The May 14th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Madson looks good in rehab, Bourjos report improvement and much more...

The Story: Ryan Madson struck out one and allowed no baserunners in his first rehab appearance last night.

The Monkey Says: There is speculation he could be activated Wednesday, but the Angels might have him make another rehab appearance. Even when he does come back, don't get too excited too soon because he is not yet back to form as his 92 MPH average fastball last night indicates. It could be weeks or even months before he regains his old velocity and effectiveness. At this point, I'm not sure if he'll ever even work his way back into the closer role.

The Story: Peter Bourjos reported improvement in his hamstring but still unlikely to return before early June.

The Monkey Says: At a point you have to wonder if the Halos need to pick someone else up because the Shuck/Lucho platoon isn't getting it done and Kole Calhoun probably won't be ready to play again before Bourjos is.

Joe Blanton is slowly robbing me of my will to live. I really can't handle another one of his starts and I'm not sure the Angels already microscopic hopes of turning this season around can either.

After having three not terrible starts against three terrible offenses, Blanton reverted back to becoming the Human Batting Practice machine. There is no sense describing it beyond that because we've all seen it already, over and over and over. It isn't getting better. This is who he is.

The most brutal part of his starts isn't how bad he is, it is how bad everyone else knows he is. Once the wheels start getting a little wobbly for Joe, you can just see the rest of the team starting to sag because they know what is coming. Even on offense they seem enervated once Blanton digs them that early hole because they just know that even if they scratch out a run or two to close the gap, Blanton is just going to come back the next inning with his shovel in hand to undo everything and then some.

Jered Weaver should be back in a few weeks and, contract be damned, there is no good reason for Blanton to keep his rotation spot when that happens. There is just no way this team will ever right the ship when Blanton comes out every fifth day and bangs the hull into an iceberg.

Royals 11, Angels 4

The Angels finally have, well, something going. I'm not sure what it is, but the lukewarm-to-hot streak is mostly being led by one man with some help from some unlikely sources....

RANK	PLAYER	CHANGE	COMMENTS
1		+1 Last Week: 2	Mike Trout - Does he earn extra MVP votes at season's end for saving his team from being the victim of a perfect game?
2		-1 Last Week: 1	Mark Trumbo - After ascending to number one and earning praise from many media outlets, Trumbo went and posted a .591 OPS last week. Welp.
3		+1 Last Week: 4	Howie Kendrick - Kendrick had another fine week, but once again that fine week was sullied by an untimely and back-breaking GIDP.
4		+7 Last Week: 11	Ernesto Frieri - Picking up three saves on three consecutive days, one of which was a five-out save, was absolutely heroic for the Angels.
5		+4 Last Week: 9	C.J. Wilson - Maybe I am just being naive, but he seems like he is inching closer and closer to breaking through. Or maybe he is just facing some really pathetic lineups right now.
6		-3 Last Week: 3	Albert Pujols - This is getting really depressing. There just doesn' look to be any real sign that Pujols will snap out of this any time soon. At least not without a leg transplant or two.
7		-1 Last Week: 6	Jason Vargas - It is never a good sign that your personal hot streak got interrupted by the Astros.
8		-- 0 Last Week: 8	Erick Aybar - Hooray! Aybar is back... aaaaaaand he's hurt again.
9		+9 Last Week: 18	Dane De La Rosa - A strong week for DDLR, but the best part was that he was only used twice. Seriously, I was about to report Scioscia to social services for his physical abuse of Dane's arm.
10		-3 Last Week: 7	Alberto Callaspo - I thought there might be some kind of controversy at the hot corner between Beto and Lucho, but it looks like it is more a controversy of picking from the lesser of two evils.
11		+2 Last Week: 13	Scott Downs - Let me just put it this way: I'm running out of jokes for how often Downs gets hurt on a routine fielding play.
12		+3 Last Week: 15	Michael Kohn - Kohn appeared in 4 games this week but for only 2.1 innings. Is he now a ROOGY?
13		+1 Last Week: 14	Garrett Richards - Maybe I am just reading into it too much, but Richards doesn't look like he is all that into this relief pitching thing right now.
14		+2 Last Week: 16	Joe Blanton - Blanton has been not terrible lately yet the Angels have been completely unable to take advantage.
15		+6 Last Week: 21	Josh Hamilton - For him, he had a great week, but he still only managed a .174 average and .762 OPS in two series against terrible teams. Really can't wait for him to keep on being more aggressive.
16		+1 Last Week: 17	Jerome Williams - A nice bounceback start for Williams as he continues to buy time for the Halos until Weaver returns from his broken non-throwing elbow and whatever injury to his throwing arm the Halos are pretending he doesn't have.
17		-5 Last Week: 12	Chris Iannetta - He is still drawing walks, but it feels like forever since Iannetta got a hit.
18		+1 Last Week: 19	Hank Conger - Not to make this all about me, but maybe you could've waited a week for that three-error game instead of doing it the same day I post something on how your defense should earn you more playing time.
19		+4 Last Week: 23	Brendan Harris - Two homers in a week? I love Brendan Harris all over again!
20		-- 0 Last Week: n/a	Mark Lowe - Hey, everyone! Mark Lowe is back!!! .... .... (crickets)
21		+1 Last Week: 22	Luis Jimenez - I like the idea of Lucho becoming a utilityman. I'd like it a lot better if he'd start hitting again.
22		-2 Last Week: 20	J.B. Shuck  - He had a 1.071 OPS before Bourjos got hurt and owns a .523 OPS since the injury. Way to make the most of an opportunity.
23		-- 0 Last Week: n/a	Robert Coello - I like to think I know just about everything about the Angels but I have no freaking idea what a Robert Coello is.
24		-- 0 Last Week: 24	Barry Enright - Some year the Angels will have good rotation depth. This is not that year.
25		-- 0 Last Week: n/a	Scott Cousins - Yet another reason why the Angels are hating that Kole Calhoun broke his hand at the absolute wrong time.

