The June 25th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Angels call up Heaney, questioning Pujols’ bounce back season and much more…
The Story: The Angels unexpectedly called up Andrew Heaney to make the start on Wednesday.
The Monkey Says: Alfredo Marte was demoted to make room on the roster and Matt Shoemaker was bumped back to Friday. Everyone expected the Angels to call up Heaney soon, but nobody saw it coming today. Apparently the team preferred to make the move now to keep Heaney on normal rest and possibly to give Shoemaker a little more time to keep working on his issues on the side. Heaney should get at least one more start before Jered Weaver returns, assuming he is ready right after the All-Star break as expected.
The Story: Albert Pujols is back… but for how long?
The Monkey Says: This isn’t as gloomy as the title sounds. It doesn’t draw any concrete conclusions either, but it does shed light on how Pujols is pulling the ball less, having success against offspeed pitches and generally hitting the ball harder. The theory that he is just finally healthy makes a little bit of sense, but I don’t fully buy it. Part of me thinks that he finally just took a hard look at his struggles and is now making a conscious effort to not be as aggressive as he had been previously in his Angels career.
The Story: The comeback of Garrett Richards.
The Monkey Says: My favorite part of this story is that Richards nearly quit baseball in college to go to culinary school instead. Maybe we should be calling him the Buffet instead of the Bullet. My least favorite part is hearing about his freakish fingers. I don’t know why, but it gives me the creeps that he either has a super long middle finger or a stubby pointer finger. Yet the description of his kneecap shooting hafway up his thigh, I’m totally fine with.
The Story: Matt Joyce bemoans his lack of regular playing time as he tries to get back on track.
The Monkey Says: Shut up, Matt Joyce. Do you really think that this far into your struggles the team is going to be cool with running you out there every day? Besides, you’ve been a part-time player most of your career, this should not be a new concept to you.
The Story: Rehab updates on Cory Rasmus and Mike Morin.
The Monkey Says: Rasmus is apparently going to be stretched out to the 50-60 pitch range. Presumably the team wants to be able to use him as a multi-inning reliever again. Mike Morin is on track to be back in about a week or so.
The Story: Trevor Gott is growing into the seventh inning role.
The Monkey Says: He’s got the role for now and his emergence probably allows the Angels to stretch Rasmus out rather than calling him up now. When Morin comes back, he might compete with Gott, but that is a good problem to have.
The Story: Daniel Roberston is happy to do the little things.
The Monkey Says: Get it? Because he’s short. He’s probably also short on time spent in the majors this year. He’ll be demoted once Cowgill gets healthy and/or the Angels make a trade. But hey, grit!
The Story: A trade deadline primer for the Angels.
The Monkey Says: Turns out they need to add a bat or two. Who knew?
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