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!

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Morales still not making much progress after doctor visit, Wells meets with the coaches to discuss his struggles, Kazmir working on refining his off-speed pitches and much more...

The Story: Kendrys Morales' latest doctor exam revealed only that he is making slow progress.

The Monkey Says: I still think there is more to the story here and him heading to Arizona to workout more rather than travel with the team doesn't allay any of those concerns.  At some point soon, the Angels are going to have to see some real demonstrable progress from Kendrys or own up the fact that his return could be a long way off.

The Story: Vernon Wells had a meeting with Mike Scioscia and Mickey Hatcher before the Tampa Bay series to discuss his ongoing struggles.

The Monkey Says: Oh yeah, meeting with Hatcher, that'll fix it.  I still believe Wells will figure things out, but I am definitely starting to have my doubts now that the calendar has turned to May.

The Story: Former Angels Strike Force member, Heather Beyer, has passed away due to her battle with breast cancer.

The Monkey Says: My condolences to her friends and family.

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (16-12) @ Boston Red Sox (12-16)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Jered Weaver (6-0, 0.99 ERA)  BOS – Clay Buchholz (1-3, 5.33 ERA)

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

The Angels finally have a chance to not only bring great vengeance and wrath of biblical proportions to Boston, they have a chance to bring home some redemption. This series gives the Angels the opportunity to greatly boost team morale, who wouldn't feel great if we went into Boston and swept the Red Sox? 

Jered Weaver got sick and missed his start today and it seemed like his absence was going to make us all sick after watching the Halos fall into a 5-0 early.  Instead, it wound up being Tampa fans who were left with an ill feeling in their stomachs after the Halos mounted a comeback to win the game and the series.

Angels 6, Rays 5

With Weaver being a late scratch, Tyler Chatwood sure seemed like he was late getting news that he was taking Weaver's place because the youngster didn't really show up until the second inning.  Once again, Chatwood's consistency and command got the best of him with the Rays tagging him for seven hits and five runs in the first inning, and it could have been much worse had John Jaso not attempted an ill-conceived steal to bail the Angels out of the inning.  After that, Chatwood managed to puzzle us all once again by quickly settling into a relative groove thereafter, allowing just two more hits and two walks with no runs crossing the plates over the next three-plus innings.

Ironically enough, with bad baserunning costing Tampa an even bigger inning in the first, it was some very smart baserunning the would go on to win the Angels the game.  Enough can't be said about what a savvy veteran move it was for Vernon Wells to slam on the brakes and get into a rundown in the eighth inning.  On that same play, so many other players, especially younger ones, would've tried to do something stupid, like plow through the second baseman to break-up the doubleplay, a move that would've only ensured the Rays would turn two.  No, Wells finally did something right for the Halos and stayed safely away from the fielder, but close enough to draw his attention away from Torii Hunter heading for home.  It may just have been instinct for Vernon, but it was the right reaction and it won the game for the team.  Great job, Wells.

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (15-12) @ Tampa Bay Rays (15-12)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Jered Weaver (6-0, 0.99 ERA)  TB – Alex Cobb (0-0, -.-- ERA)

Game Info: 10:40 AM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

What a difference a season makes.  Despite a career year in 2010, Jered Weaver won a mere 13 games in 34 starts but this year he is making his seventh start with a chance to win his seventh game.  That is just plain nuts.

Now before the SABR community gets in a tizzy, I fully realize that getting a win in a game is not entirely within a pitcher's control.  That being said, Weaver has done as much as humanly possible to earn his six wins.  He has pitched into the seventh or later in every start, thus minimizing the chance of a bullpen blown save, and, most importantly, he has allowed more than one run just once.  And it isn't like he has gotten loads of run support either.  Twice the Angels have scored three runs for Weaver.  Twice they've scored four runs.  Twice they've scored five runs.  That ain't a whole lot of run support, folks.  What I am getting at here is that none of his six wins have been of the cheap variety, he has definitely worked for each and every one of them.

The question though is if he can get his seventh.  If Weaver keeps pitching like he has, I see no reason why he can't.  And if he doesn't, hopefully the Angel offense can help him pick up one of the aforementioned "cheap" wins.  After all, they do kind of owe him one.

See what happens when you start to give a small amount of credit to the Angels bullpen? They trot Fraudney and his sideways cap out for an inning too long and he ends up costing the game. Which is too bad since it spoiled a great pitchers match up as Joel Pineiro came off the DL and into the rotation with a bang. It just would have been nice if the Halo Hitters had joined in the reunion party.

Angels 1 Rays 2