Dropped from rankings: Peter Bourjos (hamstrung), Tommy Hanson (restricted list), Ryan Brasier (back where he belongs)

Biggest Riser: De La Rosa, up nine spots

Biggest Dropper: Iannetta, down five spots

Like MWAH on Facebook

Follow MWAH on Twitter

There are several different adjectives that one could use to describe the season so far for the Los Angeles Angels, almost none of which are appropriate for anyone under the age of 16. It's been a rough start to the 2013 campaign for the Halos, with almost no exceptions.

Even Mike Trout, who went from rookie to legend in the span of only a few months in 2012, has had his struggles this season. Under the microscope after winning American League Rookie of the Year, and nearly (probably should have) taking home the Most Valuable Player award, Trout got off to the sophomore slump that many feared he would.

Good thing it's a 162-game season. It's almost impossible to judge anything off of what happens in April. In Major League Baseball, what happens in April, tends to stay in April. Just ask Chris Shelton. In recent weeks, the Angels have started to look like a real life baseball team. And it's no coincidence that Mike Trout is beginning to round into form over that same span as well.

Trout's April was certainly not what he was hoping for, nor was it anywhere near what the Angels were expecting, having come into the season as heavy favorites in the American League West. The Angels won just eight games in April, while Trout's numbers were largely unimpressive.

The May 13th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Madson nearing a return, Umpires disciplined for pitching change fiasco and much more...

The Story: Ryan Madson will begin his rehab assignment at High-A Inland Empire today.

The Monkey Says: The speculation is that he will need one or two appearances before being activated. One can only assume that he'll be handled with kid gloves upon his activation, but at least our long national nightmare is coming to a close with Madson on track to finally join the Angels this week.

The Story: The crew chief for the umpires that allowed the illegal pitching change in the Astros-Angels game was suspended for two games.

The Monkey Says: The rest of the crew was fined. They offer no explanation for how the crew screwed this up, but at least they acknowledged that they did. What is really interesting is that the suspension was announced as it was previously believed that all umpire discipline measures were supposed to remain confidential. I guess MLB just couldn't do that in the face of such a fundamental rule being broken.

Well, so much for the Angels turning things around. Finally owning a three-game winning streak, the Halos ran into a buzzsaw. A buzzsaw with pipe cleaner arms and some pretty wicked stuff.

There really isn't any mystery here. Chris Sale was terrific, the Halos hitters were not. It is something we have seen all too often from a lineup that was supposed to be one of the best in the league. In fact, the only real mystery here is when the Angels are going to get no-hit. It just feels inevitable, even with all their supposed talent. The only reason it might not happen is because of Mike Trout and he, naturally, was the one who got the Angels' lone hit.

Losing was one thing, but losing like this really hurts as it has to kill a great deal of the already minimal momentum they just finished building. Such is the 2013 Angels.

Angels 3, White Sox 0

I'm sure that the mere fact Angel fans are celebrating three wins in a row on the road shoudl be an indicator about the state of affairs in and around this team. But tonight's win over the White Sox carries with it the air of a team righting the ship. The Angels are slowly starting to resemble the sqaud we all thought we were getting at the beginning of the season. The hitting is there, the defense is solid and the pitching is serviceable enough to get wins. I know its not much, but three wins in a row is still the best indicator that maybe this team isn't DOA.

Angels 3 White Sox 2