The April 24th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including 'disrespect' for Hamilton, Aybar out until next week, Burnett ailing and much more…
The Story: Dave Schoefield thinks dropping Josh Hamilton to fifth in the batting order is "disrespectful."
The Monkey Says: Calm down. He moved down one spot. It isn't like he was batting ninth. There was also the lefty-lefty matchup to consider. This is a fairly justifiable decision given Josh's struggles. We know from Pujols last season that this isn't something Scioscia considered lightly. To say it was born out of panic is just wrong-headed. Maybe Scioscia just wanted to light a bit of a fire under Hamilton and I don't really see anything wrong with that.
The Story: Erick Aybar will not come off the DL on Thursday as first expected.
The Monkey Says: He is going to test his heel in a few extended spring training games first and hopefully return for the Oakland series next week.
The Story: Sean Burnett is ailing with forearm soreness so Nick Maronde was recalled to help the bullpen.
The Monkey Says: The issue appears to be minor, so no reason to worry, at least not yet. Maronde now marks the 18th pitcher to grace the Angels' active roster already this season, which seems pretty absurd. Tommy Field was demoted to make room on the roster for Maronde.
The Story: There is not much the Angels can do about Albert Pujols' plantar fasciitis problem.
The Monkey Says: This might be the first time that I have ever linked to Bleacher Report, so I apologize for that. Not that it took so long, but that I finally broke my rule about linking to them. I did it for good reason though because I thought it was rather interesting that Carroll points out that a DL stint might not even do any good, so there really isn't any point in considering it, not that the Angels were, but they could if it keeps getting worse.
The Story: A reminder that Josh Hamilton is actually really good.
The Monkey Says: Nobody is arguing that Hamilton has been a great player, but the concern is that he isn't one any longer. His already shaky plate discipline has eroded quickly in the last season-plus, which is a very valid concern, especially when he struggles like he is now. Great players aren't great forever.
The Monkey Says: Nevermind that the paid attendance for the game was 36,192. Nevermind that almost every stadium in baseball is 30% full at first pitch because people are stuck in traffic or parking or getting food. Nevermind that the Angels are averaging over 600 more fans per game than the Rangers. Nevermind that the Angels' attendance is up over 4,000 per game this year. Nevermind that attendance in Texas is down over 2,400 per game this year. Nevermind that Evan Grant infamously gave Michael Young a first place MVP vote in 2011. Let's just focus on the fact that even the Dallas media can't seem to let go of Hamilton's innocuous comment, which is really pretty petty.
The Monkey Says: It was purchased by an A's fan, which is nice since I assumed this was a Bartman situation where a Ranger fan would buy the ball so he could blow it up.
The Story: Perspective on the big money busts of the early season.
The Monkey Says: I'm not so sure I am willing to write off the struggles of the pitching staff to them getting BABIP'd. There are a lot of more concerning trends there in terms of not missing bats and struggling with command. Yes, they will get better but I don't know if they will get better enough to make the post-season much less advance in the playoffs.
The Story: Tim Salmon has sympathy for Albert Pujols' plantar fascia problems.
The Monkey Says: As long as it doesn't bother him while swinging, I think the Angels and Albert can survive this.
The Monkey Says: Bad news for StubHub, good news for season ticket holders.
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