So, this just happened in the Angels' Spring Training game today:

#Angels Tommy Hanson is leaving the game after 3 innings with an unknown injury. He had not thrown a pitch in the inning.

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) March 20, 2013

Now excuse me for a minute while I try and find the nearest panic button.

OK, I'm back. And while I was out Fletcher followed up claiming he has tricep tightness. That sounds minor, but any kind of injury to Hanson is cause for alarm given his history of shoulder and back problems. In fact, I've written extensively the last two days about Hanson's health as it relates to his reduced velocity (and he supposedly was in the 89-91 range today), so even a minor injury is cause for long-term concern even if it isn't to his troublesome shoulder. Besides, the triceps issue is just the preliminary complaint and could lead to a more serious diagnosis once the Angels trainers check him out.

If it is a short-term thing, the Angels have internal options to fill his slot in the form of Jerome Williams or, more likely, Garrett Richards. If this ends up being serious, those two could also be called upon, but there will undoubtedly also be speculation that the Halos could pursue Kyle Lohse (and one can only assume Scott Boras used his dark powers to sense the disturbance in the force when Hanson left the game and already has a call in to Jerry Dipoto) or maybe inquire on Rick Porcello.

For now, we just have to sit back and await further word from the Halos. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Step back from the ledge and stop staring at Kyle Lohse's Baseball-Reference page, Hanson says he is just fine

No MRI for Hanson. Says tightened up for only two pitches and he's planning on making his next start.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 20, 2013

Like MWAH on Facebook

Follow MWAH on Twitter

The Angels took a big gamble trading for Tommy Hanson in the off-season. Will he bounce back and push the Angels rotation to the next level or will he turn out to be the second coming of Scott Kazmir?

2012 Stats: 174.2 IP, 13-10, 4.48 ERA. 4.57 FIP, 183 H, 71 BB, 27 HR, 161 SO, 1.01 GB/FB, 1.0 fWAR

2013 ZiPS Projections: 169.2 IP, 11-10, 3.92 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 166 H, 57 BB, 22 HR, 149 SO, 2.1 fWAR

2013 Bill James Projections: 160.0 IP, 9-9, 3.66 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 142 H, 61 BB, 18 HR, 156 SO

2013 CAIRO Projections: 169.1 IP, 11-8, 3.98 ERA, 3.93 FIP, 165 H, 58 BB, 21 HR, 150 SO

2013 MWAH Projections*: 165.0 IP, 13-10, 4.31 ERA, 4.52 FIP, 165 H, 69 BB, 23 HR, 144 SO

*The MWAH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research (my wOBA and FIP calculations are approximate)

Poor, poor Luis Jimenez, in any other organization he would likely be battling for a starting spot during Spring Training. In fact, in most other organizations, Jimenez would have already won the Opening Day 3B job, if not the job as a backup. His impressive .314 BA/.395 OBP/.429 SLG% is deserving of a spot on the regular season roster, but that just won't happen for Luis Jimenez with the Angels.

The 25-year old 3B prospect has never really gotten the chance to break through with the Angels and it looks like he'll never get the chance with Alberto Callaspo signed for the next two years until Kaleb Cowart is ready to take over the job. It's not that Jimenez is some slouch prospect however, he has shown impressive power in the minors.

The last two years Jimenez has tallied over 35 doubles and 15 homeruns per season which would theoretically give the Angels the power they've been craving from the hot corner. His ability to make consistent contact as a "free-swinger" is impressive in the idea that it complements his power while giving him a tool many free-swinging prospects his age don't possess. Unfortunately, his plate discipline is not nearly as up to snuff with his other tools, cracking the big leagues with poor strike zone judgment and difficulties working the count will put Jimenez in the hole far too often for him to successfully control his plate appearances. On top of that he would be taking away a fair amount of defensive value given by Alberto Callaspo, who was a top five 3B in terms of UZR in the 2012 season . While Jimenez may not necessarily get on base as much as Callaspo he will provide more power, giving the Angels another impact bat in the lineup (though 35+ doubles and 15+ HR's isn't a massive jump from Callaspo, though it is strong progress).

Jimenez has shown big improvements in his plate discipline this Spring Training, drawing a walk in a third of his plate appearances. If that can translate to a full season Jimenez would go from "solid impact bat" to "perpetual threat"; unfortunately the Angels aren't too interested in giving him the chance to prove this. Don't get me wrong, the Angels are very much justified in going with Callaspo over Jimenez, especially when you consider the fact that the team will need to be as defensively superior as possible in order to win important games. The offense of this team is strong enough already so keeping the defense in tip-top shape is the only way to prop up the susceptible pitching staff. 

This just leaves us with one question: What in the world will the Angels do with Luis Jimenez?

The March 20th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Madson positive despite setback, Halos played without a home plate umpire and much more...

