This season so far has been....some sort of ride. A rash of injuries has plagued the Angels, sending a good number of their starting regulars on the DL. A sudden outbreak of injuries opened up a sizeable number of spots for the kids on their way up from the minors to show off their goods out of the bullpen. Take, for instance, Angels 2012 9th round draft pick Michael Roth. This is a kid who has barely logged one season in rookie ball yet he's managed to find himself a spot in the Angels’ bullpen thanks to injuries plaguing the Angels. Then you also have pitchers like the recently recovered Michael Kohn, who showed a healthy amount of promise in his major league debut back in 2010 before being sidelined midway through his 2011 season with Tommy John surgery. Even though Dipoto spent a lot of time and money trying to fix this bullpen it's still quite a ways from becoming stable, especially with Kevin Jepsen and Ryan Madson out on the DL. Having guys with big promise but little to no experience is a crapshoot when trying to make permanent fixes, but you have to think with the number of guys trying to fill a limited number of holes there has to be at least one person capable of rising to occasion.

A lot of the regulars are due to start flooding back into the roster, with Erick Aybar already making his extended spring training debut and Ryan Madson set to throw against live batters. Even Alberto Callaspo will be back soon, but with Luis Jimenez proving to be such a valuable player (and fan favorite) it'll be tough to find a spot for him to come back. Relievers are going to start finding some foots kicking them out the door real fast, but who will be the first ones to go? I originally expected David Carpenter to survive a wee-bit longer on the big league roster, I knew that he wouldn't last very long but I didn't expect him to play himself out of a job so fast. Can you really be surprised though? After his horrible outing against the Texas Rangers where he gave up 4 runs in the 4th inning he was shown the door real fast. On one hand he did come into a crap situation with the bases loaded and the Texas Rangers offense, of all offenses, knocking at his door. One the other hand he showed absolutely no balls in his performance when he displayed his lack of ability to throw strikes in high pressure situations. Carpenter gave up 2 walks, with the bases still loaded, and then proceeded to give up 2 game breaking hits before recording only one out. There’s no place in this bullpen for relievers who lack any real backbone coming into an intense game, and with the way the Angels play nearly every game is an intense game. This season so far has been....some sort of ride. A rash of injuries have plagued the Angels, sending a good number of their starting regulars on the DL. A sudden outbreak of injuries opened up a sizeable number of spots for the kids on their way up from the minors to show off their goods out of the bullpen. Take, for instance, Angels 2012 9th round draft pick Michael Roth. This is a kid who has barely logged one season in rookie ball yet he's managed to find himself a spot in the Angels’ bullpen thanks to injuries plaguing the Angels. Then you also have pitchers like the recently recovered Michael Kohn, who showed a healthy amount of promise in his major league debut back in 2010 before being sidelined midway through his 2011 season with Tommy John surgery. Even though Dipoto spent a lot of time and money trying to fix this bullpen it's still quite a ways from becoming stable, especially with Kevin Jepsen and Ryan Madson out on the DL. Having guys with big promise but little to no experience is a crapshoot when trying to make permanent fixes, but you have to think with the number of guys trying to fill a limited number of holes there has to be at least one person capable of rising to occasion.

A lot of the regulars are due to start flooding back into the roster, with Erick Aybar already making his extended spring training debut and Ryan Madson set to throw against live batters. Even Alberto Callaspo will be back soon, but with Luis Jimenez proving to be such a valuable player (and fan favorite) it'll be tough to find a spot for him to come back. Relievers are going to start finding some foots kicking them out the door real fast, but who will be the first ones to go? I originally expected David Carpenter to survive a wee-bit longer on the big league roster, I knew that he wouldn't last very long but I didn't expect him to play himself out of a job so fast. Can you really be surprised though? After his horrible outing against the Texas Rangers where he gave up 4 runs in the 4th inning he was shown the door real fast. On one hand he did come into a crap situation with the bases loaded and the Texas Rangers offense, of all offenses, knocking at his door. One the other hand he showed absolutely no balls in his performance when he displayed his lack of ability to throw strikes in high pressure situations. Carpenter gave up 2 walks, with the bases still loaded, and then proceeded to give up 2 game breaking hits before recording only one out. There’s no place in this bullpen for relievers who lack any real backbone coming into an intense game, and with the way the Angels play nearly every game is an intense game.

