Friends, loved ones, thank you for joining us on this somber occasion. As many of you know, Brandon Wood's Angel career met an untimely end last night when the Angels designated him for assignment with the big waiver wire in the sky. Let us all take a moment of silence to honor his memory.
So long, Brandon. We hardly knew ye.
Daily Links for the LA Angels including Wood gets designated for assignment, Kazmir working on yet another new approach, Hunter is clearly pressing and much more...
The Monkey Says: And so it ends. The Halos now have ten days to either trade Wood, or have him pass through waivers, where he is likely to be claimed. If by some miracle he clears waivers, he could be assigned to the minors by the Halos, but only if Wood consents, otherwise he becomes a free agent. No matter what, it seems that his time with the team has finally come to an end. For his sake, I hope he is able to use the forthcoming change in scenery to get his once promising career back on track.
The Monkey Says: This is just more spin control from Kazmir. I can't imagine he has made any groundbreaking adjustments in any facet of his game that are suddenly going to give him five MPH back on his heater and the bite back on his slider.
The Story: The stats show that Torii Hunter is pressing at the plate.
The Monkey Says: I think we all pretty much knew that, but it is always nice to have shiny pictures and numbers confirm it.
The Story: Top-shelf pitching defines the AL West.
The Monkey Says: Just in case you were actually feeling good about the Angel pitching staff, this is a nice reminder that the rest of the division can pitch their butts off too.
The Story: Beyond the Box Score presents the All Bonus Baby team for the Angels.
The Monkey Says: These are basically the best draft picks of the 21st century for the Angels. I have to say, the list is not super impressive. Maybe other team's lists will look just as boring, but if they don't, then I suddenly don't feel so bad about Eddie Bane getting canned this winter.
The Story: Some people got married at Angel Stadium.
The Monkey Says: I post to this bit of fluff out of sheer jealousy.
Look out! The rookies are on a rampage!!! Run for your lives!!!! We are going to be crushed under this avalanche of runs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy home runs, Batman! What got into the Angel Kiddie Corps tonight? Trumbo smacks a homer, a double and 4 RBIs. Not to be outdone, Bourjos matched Trumbo's power output and raised him a four-hit game. Finally, Conger "only" drove in two runs on two hits. Really it was the kind of night that Angel management must dream of. Not only did we get to see the kind of potential that the youngsters have, but we also saw the Halo offense come to life with essentially no help from the top part of the lineup.
As I detailed earlier today, the Angel offense has been only marginally better than last season and very much in need of an identity. Both of those problems can quickly find a solution if the trio of youngsters is able to become consistent producers. Clearly they won't always all hit like they did tonight, but if Trumbo can become a consistent power threat, Bourjos can keep mixing in some pop with his blazing speed and Conger can prove that his bat is MLB ready, then this Halo lineup suddenly has a lot more depth and thus a lot more versatility when it comes to trying to push runs across the plate from game to game.
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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (10-6) @ Texas Rangers (11-5)
Pitching Probables: LAA – Matt Palmer (0-0, 7.71 ERA) TEX – Colby Lewis (1-1, 5.25 ERA)
Game Info: 5:05 AM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM
The Angels cross their fingers and send out Matt Palmer to try and get the Angels back to their winning ways, but find themselves in a no-win situation no matter what happens tonight.
I hate to break it to you, Angel fans, but whether the Angels win or lose this game and the next, it isn't going to count for as much as we all want it to. Thanks to Josh Hamilton's bone-headed headfirst slide into home plate a week ago, the Rangers can trump the Halos no matter what. If the Angels win this series, Texas simply plays the "of course you did, we were missing our best player" card. If the Rangers win the series, then they get to scoff at the Angels for not being able to get over on them even though they were missing Hamilton.
The Trout Tracker is back with a vengeance! When we last saw our hero, we were commenting on him having a pedestrian (by his standards) beginning to his Double-A career. Clearly he didn't care much for that.
