mike seemed eager to finally get back on the field this Wednesday in Arkansas' first game in five days.  Trout ripped off a 3-for-4 game, including two doubles and a triple.  After that, it was all downhill.

In the four games following that strong performance, our hero has fallen into his first real slump of the season, going 1-for-14 with one walk and four strikeouts.  That little slide has brought Trout's numbers for the season down to .268/.342/.535.  That slash line is still very nice, so it really does speak to how well Trout had been playing before this skid.

Now, we must once again play the waiting game to see when Trout will get on the field again as Arkansas has had their last two games rained out.  The good news is that the Travs are headed out on the road all week long and the weather forecasts seem pretty promising.  Hopefully some dry weather can get Trout back on track for stardom.

That's it for this week, check back in next week to see what happens to our future hero.  Same Trout Time.  Same Trout Channel... err, blog.

Contrary to popular belief, the Angels do have other prospects in their system besides Mike Trout, but since Trout has garnered so much of our attention of late, I think it is only fair that we take a quick tour through the Angels farm system to see how the rest of the prospect crop is coming along so far this year.

Yes, we are going to talk minor league prospects without even mentioning Mike Trout.

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Trumbo and Amarista practicing in the outfield, Morales not even taking BP anymore, Wilson looking like the odd man out and much more...

The Story: Mark Trumbo and Alexi Amarista have both started practicing playing the outfield.

The Monkey Says: I wouldn't read much into this.  The Halos are simply without a bench outfielder now that Willits has been demoted, so Scioscia is just trying to make sure one of these two can fill in should the need arise.  It would actually be a good thing for Trumbo to keep working in the outfield since it will give him more of a chance to play when (if?) Morales comes back.

The Story: Kendrys Morales hasn't even taken batting practice since seeing the doctor last week.

The Monkey Says: The Angels are trying to say this is no big deal, but I don't buy it for a second.  Hitting supposedly hasn't been a problem for Kendrys for well over a month and now he suddenly isn't even doing that anymore.  Not good.  At this point, I think we should probably all just make peace with the fact that Morales may not make his return until after the All-Star break.

The Story: Bobby Wilson is the odd man out.

The Monkey Says: Wilson hasn't started a game since April 10th and appears to be living on borrowed time.  I used to think the Halos might try and trade Jeff Mathis, but if that were the case you'd think they'd do something to keep Wilson from getting so rusty.  Don't be surprised if Wilson gets traded or DFA'd if/when Kendrys Morales returns from the DL.

They say all good things must come to an end, but when it comes to the Angels, the saying actually runs a little longer.  It is more like "all good things must come to an end in Fenway Park."  To absolutely no one's surprise, the Red Sox took advantage of Angel blunders and brought Jered Weaver's dream start to a screeching halt.  It just had to be Boston, didn't it?

Red Sox 9, Angels 5

For the first time this season, Jered Weaver wasn't totally dominant and it ended up costing him.  Battling the after-effects of a stomach virus, Weaver still turned in a quality start, but clearly didn't have his best stuff as he labored through six innings of work.  I suspect in most cities, that effort would have been good enough to put him in winning position, but since this was Boston, it wasn't.  As has been the case for pretty much the entire Mike Scioscia era, the Angels suffered one brain fart after another with many of them proving costly.

The first big blunder was Maicer Izturis getting thrown out at second on the very first play of the game.  Izturis should have been safe had he not over-slid the base, so you can't really blame him too much, but it ultimately cost the Angels a run as the next two batters smacked hits of their own.  The real mistake though was Torii Hunter getting too aggressive at the plate that same inning and spoiling any notion of a rally by way of his 11th GIDP of the year.

Torii's mental mistakes struck again in the sixth inning.  With the Angels losing their lead in the previous half inning, Torii obviously wanted to make something happen after his leadoff double and tried to take third on a grounder to first by Alberto Callaspo.  I think we all know how that ended (NEVER MAKE THE FIRST OUT AT THIRD!!!!!!).

Every team has bad games and makes mistakes, but for whatever reason, the Halos just lose their minds in Beantown and tonight was no different.

A general rule in baseball is that when a pitcher loses velocity in his pitches, it means bad things.  There are always exceptions to every rule, so the Halos better start hoping they are granted such an exception when it comes to their fireballing rookie closer Jordan Walden.  The kid who was touted as having one of the fastest fastballs in all of the land may be doing a fantastic job as the Angels' closer, but he is doing so with a little less than originally advertised.

When we first saw Jordan in 2010, he was making everyone drool with his fastball that frequently lit up three digits on the radar gun.  This year has been a slightly different story though.  Whereas Walden averaged blistering 98.8 MPH with his heater in 2010, he has seen an appreciable dip in velocity this year, averaging "only" 96.8 MPH.  That's still an awfully dang hard fastball, but losing two miles per hour on one's fastball is no trivial matter, especially when the pitcher in question has a history of arm problems.

Let's not panic just yet though as there are plenty of reasons that Walden is not lighting up the speed gun quite like he used to.

With the month of April now officially in the books for the AL West-leading Angels, it is time to look back and give credit where credit is due by selecting the team's player of the month.  To make that decision, I turn the voting over to you, the reader.

Time to vote!