It looks like things are off to a terribly slow start in Anaheim once again; fortunately all us Angel fans are more than acquainted with slow starts from this team. The experience from last year just means the Angels fan base has the experience to know that we CAN furiously push on the panic this early. 

Whoopie!!!

Now I do understand that things are off to a more unfortunate start than a slow start if anything with Weaver out for 4-6 weeks and Aybar being pulled out of last night’s game, but aside from that there's absolutely no reason to be pushing the panic button already. Oh, you mean we went 2-4 to start the season, on the road, against playoff contenders. The Angels weren't fighting tooth and nail against Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum to pull together pathetic victories; they went up against some of the best teams in baseball in the Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers. The fact that they lost the home opener to a red-hot playoff contender AND division rival doesn't do much to inspire panic in me, especially when the finishing blow was delivered by a notoriously unreliable reliever. As a matter of fact, I actually think that a lot of this bad streak to start the season is good for the Angels. Aside from losing Weaver and Aybar most of everything that's been going on for the Angels has been good for the team. Why?

For starters, this is the kind of bad streak that weeds out the "haves" from the "have not’s" on this team. Most importantly, we have been able to establish very early on the Scott Downs and Kevin Jepsen are relievers not to be trusted with close games. Jepsen has been notorious throughout his whole career with the Angels for being wildly unreliable; he's a guy who may show up with good enough stuff to get through an inning, but he is also just as likely to turn up with a jerry can full of gasoline ready to "light this baby up". Allowing Jepsen to come into close games consistently is just asking for serious trouble, and it's not like the Angels don't have better options in the 'pen this time around. The only time Jepsen should be allowed to pitch in a game is with a lead greater or equal to 3, anything less is putting the team in a risky situation. Jepsen isn't the kind of reliever who will fall apart for an inning but will only give up a few hits and a run or two. No, Jepsen is a guy who will let the team break the game completely open (which is exactly what we saw in the Angels home opener). Just like his appearance last night, in which he gave up 4 runs off two homers in 0.1 inning, Jepsen will make himself prone to the home-run ball and the big hit. 

Scott Downs, on the other hand, used to be incredibly reliable until the last half of 2012. Unfortunately it seems his age and fragile nature have caught up with him and made him go from being a wildly popular reliever to someone who should be stuck in the back of the 'pen. As shown in the home opener Downs couldn't come into the game without automatically turning it into a crapfest. Nothing can be considered "safe" with these two, especially a 1 run game against a crazy hot division rival. The good thing about these 2 relievers is that they've established their inability to pitch in close games early enough that Scioscia can effectively remove them from their duties and entrust other relievers with their roles. Sean Burnett may have been brought in as a lefty-heavy specialist, but he can get right-handed hitters out at a FAR better pace than Downs. Downs can't even get lefties out anymore, his job needs to be given to someone who has at least hasn't proven to be terribly unreliable. The key this year is Scioscia's ability to recognize these inefficiencies and replace them instead of letting the issues drag itself out as far as it possibly can until people start questioning his job. Fortunately I do not see that happening as Scioscia has had to have learned that his stubbornness does not work anymore. This bad streak is good for the Angels in that it has highlighted enough of our biggest problems that the management should be able to swiftly move in and fix everything up in an instant. 

The Angels just can't buy good press of late. Injuries are piling up. The slow start is causing unrest in the fanbase (again). And now, to top it all off, some rogue usher at the home opener last night decided to go on a crusade against fans who are actually positive and enthusiastic by kicking out a group of Angel fans who had the audacity to stand and cheer for their team. How dare they!

Unfortunately for our power-tripping usher, the fans he chose to pick on included Sarah Colonna who is a comedian and writer/panelist/actress on Chelseas Lately  and After Lately. Oops! Suffice it to say, she was none too pleased with her treatement and took to the ol' internets to share her side of the story.

 Here comes Trumbo...my friends and I continue to stand and cheer, as do some around us. The people behind us don't say anything, at this point everyone is getting along and wants the Angels to score. An usher comes over and tells us to sit down, which we're confused by. We sit, but my friend Tara, who is a long time fan and a season ticket holder, asks the usher why. She says "nobody is complaining, the bases are loaded, why can't I stand and cheer?"

