The August 28th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Angels monitoring young arms’ workloads, seeking an edge against Trout and much more…
The Story: The Angels are monitoring the workloads of Garrett Richards, Hector Santiago and Andrew Heaney.
The Monkey Says: Well, I’m not sure what they are going to do about it that they aren’t already doing. When they are going well, the Angels have tried to prevent any of their pitchers from throwing over 100 pitches, Heaney especially. None of these three have been pitching well recently though, so they’ve been organically limiting their own innings via early exits. It isn’t as if the team is going to shut any of these guys down if they are still in the race. I could see them maybe putting Heaney on ice if they fall out of the race or going to a six-man rotation with Nick Tropeano at that point, but right now, winning trumps protecting arms in a manner that isn’t really proven to protect them much anyway.
The Story: So you want an edge against Mike Trout.
The Monkey Says: So you’re saying the only way to get an edge on Trout is if he willingly allows you to do so? I believe it.
The Story: The Angels’ pitching staff can pick up the offense.
The Monkey Says: Yeah, that’s how they survived the first two months of the season. The problem is that the starters look to be wearing down from carrying that burden for so long. This team isn’t going anywhere if the offense doesn’t pull itself up by their own bootstraps.
The Story: Matt Shoemaker’s family got to see him pitch in Detroit.
The Monkey Says: Shoe came so close to not getting to have this moment, but it is nice that he did get to pitch in front of family and pitch so well.
The Story: Derek Jeter calls Angel Stadium his favorite road stadium because “half the stadium is Yankees fans.”
The Monkey Says: I suppose that is to be taken as an insult. The problem is that it is pretty much true.
The Story: Could Sean Newcomb be ready for the majors in 2016?
The Monkey Says: He’s proven that he can dominate when he throws strikes, he just needs to prove he can consistently throw strikes. Once that falls into place, there is no reason to hold him back. I can’t imagine him coming up any earlier than the day after the Super 2 cutoff in 2016. I can’t imagine him coming up any later than Opening Day 2017.
The Story: Revised 2015 goals for each AL West team.
The Monkey Says: That pretty much nails it for the Halos. Coming into the season it seemed like World Series or bust, but now it is about making the Wild Card just to save face.
The Story: Roberto Baldoquin is adapting to a new stance and a new culture.
The Monkey Says: The good news is that he’s coming around, the bad news is that it is taking longer than they expected so the timeline of having him take over for Aybar in 2017 may no longer be realistic. Then again, more than a few Cuban players have been slow starters as the language and culture change can be a real shock to the system. That’s certainly the case for Baldoquin, but the bigger concern might just be keeping him healthy.
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