Sure the game ended in as miserable, shocking, and abrupt fashion as you could expect. But one can give the Halos some props in this game.

They have overcome a tepid 2-26 from the three players who got their own special press conference at the outset of Spring Training to remain competitive in games 1 and 2 of the season. (Oh, and just a hint, their last names begin with the letters T, P, and H). The bullpen, though responsible for the loss in this game, remains a very hopeful sign. Kevin Jepsen and Garrett Richards fanned nearly everyone they faced, no doubt easing the mind of manager Mike Scioscia for future bullpen escapades. And even Scott Downs' nightmarish 9th inning wasn't completely his fault.

Hitting Shin Soo Choo to lead it off isn't what I'd advise for effective relief, but getting Joey Votto to ground to first base normally results in an out. Not this time, as Albert Pujols, he of the formerly golden glove, showed further signs of tarnish, bungling a fairly routine play and allowing Choo to laugh all the way to a Reds 5-4 victory.

Game Notes

-- Howie Kendrick and Alberto Callaspo carried the offense. Bet you won't be hearing that all too often this season. Or will you? Oh, boy.

-- C.J. Wilson did a great job of giving fans #PMA because of his ability to #throwstrikes for the first three innings. But mirroring his 2012 first half/second half Jekyll and Hyde act, he unraveled in the fourth, walking two and surrendering a home run. His final line (6 IP, 4 R, 3 ER) still afforded him a "quality start," but the Angels are going to need better from the No. 2 starter going forward.

-- The offense will wake up eventually, right? For that to happen, the Angels will need to see Albert Pujols get a ball out of the infield. Then, said ball will need to land on grass before someone's leather glove. It's not that hard, Albert. Vernon Wells just did it.

-- Brendan Harris continues to look solid. He leads the team in batting average (1.000) and has a walk to go along with it. Shut up about sample sizes!

Halo A-Hole of the Game

We've already taken digs at Mr. Pujols aplenty in this post, but his game-losing error that wasn't called an error and inability to hit the backside of a barn have landed him 2013's inaugural A-Hole of the Game.

An 8-15 month of April to start the sunk the 2012 Angels, or at least that is how the narrative goes. It was a month where just about everything went for the Halos including Albert Pujols' infamous homer drought and the Bullpen of Sorrow blowing every lead they could, sometimes blowing it twice, just to make sure it was good and blown.

That month was a particularly brutal experience for the fans that lived through it which is really too bad because, well, it looks like it might happen again.

No, I'm not about to freak out that Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and Josh Hamilton went (GASP!) one whole game without a homer. I'm going to wait at least a week before I reach for that panic button. I'm not that irrational. Rather, this early concern over the Angels fortunes largely stems from the realization that the scheduling gods of MLB apparently hate the Angels. Just look at their April schedule:

Apparently the MLB schedule makers really wanted to see how the Halos would've done had they gone to the post-season in 2012 because 18 of their first 28 games are against teams that made the playoffs last season (Reds, Rangers, A's and Tigers). Looking back to last season, the Halos managed to go .500 against those teams (though they did not face the Reds at all). Going back a few years, the Halos have faired considerably worse, especially against Texas who they had a losing record against in each of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons.

In the ten games where they get a reprieve from the brutal opponents they have to play the Astros, Twins and Mariners, but will have to face Minnesota and Seattle on the road. Those are still games they should win, but still, road games are tougher even if the opponent stinks.

OK, so big deal, they might be kind of average in April. Why all the hand-wringing?

Expectations, that's why.

The April 3rd, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Weaver's velocity down even more, Angels bullpen showing early promise and much more...

The Story: Jered Weaver succeeded against the Reds despite his velocity dropping even further.

The Monkey Says: This wasn't in the article, but Pitch f/x had Weaver's fastballs averaging 85.8 MPH during his start. That's over 2 MPH down from his 2012 average and would've been the fourth-slowest fastball velocity amongst qualifed pitchers last year. The good news is that most pitchers see their velocity increase over the course of the first few weeks of the season, but Weaver clearly has a long way to go just to match his 2012 velocity, much less his career average velocity.

The Story: The Angel bullpen is showing some early promise and depth.

The Monkey Says: They were great on Monday, but let's not go planning the parade down Katella just yet. The increased depth of Richards, Lowe and Burnett will be a big help, especially with Madson out, but there is still legit concern over Frieri's consistency, Downs' health, Jepsen's possible regression and the general question marks that Richards and Lowe both are. Predicting bullpen performance is a fool's errand to begin with, but I remain skeptical mostly because they have burned us so bad the last few years.