....

At the top of the 7th inning, security comes over and asks the 3 of us to get up. We are so confused; we haven't even stood up, except to go to the bathroom, or get food or a drink, since the usher incident. But they insist we get up and everyone in the section boos security, several people yelled "they haven't even done anything." One guy yelled "these are $165 seats, are you seriously asking them to leave? They didn't so anything."

Damned celebrity and her entitled behavior! Thinking she can politely root for her favorite team and enjoy herself without bothering anybody. Who does she think she is?!?!

To here credit, Sarah isn't holding a grudge against he organization, but someone from the club would be well-advised to reach out and smooth things over. The last thing this team needs amidst this slow start, not to mention the dramatic rise in ticket prices at the Big A, is to start alienating ardent, high profile fans. At least wait until Josh Hamilton starts hitting before doing that.

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When does four weeks feel like four years? When Jered Weaver is missing four weeks, at least, of action for the Angels. Sure, the Halo ace may not have been on top of his game in his first two starts of the 2013 season, but losing him to a broken left elbow for over a month is a big blow to the Angels' chances of getting out of the gates quickly for the first time in a long time. Now the Angels have to try and find a way to get by without the best pitcher in their already suspect group of starters for as many as seven turns through the rotation. While daunting, that is not an insurmountable task, a lot will depend on how the Angels try to handle this setback.

As Mike Scioscia announced yesterday, Plan A is to see if Garrett Richards can finally have the kind of success in the rotation that they've been waiting for him to have for what feels like forever. In reality, he has only really had two real shots at it. I guess pitching time works differently than real time.

Letting Richards fill in is definitely the easiest and most logical solution to this problem. He's been looked fantastic in spring training and, with the exception of one hung slider, has been a revelation in the bullpen. If anyone has earned this opportunity, it is Garrett Richards. That doesn't necessarily mean it is the right decision though.

The April 10th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Richards to replace Weaver in rotation, Halos not considering trades and much more...

The Story: Garrett Richards has been tabbed to replace Jered Weaver in the rotation and the Halos are said to not be interested in trade options.

The Monkey Says: Richards is the right choice. 4-to-6 weeks is the perfect little audition for him to show whether or not he can really hack it as a starter. He has been throwing the ball very well this year, so he has a real shot at being a real asset. If he fails, the Angels can shift him back to the bullpen, probably for good. Trading for someone like Harang or Capuano would be questionable since they'd have to be shifted back into the bullpen once Weaver got healthy, thus making them not worth giving up much for.

The Story: Losing Jered Weaver for a month or two isn't really that big of a deal.

The Monkey Says: The claim is basically that they are forfeiting about one win worth of value with him out. That makes sense mathematically, but it feels like his loss costs the Halos much more since Weaver represented the best of a bad rotation. Aces like Weaver are often counted on to come in and stop losing streaks or prevent them, so they don't really have that now which may or may not be a big deal depending on how they play without him.

There isn't much good to be said about this game. The bats should have and could have brought in at least 12 runs, but couldn't. The bullpen, so solid and promising until Sunday night, were tasked with nursing a lead, but couldn't. CJ Wilson kept trying to #throwstrikes, but couldn't.

And that has basically been the story of the 2012 -- I mean, 2013, Angels. They have enough talent to win ballgames, but simply can't, for whatever reason. The Oakland Athletics did their very best to gift the Halos with a nice, welcome-home victory, booting balls around in the 6th inning and allowing the languid Angels zombie-offense a new shot at life.

But Kevin Jepsen felt even more like Santa Clause, serving up an ugly 5-spot in the top of the 7th. Awesome stuff, really. That's all you can say about it.

Oh and the Angels will probably be without Erick Aybar for a little bit. The shortstop experienced a left heel contusion while beating out a base hit. He is listed as day to day, this on the same day the Halos found out they will be without ace Jered Weaver for at least a month.

