The September 8th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Giavotella has fourth nerve palsy, Pujols limited to DH by foot injury and much more…
The Story: Johnny Giavotella has been out due to fourth nerve palsy.
The Monkey Says: The condition causes double vision, so you can imagine how that might making playing baseball difficult. Johnny vows to be back before the season ends, but I’m not sure how he can promise that. The condition basically has to clear up on its own or he needs eye surgery. Given that he hasn’t seen his vision improve enough for him to do much of anything, it is highly unlikely that we’ll see Giavotella again this year.
The Story: Albert Pujols will be limited to DH indefinitely due to a foot injury.
The Monkey Says: It is a different foot than the one that had plantar fasciitis, so that’s good news, but he also has been having knee problems in his bad knee due to overcompensating for the foot. This does not bode well for him being productive over the rest of the season.
The Story: Matt Shoemaker reported no problems after playing catch this weekend.
The Monkey Says: He had his start skipped due to a forearm strain. It remains unclear when he will return, but this certainly makes it seem like he could be back very soon, which would be very welcome.
The Story: Billy Eppler of the Yankees is considered the early front-runner for the Angels GM opening.
The Monkey Says: Eppler was a finalist last time around. He brings a blend of scouting and analytical experience. The question isn’t whether or not the Angels want him so much as whether he wants the Angels. He’s basically from the same mold as Dipoto, so he may not be too keen to work with Scioscia.
The Story: Likely scenarios for each front office vacancy.
The Monkey Says: It is very difficult to handicap the Angels. I also foresee them going towards more of a scouting-heavy candidate, but I tend to believe they will end up with
The Story: Jon Heyman floats the names of Kevin Towers and Ned Colletti as GM candidates in Anaheim.
The Monkey Says: These are speculative names, but they probably just sent a chill down your spine as they did mine.
The Story: The Angels are pushing to reach the 3 million attendance mark once again.
The Monkey Says: They dug themselves an early hole in April and May and have slowly climbed out of it. However, they barely broke the 3 million mark last season when they were actually good. If their playoff hopes evaporate in the next week, there is no amount of creative attendance counting that is going to push them over 3 million.
The Story: Mike Scioscia disagrees with the defensive metrics that show Mike Trout is an average center fielder.
The Monkey Says: Trout has a flair for the spectacular, but Statcast recently revealed that Trout actually has a very slow first step compared to other center fielders, so that would certainly negate much of his speed and athleticism.
The Story: Jered Weaver, baseball’s most beautiful junkballer.
The Monkey Says: It might be beautiful to watch once on a night when things are working for Jered, but when it isn’t working it is much more depressing.
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