His response? Trout, mere hours after my post, went into full Beast Mode, smashing two homers in one game, collecting five RBIs and adding one more single and a walk for good measure. The Texas League was officially put on notice.
Over the next four games, Trout returned to human form and put together a nice little string where he went 4-for-15 with 3 walks, 3 runs, 1 RBI, 1 triple and 2 steals. Ho-hum. That's certainly a nice little string for most mortals, but Trout just wasn't happy enough with it, so he donned his cape once again to put his super powers on display this Monday.
With the Travelers giving up a run in the top of the 13th inning, Trout responded by leading off the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run to tie the game. As if that weren't enough, Trout added a new tool to his utility belt: humility. In that same game, Arkansas got a leadoff double in the 15th inning with the game still tied. Instead of stroking his own ego and trying to win the game on his own, Trout selflessly gave himself up with a sac bunt to advance the runner to third where he would score just a few batters later to win the game.
Bravo, Trouty. Bravo.
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.
The Angels talked a big game this off-season about shaking up their offensive attack to rely more on aggressiveness and situational hitting, just like in the Scioscia glory days. That seemed like a smart idea after their commitment to "batter's box" offense failed so miserably in 2010. The funny thing about ideas though is that they are only as good as their actual execution and thus far the Halos aren't executing the plan that Scioscia drew up... at all.
Consider these stats for the 2010 Angels:
| R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | GDP | SH | SF | IBB | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 681 | 1363 | 276 | 19 | 155 | 656 | 104 | 52 | 466 | 1070 | .248 | .311 | .390 | .702 | 92 | 125 | 42 | 37 | 28 |
Now take a look at how the 2011 Angels have performed offensively through 15 games:
| R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | GDP | SH | SF | IBB | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 60 | 144 | 30 | 3 | 18 | 57 | 8 | 3 | 46 | 121 | .265 | .324 | .431 | .755 | 115 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
Are you seeing what I'm seeing?
Daily Links for the LA Angels including Haren named co-Player of the Week, Aybar begins a short rehab stint, Kazmir begins his comeback effort and much more...
The Story: Dan Haren was named co-Player of the Week for the American League.
The Monkey Says: What? He had to share it? I declare shenanigans.
The Story: Erick Aybar began what should be a brief rehab stint in Salt Lake last night.
The Monkey Says: Aybar was supposed to be activated on Monday, but apparently the team wanted him to shake off some rust first.
The Story: Scott Kazmir is headed to extended spring training to begin his rehab/comeback attempt.
The Monkey Says: At this rate, Kazmir probably won't even get a chance to rejoin the Angels before May, if ever.
The Story: Scott Downs has been sidelined by a virus.
The Monkey Says: This certainly explains why he hasn't made any appearances lately. Hopefully he'll be able to pitch before this important Texas series is over.
The Monkey Says: He's been playing better of late, so whatever he is doing seems to be paying off.
The Story: Is Tyler Chatwood good, lucky or both?
The Monkey Says: A lot of people doubt his ability to pitch at such a high level so soon, but I am going to continue believing in him until he proves otherwise on the field. Hopefully that won't ever come to pass, but I do worry that the hitters are going to start feasting on his fastball once they learn to lay off his devastating curveball.
The Story: Torii Hunter will be speaking at a charity event next Tuesday.
The Monkey Says: Get your tickets now and help out some at-risk youths.
The Monkey Says: What did we ever do without pitch f/x?
The Story: What should the Angels do with Erick Aybar?
The Monkey Says: This is way too premature. Aybar will surely get his starting job back, but he'll still sit on occasion until Alberto Callaspo or Maicer Izturis cool down. Now, after a few weeks, if Aybar isn't playing well, we can discuss taking some sort of action with him. A trade seems pretty unlikely though as his value is deflated right now, plus the Halos shouldn't risk their infield depth given Maicer Izturis' injury history.