The good news just keeps on coming!

Athletics 9, Angels 5

Game Notes

-- One encouraging sign over this hellish stretch is that Albert Pujols continues to see the ball well. The slugger has drawn 6 unintentional walks, 9 walks total, in 7 games this season, a huge sign that his plate discipline just might be back in a big way. At any rate, Pujols looks a lot better now than he did at this time a week ago.

-- We ain't in Texas anymore. Josh Hamilton received a much friendlier reception from the Anaheim crowds. Aside from the better vibes from the Anaheim crowd, the fans were treated to very similar results at the plate by Hambone. A strikeout with the bases loaded in the first and a tap-out with the bases loaded in the fourth. Remember when Hamilton was supposed to drive in all those runs? I barely do, either.

-- The bullpen was awful. But you already knew that. Newly acquired Dane De La Rosa was the only arm that didn't look like he was walking a tightrope out there on the mound.

Halo A-Hole of the Game

Enough said. I'm feeling pretty jepped by this dude, tonight.

Every year I like to publish one article which focuses on the predictions of your Angel Minor Leaguers.  Last year, we successfully predicted Kaleb Cowart’s, Kole Calhoun’s, Donn Roach’s and Eswarlin Jimenez’s dominant 2012 performance.  Conversely, I didn’t think hitters in A-ball would ever touch Austin Wood, and to be fair they didn’t.  Still, his lack of control led to a somewhat inaccurate prediction on my part.  Also, Chevy Clarke couldn’t put it all together for a full season in 2012 as I thought he would.  Still it’s hard to argue with a nearly 70% success rate when it comes to predictions.  And I’m not sure we can call them predictions as much as educated guesses based off my experience in scouting. Regardless, here are the minor league movers and shakers for 2013.

1. Dane De La Rosa – He’s a 30-year-old reliever in AAA, so it’s difficult to consider him a prospect as much as he is a minor league journeyman.  Still, blessed with size and a 98 mph fastball, I think Dane De La Rosa will break into the Angels bullpen sometime in 2013. (EDITOR'S NOTE: De La Rosa got called up to the roster after this article was written, also, Scotty might be a wizard.)

2. Randal Grichuk – I don’t think Grichuk or any of the AA prospects this season will be promoted, but I do think we’ll see growth and maturity at the plate from C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk.  Grichuk specifically will double his walk total from 2012 and hit for enough power and average that he’ll catch a lot more attention headed into 2014.  I expect a quicker adjustment to advanced competition from Grichuk than any of his teammates. 

3. R.J. Alvarez – Sending Alvarez to Advanced-A Ball may have more or less been a strategy to simplify life for the young reliever.  The Angels don’t want to rush him too quickly only to find he’s an unfinished product or that he’s developed some non-productive pitching habits.  Still, I can’t envision Alvarez staying at Inland Empire any longer than a month or two.  His deceptive short-arm delivery, high 90’s fastball and sharp breaking slider should help him mow down the competition.  I expect Alvarez to finish the season in the high minors in 2013, if not in Anaheim.

You know how I said last week that April could be really rough for the Angels? Well, things just got a lot tougher. I'll allow Ken Rosenthal to break the bad news to you:

Weaver, the Angels’ ace right-hander, will be out 4 to 6 weeks after suffering a broken left (non-pitching) elbow, major-league sources say.

So much for the original examination coming back negative. The Angels already had a shaky rotation with Weaver, so things are only going to get shakier without Weaver for a full month. Presumably Garrett Richards will take Weaver's spot in the rotation, but the team hasn't made an announcement yet, so Jerome Williams is a possibility as well. We do know though that reliever Dane De La Rosa has been called up to take Weaver's spot on the roster.

If there is any good news here it is that this injury shouldn't have any long-term effects on Weaver since it is his non-throwing elbow. If anything, it might give him some time in rehab to work on his mechanics and strength to possibly overcome his loss of velocity we saw in his first two starts. Or maybe I am just desperately trying to find a silver lining in an otherwise soul-crushing bit of news. Yeah, probably that.

Ugh.

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