Following David Carpenter was the far FAR more promising Nick Maronde, who has shown to actually be able to handle major league hitters in tight spots. After Maronde made his debut last year many were sold on his ability to pitch at the big league level out of the bullpen, he was just flat-out killer in his 6 innings of work for a kid with his lack of experience. Apparently the management thought so as well, moving from the game plan on having him develop as a starter and letting him work out of the bullpen full time. In his first appearance against the Rangers following Carpenters inept performance Maronde allowed no runs through 1.1 innings of work. In fact, Maronde only threw 22 pitches in his 1.1 innings whereas Carpenter needed 19 to get one out. With Sean Burnett on the backburner due to a minor injury and Scott Downs reduced effectiveness Maronde is in a really strong position to win a spot out of the bullpen full time as a lefty reliever. One of the Angels biggest problems out of the pen is having a strong lefty reliever to pitch the middle innings, but with Maronde's makeup he is very qualified to fill that role; he could even provide more outs than the standard reliever if need be. Maronde is one of the many relievers in this 'pen who can really earn a spot full time.

Then you got guys like Dane De La Rosa, who has still been very good with the Angels bullpen but isn't really much more than a stopgap until the other regulars are healthy again. In 10.1 innings of work De La Rosa has pitched to a clean 2.61 ERA, though his K/BB ratio still leaves a bit to be desired. To be fair I really think De La Rosa deserves the role Kevin Jepsen has been given but has never really earned in my opinion. I find the Kevin Jepsen experiment to be incredibly tiresome, he's just not a reliable reliever to begin with and he doesn't deserve to be pitching in a major role out of the 'pen. Jepsen is one of those back-up guys who you just throw in during one of those "screw it" situations where either you can't really win or you can't really lose (though with Jepsen on the mound that could be debatable). De La Rosa will likely be one of the ones to go after the end of this DL madness even though he's pitched well enough to have time beyond the return of Jepsen and Madson, but I don't see that happen. What I do see happening is Jepsen flaming out like he always does, that’s when De La Rosa or another reliever who has proved equally worthy will be given a solid spot out of the bullpen.

The April 26th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Weaver resumes playing catch, Hanson might miss another start and much more...

The Story: Jered Weaver has resumed playing catch.

The Monkey Says: Well, it isn't much but it is something and the Angels haven't gotten a whole lot of good news on the recovery front from any player in awhile, so we'll take what we can get.

The Story: Tommy Hanson may have to miss another start as a result of the death in his family.

The Monkey Says: No word on what exactly is going on, but the Angels do need to activate him after seven days, which means he might just chew up a roster spot for a bit while he gets himself together. It seems likely that Michael Roth would be called upon to spot start again if the need arises.

Maurer came into tonight’s game with a 7.45 ERA.  Apparently, that was good enough because he was able to shutout the Angels through 6 1/3 innings.  But, that had more to do with the Angels’ bats, than Maurer’s pitching (I refuse to give him any credit).  The Angels just couldn’t find any momentum.  It was just one of those games.  No player reached third base, and it wasn’t until the 5^th inning that someone reached second base. The Angels could not muster anything up with the rally promptly ended by a Peter Bourjos double play ball.  The same situation occurred again in the 7^th, but it was Chris Iannetta’s double play ball that ended the inning.

Garrett Richards pitched better than his box score line showed.  He pitched 6 innings of 2-run baseball until the Big Catorce decided to intentionally walk Peguero in order pitch to Jason Bay.  Bay responded with a 2-run single.  You can’t really blame Sosh for the decision because of Peguero’s earlier homerun, but it blew up in his face.  The Angels showed no signs of waking up anyways.

Mariners 7, Angels Goose Egg

There is a philosophical war coming amongst the Angels fan base and maybe amongst Angel management too. In the next few weeks, Alberto Callaspo will come off of the disabled list only to find himself pitted against his fill-in rookie Luis Jimenez. It isn't a position battle that anyone anticipated happening, but boy is it going to spark a debate.

Pretty much nobody like Alberto Callaspo. He is as unsexy a player as there is. He's a slap hitter who's main offensive skills are that works counts, draws a decent number of walks and doesn't swing-and-miss much. He has virtually no power nor much any speed. He rates as a strong defender at third base but is not the sort who is given to make the highlight play so nobody ever really notices. He is also something of a dirtbag off the field as his arrest record shows, so that doesn't endear him to many people despite his steady ability to perform as a league average or slightly above third baseman.

Now Luis Jimenez, there's a player people love! He's got a fun nickname, LUCHO LIBRE! He can actually drive the ball and has shown himself to be a slick defender at the hot corner in his own right. He's also a rookie off to a hot start, something that is universally loved by fans of every creed. He's also a narrative dream. The kid that was underrated as a prospect but endears himself to the fans and team because he "plays with fire." He's gritty. He's a grinder. He's a hustler. He's the grittiest grindiest hustling hustler that ever hustled. And did I mention that he's got a cool nickname? It is just so much fun to call someone "Lucho." LUCHO LIBRE!