The Story: Ryan Madson is feeling good and remaining positive after suffering a setback after his bullpen session on Thursday.

The Monkey Says: I covered this yesterday, but even though the setback is minor, this is pretty frustrating. Madson says he feels better again, but there is no timetable for him to get back to throwing bullpen sessions which makes it a virtual certainty that he won't be back until some time in May.

The Story: The Angels and Brewers temporarily had to play yesterday's game without a home plate umpire.

The Monkey Says: The umpire returned after a brief absence after getting hit by a pitch, but it made for a comical scene in which strikes were being called by an umpire standing behind the pitcher like it was a coach-pitch Little League game.

The Angels preseason press is unequivocal. Mike Trout is the new Mickey Mantle. Pujols, Hamilton and Trumbo are the new Murderer’s Row. Weaver could be the new Verlander, if it wasn’t for the fact that, annoyingly, every year some guy called “Verlander” keeps being that.

Spring training is winding up, and the Angels are a team of new promise. But one question remains.

Who will be the new number 2?

Personally, I was more surprised last winter by the Torii Hunter loss than the Josh Hamilton addition. Signing the biggest name on the market, despite most people not knowing he was on the market? Been there, done that, sold the number “5” T-Shirt. But dumping, arguably, the most consistent member of an evolving team? The steady hand who could simultaneously mentor a once-in-a-generation talent like Trout and punk a future Hall of Famer like Pujols (remember the clear dugout when he finally cleared the fences in 2012?) And letting him go to the Tigers, a league rival who seem to have everything in their arsenal except a sense of humor?

Well, it happened. And it left two glaring holes in the Angels’ lineup for 2013: a clubhouse leader, and a two-spot. The former should resolve itself – there’s no lack of experience in there.

It had been a few days since we heard any word on where Ryan Madson was in his rehab. In most cases, no news is good news. That doesn't appear to apply to Madson though as Mike DiGiovanna reported this morning:

#Angels RHP Ryan Madson felt some tightness in surgically repaired elbow after Thursday bullpen session. Better now but only long-tossing.

— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) March 19, 2013

Welp, more elbow tightness. This is only a minor setback, but a setback nonetheless. Unlike last earlier in camp, Madson hasn't been shut down and hasn't, as far as we know, been sent off for an MRI. Instead, he's just taken a small step back and is only long tossing. Still, that is a step back that is only going to prolong his return to active duty. He was already expected to miss the first two weeks of the season, but now that could be extended as he says he needs at least ten bullpen sessions before pitching in a live game and one can only assume he'll need a few live rehab games before being activated from the DL. With his clock now reset once more, him missing the entire month of April seems pretty likely.

This development also explains the rumors last week that Jerry Dipoto was searching the trade market for potential relief help. Right-handed relief pitching was a big problem for the Angels last season and Madson was supposed to solve that, but now that he can't be counted on, the Halos are wise to see what else they can dig up. There are no substantive rumors as of yet, but knowing that the Cubs are shopping Carlos Marmol and that the Halos tried to acquire him in the failed Dan Haren trade at the start of the off-season, it would make sense if the two teams discussed Marmol once more, even though that scares the hell out of me both because of his contract and his decaying performance.

A few other names to watch are, and these are strictly speculation on my part, free agents Francisco Rodriguez and Jose Valverde (no thanks on both counts) or supposedly available trade pieces Alfredo Aceves (yikes), Matt Capps (yawn) and really any other veteran who is in camp as a non-roster invite that may not make the Opening Day roster. These are not attractive options, so let's hope Madson can get himself healthy in a hurry.

Like MWAH on Facebook

Follow MWAH on Twitter

Leading up to the season we've heard a lot about lost velocity. Specifically, the velocity that Jered Weaver and Tommy Hanson lost over the last few years. There has been much hand-wringing over whether or not Jered and Tommy would be able to recover that velocity and if they don't, how they will adjust to life with a not-as-fast fastball. Mike Scioscia even went so far as to say that he has "no doubt" that Hanson will be able to regain the MPHs he lost the last two years. Scioscia and the team have had essentially nothing to say about Weaver's velocity issues last season, almost as if they don't even think it is worth worrying about.

Well, it turns out that there is plenty of season to doubt and worry. That velocity probably isn't coming back. At least that is what the research says:

91% of pitchers that do finish a season down at least 1 mph compared to the previous season will lose additional velocity the following season (average decline of 1.6 mph), with only 7% regaining some (but, likely, not all) of that velocity back.

7 percent? Gulp. Those aren't great odds at all. But wait! It actually gets worse. That same writer, Bill Pretti, also did some research into how likely a pitcher is to recover velocity based on age, you know, because you don't need those 36-year old pitchers messing up the curve for everyone. Take a look for yourself: