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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (36-38) @ Florida Marlins (32-41)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Ervin Santana (3-7, 4.25 ERA)  FLA – Javier Vazquez (3-7, 6.85 ERA)

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

One of the reasons I hate interleague play is because it forces AL teams to bench one of their regular starters, sometimes a very good starter.  Be it benching a slugging DH or taking a defensive hit by moving that potent bat into the field where he clearly doesn't belong.  The Angels are definitely victims of this problem, which is actually good news for their depleted lineup.

Earlier this year, finding a regular to bench would have been easy.  Actually, that's not true, with Wells, Hunter and Abreu all struggling in the early going, it would have been impossible for Scioscia to decide which underperformer to bench.  Now though, Abreu has become a steadying force in the lineup, Wells finally seems to be coming around and Hunter is at least showing a pulse.  As such, Peter Bourjos has often gotten the short end of the stick even though his stick has been pretty hot of late.  Honestly, I actually found myself wondering if there was a way to get all four of them in the same lineup in a NL park.  I never thought I would see that happen.  It is a problem that the Halos only have to deal with for another week, but at least it is the good kind of problem to have.

He may be the best prospect in baseball (or at least the best prospect in baseball who isn't a showboating jackass with a pornstache), but Mike Trout is "only" the sixth best hitter in the Texas League.

For all of Mike Trout's many splendored feats in Double-A this year, he still doesn't have the best OPS in his own league.  That isn't to say that his .969 OPS isn't impressive, it just is worth pointing out that it isn't the best, but it is close.

Is that supposed to be a dose of reality in regards to how much more development he still has in front of him?  Quite the opposite actually.

Take a look at the age of the men in front of him.  The league leader, James Darnell, is 24.  After him comes Matthew Adams, age 22.  Up next is 26-year old Jermaine Mitchell and the two 23-year olds, Vincent Belnome and Tim Wheeler.  But why does this matter?

Because Trout is still just 19 years old.  He is literally a boy amongst men and he is besting almost every single one of them.  His accomplishments and advanced skillset at such a young age are exactly why Trout is considered to be the reigning king of the minors.  It is also the reason why the Halos are going to continue to be careful with him and not rush him to the majors despite the public outcry for it.  Let's just get Trout up to Triple-A first, and then we can worry about when his big league call-up can be scheduled.

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.

Did you know the Angels have the 5th best bullpen ERA in the American League?

More than likely you just responded "no" and then took a beat and asked, "how the hell did that happen?"  Don't feel bad, I did the same thing when I saw that stat.  After thinking about it for a bit more though, the answer to that seemingly rhetorical question was clear, Scott Downs is how that happened.

Sure, Jordan Walden has emerged as a potentially elite closer this season, but the problem that has plagued the Halos practically since Opening Day is getting the ball to Walden.  We've dealth with the ineptitude of Fernando Rodney, the meltdown of Kevin Jepsen, the disappointment of Hisanori Takahashi and the inability of Rich Thompson to step his game up.

By all rights, the Angel middle relief should still be a flaming greasefire game after game, but it isn't, all because Scott Downs has emerged as an elite setup man and the steadying veteran presence the bullpen has been seeking for years.

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Kohn gets called back up, Scioscia believes the Angels are championship caliber team, Aybar idolizes Jose Reyes and much more...

The Story: Michael Kohn has been called up while Andrew Romine has been demoted to Triple-A.

The Monkey Says: Romine was no longer needed now that Alberto Callaspo is almost fully healthy.  Kohn has been killing it in Triple-A, so his recall is very much deserved and arguably overdue.  However, he'll have to show his command is improved if he hopes to actually stick in the majors this time.  If he does though, he could rocket up the bullpen depth chart given Rodney's injury and Thompson's ups and downs.

The Story: Mike Scioscia believes the Angels are a championship caliber club.

The Monkey Says: Of course he does.  What else is he supposed to say?  He also agrees that the team is in transition as well, so he obvioulsy is sending mixed signals.

The weaker the better as I like to say, and it doesn't get any better then the Florida Marlins. Weaver managed to wrestle away a W from a very talented Anibal Sanchez, pushing his win total to 9, all thanks to the very effective Izturis-Aybar combo. All in all, at least for this into, tonight was a very good step towards coming out of Florida with a 4 game winning streak.

 Angels 2 Marlins 1

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (35-38) @ Florida Marlins (32-40)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Jered Weaver (8-4, 2.06 ERA)  FLA -- Anibal Sanchez (6-1, 3.02 ERA)

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

I don't know what get's me more excited about today's game, the fact that the Marlins are extremely vulnerable or that they're throwing up a quality pitcher on the mound. After a rather uninteresting series against the Mets we're finally in line for what should be at least a semi-exciting pitchers duel between two of the better pitchers in baseball as of late. As a matter of fact, Sanchez has not thrown a losing game since April 10th. Sounds like our team is in for a rough one tonight, huh?

They may be three games under .500, without Kendrys Morales all year long and hampered by a punchless lineup, but the Angels have the rest of the league right where they want them.  Where do they want them, exactly?  On the road, of course.

Perhaps I am just grasping at straws here, but sometimes you have to do that to keep hope alive in a season where not much has gone right for the Halos, but one aspect of this team has buoyed my spirits: they perform well on the road.  OK, maybe well is relative in this case, but at 20-18 away from Anaheim, the Angels are one of just nine teams with a road record over .500.  Historically speaking, that is good news for any team.  Let's take a little stroll through the past five seasons, shall we?

In 2010, nine teams in the league had a .500+ road record, six of those teams qualified for the playoffs.

In 2009, eight teams in the league had a .500+ road record, six of those teams qualified for the playoffs.

In 2008, eight teams in the league had a .500+ road record, six of those teams qualified for the playoffs.

In 2007, seven teams in the league had a .500+ road record, four of those teams qualified for the playoffs.

In 2006, ten teams in the league had a .500+ road record, six of those teams qualified for the playoffs.

In other words, if you have a winning record away from home, you stand a pretty good chance of playing in the post-season.  Like I said, good news, not great news.