The March 27th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Angels might not use a fifth starter, Pujols feels like himself again and much more…
The Story: The Angels may start the season without a fifth starter.
The Monkey Says: The schedule allows them to get through the first week or two with just four starters, but this is mostly about Heaney and Tropeano failing to make a convincing case for the rotation thus far. I still expect Heaney to be given the job up until Garrett Richards returns, but foregoing the fifth starter would allow the team to carry an extra reliever and keep Vinnie Pestano and Matt Lindstrom or Scott Snodgress while still having a spot open for a long reliever like Drew Rucinski or Jose Alvarez.
The Story: Albert Pujols feels like Albert Pujols again.
The Monkey Says: A nice little puff piece on Pujols still being motivated and having fun playing after all these years. He may feel like his old self, but the problem remains that his current self is old.
The Story: David Freese will miss a few days of action after hyperextending his elbow in an on-field collision.
The Monkey Says: He says he’ll be fine and the team is just being cautious. Until we get another update, I’ll just be off in the corner, curled up in the fetal position, quietly sobbing.
The Story: Kole Calhoun left last night’s game due to injury.
The Monkey Says: As of this writing there is no indication what the injury is or how severe it might be. Hopefully it is just the Angels continuing to play things safe during Spring Training.
The Story: The Angels continue to preach caution with Garrett Richards.
The Monkey Says: He could theoretically be ready by April 12th, which would mean they would never need a fifth starter before he returns, but the team is wary of recent fatigue he had after his last minor league start.
The Story: Humidors were installed in the Salt Lake Bees stadium.
The Monkey Says: The Angels’ Triple-A affiliate is hoping to combat the effects of the altitude that has made evaluating and developing players so hard in that stadium.
The Story: The Sporting News ranks Mike Scioscia as the sixth-best manager.
The Monkey Says: Funnily enough it says that you can’t blame Scioscia for any of the ALDS losses. I most certainly beg to differ on that count.
The Story: The positional power rankings from Fangraphs for right field.
The Monkey Says: The Angels rate seventh. The more interesting thing here is that there is still this weird trend of everyone acting like Calhoun is an unknown. I know we have all seen him a lot more than non-Angels fans, but I don’t get the doubting or lack of familiarity with how good Calhoun really is.
The Story: The positional power rankings from Fangraphs for left field.
The Monkey Says: The Angels rank 14th here, which actually is better than I expected, even with them adjusting the playing time estimates to account for a potential Josh Hamilton suspension.
The Story: Mike Trout “pranked” C.J. Cron in advance of the Duke-Utah game.
The Monkey Says: Mike Trout is a Duke fan? I love him as a player, but I’m pretty sure Trout and I would never be able to hang out in real life.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