The April 25th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Aybar and Madson head out on rehab assignments. the curious lack of stolen bases by the Angels and much more...

The Story: Erick Aybar and Ryan Madson both were sent out to extended spring training to begin rehab assignments.

The Monkey Says: Aybar is hoping to play a game or two and join the team in Seattle this weekend, but he might wait until the Oakland series based on reports from yesterday. The more interesting news here is that Ryan Madson will supposedly be pitching in live games for the first time in his rehab, however he also reportedly didn't throw a scheduled simulated game earlier this week, so he may not be all the way back to where he was before his latest setback. Let's hope that this turns out to be more of a real step forward though because the Angels badly need another quality right in the bullpen as soon as humanly possible.

The Story: Why are the Angels not stealing more bases?

The Monkey Says: This is actually a big question across all of baseball. For reasons that nobody seems to fully understand, stolen bases are down markedly across the league, so this isn't an isolated issue with the Halos. That being said, the Angels have been conservative of late in my eyes. Specifically, the team seems reluctant to put Peter Bourjos on the move, especially Monday night when he had a leadoff single and then declined to try and steal his way into scoring position, which is pretty infuriating. In their defense, the Angels have hit-and-run quite a bit, so they aren't remaining stagnant.

The Angels actually aren't terrible. A game like this one, an 11-3 laugher at the hands of the Rangers, would normally indicate that the losing team is not a particularly good one. But, injuries.

As Michael Roth, a college pitcher less than a year ago, valiantly navigated through 3 spotless innings before finally tiring, it became painfully clear just how stricken by injuries this Halos ballclub has been. The big bullpen pieces this offseason, Ryan Madson and Sean Burnett, have both been nicked and hurt here and there. Madson has yet to throw to an in-game pitch. Fellow reliever Kevin Jepsen has been plagued with a strained triceps. Another bullpen piece, Mark Lowe, is out with a strained neck. Shortstop Erick Aybar has a heel contusion. Third baseman Alberto Callaspo's right caf has been as tight as a yoyo.

And the biggest guns have also been bitten by the injury bug. Ace Jered Weaver freakily shattered his left elbow. Albert Pujols is dealing with plantar fascitis, which is as painful as it sounds.

When viewed in that light, the fact this squad has mustered an 8-12 record can seem a little miraculous. So, Mike Scioscia's limited bullpen "staff day" today was a disaster. Did anyone honestly expect Michael Roth to dominate this potent Ranger lineup? The bullpen is taxed heavily. When pitchers are tired, they pitch badly. The Angels entire pitching staff was and is tired. So they pitched badly.

Here's to a new day tomorrow, eh folks?

Rangers 11, Angels 3

Game Notes

-- I suppose one of the more interesting late-game plotlines was whether Mike Scioscia would give in to the fun and put a position player on the mound. The favorites were Mark Trumbo, who pitched in highschool, or JB Shuck. Of course, Scioscia opted to keep things un-fun. Scioscia's gonna sosh.

-- Um. Yeah. I've got nothing else.

Halos A-Hole of the Game

Anyone just feel like _________ this guy?

A little over a week ago Mike Scioscia made the impulsive bold and probably correct decision to move Mike Trout down in the order, slotting him in the two-hole and declaring that he would be there to stay. This came on the heels of Angel fans spending a great deal of time wringing their hands for an entire off-season over who Mike Scioscia should have bat in the two-hole, presumably behind Trout. Well, it turns out that all of that needless worry was, in fact, proven to be needless because Scioscia just blew the debate up.

But lo and behold he has given us a new source of angst through his batting order machinations. The all important lineup configuration debate has sprung anew with questions over who should now assume the leadoff spot so vacated by Trout.

The answer might seem obvious since it is really the same players being considered for leadoff that were considered for the two-hole, but the problems are not real equivalents. Sabermetric research has suggested that your overall best hitter should bat second, so shifting Trout down a spot makes some sense. What the research suggests for lead off is that OBP is king and putting someone with power in that role is something of a waste. This is different than the two-hole discussion we previously had where we assumed Trout was not an option. OBP was still very important, but there was more of a necessity for the batter to be one of the top hitters on the team, which is why there was so many people lobbying for Hamilton to bat second (you know, before he started playing and stunk up the joint). There was also some momentum behind the more old school thought that the two-hole guy should be a bunt and bat control guy, a notion that Scioscia clearly subscribed to when he selected Aybar for the gig, much to my chagrin.