The September 29th, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Shoemaker ‘very confident’ to play in ALDS, Hamilton still up in the air and much more…
The Story: Matt Shoemaker is “very confident” he will be able to pitch in the ALDS.
The Monkey Says: He felt great after a Sunday bullpen session, so as long as he wakes up Monday without any soreness, he should be ready to roll in the ALDS. We don’t know what game he will start, but at least we know now that he is almost certain to make a start.
The Story: Josh Hamilton’s status remains highly uncertain for the ALDS.
The Monkey Says: He admits that he still can’t fully follow-through on his swing, which certainly seems like a problem. He will take more swings over the next three days, but things aren’t looking good given all the setback and slow recovery he has already experienced. This means we might see Brennan Boesch actually getting meaningful ABs in the playoffs which kind of makes me want to barf.
The Story: Mike Scioscia won’t reveal his ALDS rotation or roster.
The Monkey Says: We know Weaver is starting Game 1 and that is it. I still assume that Shoemaker would go Game 2 since his numbers are vastly better at home, but they could opt for Wilson instead if they want to give Shoe more time to get 100% healthy. Even with Shoemaker looking likely to play, there is still no indication how many pitchers the Halos plan on carrying.
The Story: The Angels aren’t concerned about a lack of momentum going into the postseason.
The Monkey Says: It is only a problem if they don’t have confidence. If they still have confidence and realize their losses the final week were just a factor of them being on cruise control while playing teams that were fighting for their lives, they should be just fine.
The Story: Bill Shaikin considers it highly unlikely that the Angels end up leaving Anaheim.
The Monkey Says: He’s probably right. However, that could change depending on how the mayoral election goes in November as incumbent mayor Tom Tait seems to be leading a personal jihad against the Halos. If he gets re-elected, I would think that the odds of the Angels packing up for Tustin, Irvine or even the LA Live location to go up significantly.
The Story: Jerry Dipoto talks about the big turnaround he and the Angels made in 2014.
The Monkey Says: He, once again, drops “make-up” as the big reason the Angels succeeded in 2014. For a guy who has spoken at SABR and was hired largely because he was more saber-friendly, it is still a bit staggering for him to play the team chemistry card so heavily this year. I’m not saying he’s wrong, just that this was not something anybody really saw coming.
The Story: Predicting the major end of season awards.
The Monkey Says: Trout as MVP is a lock, but I’m still a bit surprised Scioscia isn’t getting more play for Manager of the Year. Part of that is probably that because he has Trout on the team, Trout gets all the credit. But if we go back to Dipoto’s comments, the Angels think team chemistry is their biggest advantage this year and who is singularly more responsible for a team’s chemistry than the manager?
The Story: Mike Trout is the first player to lead the league in runs in each of his first three seasons in the league.
The Monkey Says: Runs scored is fairly worthless, but still a cool accomplishment if only because it had never been done before.
The Story: The Angels will have the 31st pick in the 2015 draft.
The Monkey Says: Well, they own the pick. It is too early to say whether or not they will actually keep it.
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