If there's one thing we learned from this weekend's extension bonanza, it's that we are not going to see too many franchise players hit the free agent market anymore. There will be some big names and such out there still, but the Buster Posey's, the Justin Verlander's, and the like are going to be locked up long before they end up on the free agent market, leaving their club in a potential bidding war.

It's probably safe to say that Mike Trout fits that bill. Just a year into his career, he has already established himself as a franchise player. He finished second in the American League MVP and ran away with the AL Rookie of the Year award. He's a five tool guy. He's a fantastic hitter, a menace on the basepaths, and a wizard with the glove. He's absolutely the total package. Which is why the Los Angeles Angels likely will never let him hit the open market.

Some questioned the Halos when they only awarded him a $510,000 contract this winter. This was actually a touch more than the minimum they could have renewed his contract for. The Angels didn't give him more because they didn't have to. While Trout's agent was reportedly unhappy with the six figures, Trout was quick to dismiss it. Because he realizes the fact that he's about to get paid in a big way here in the next year or two.

But what would that look like? Sure, many have talked about a potential contract extension for Mike Trout, but there are far less explanations as to what that contract could actually look like.

One of my favorite posts to write each year is my official predictions for the season (as opposed to my unofficial predictions, which don't exist). I love the post despite the fact that I am generally quite horrible at predicting things. Don't believe me? Well, if the court allows, allow me to enter into evidence the following predictions I made last season that went horribly awry:

--Claiming C.J. Wilson would finish above both Weaver and Haren in Cy Young voting. Well, I got it half right, or at least I think I did because Wilson didn't even get a down ballot vote.

--Saying the Angels would let Aybar go via free agency. This is one I was happy to be wrong about.

--There was no massive Angels-Rangers brawl to the chagrin of many who had hoped to see Ian Kinsler get punched in the face.

--I actually though Jordan Walden was going to be fine and go 38-for-42 on save chances. I mean, I don't even know how to defend that. I really have to lay off the bath salts.

--Jeff Mathis would have a higher batting average than Iannetta. In my defense, I was trolling myself.

--Peter Bourjos would make the All-Star team. This is starting to get embarrassing now

--Mark Trumbo would prove to be an adequate third baseman and start 75 games at that position. YIKES! I feel like I need to hand in my Angel blogger badge and gun now.

This is the part where I would then list the predictions I got right, if only there were any that I definitely nailed. There were basically two that I kind of sort of was correct about, but not correct enough to brag about.

Despite that, I'm going to subject myself, and thus you, to this charade once more. So, without further adieu, here are The Monkey's predictions for the Angels and the 2013 season:

The April 2nd, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Trout got chills on Opening Day, comparing the worst case Angels to the best case Astros and much more...

The Story: Mike Trout got chills for his first Opening Day.

The Monkey Says: I completely forgot that he hadn't done the Opening Day thing before. Maybe that explains why he struck out with the game on the line in extras. Yeah, that's it.

The Story: Comparing the worst case scenario Angels to the best case scenario Astros.

The Monkey Says: I realize this was supposed to be just for fun, but now I am terrified that the Angels are going post a team OBP of .284. I think I might be taking baseball too seriously.

Thank goodness the Angels don't play tomorrow because I already need a day off after the first game of the season.

How does that happen? How is it the very first game of the year felt so stressful?

Was it the fact that both the Reds and Angels entered the game with World Series aspirations? Yeah, that was probably part of it. Both managers were making pitching changes and relying on smallball tactics (for better or worse) like every run was the utmost importance.

But it wasn't that the two teams were somehow geared up to specifically so much as anxious to prove that they were as good as they think they are. Make no mistake, this was not a fun game. There was not a lot of action, nor was there a lot of joy on the faces of the players. Trout was out to prove he is for real. Pujols was out to prove he won't have an April slump again. Hamilton was out to prove the Angels made a wise investment. Weaver was out to show that he still has ace-level talent.

Mix in some great pitching all around, a few extra innings and a home plate umpire with an inconsistent strike zone and you have the perfect recipe for a game played in April that felt like it should have been played in October. Heck, even the weather cooperated with some chilly temperatures to complete the illusion.

Angels 3, Reds 1