The Tuesday, May 31, 2016 edition of Los Angeles Angels news includes Huston Street returning to the bullpen in an undetermined role, Mike Morin pitching his way back to Salt Lake, and more…
The Story: Huston Street activated from the disabled list
MWAH Says: Street is officially back, but whether he’ll step right into his old closer role remains to be seen. He topped out at a lowly 85 mph in his most recent rehab outing, which seems a pretty good reason to NOT activate him from the disabled list. Oblique injuries have a penchant for lingering in some fashion long after they’ve stopped hurting, so it be a while before Street’s velocity returns to normal.
The Story: Mike Morin optioned to Triple-A
MWAH Says: A surprise demotion of sorts. Morin has been knocked around a bit this month, raising his ERA from 1.84 to 5.48 in a span of seven outings, but he’s really been no worse than anyone else in the bullpen over the last couple weeks. Morin’s big problem has been an over-reliance on his changeup, which is a great pitch but not so good that he can get away with throwing it almost half the time. In his breakout 2014, he threw the pitch just 22% of the time, less frequently than both his fastball (39%) and slider (27%). The last two years, that percentage has climbed along with his ERA, all the way to 37%. Less is more, Mike.
The Story: RHP Deolis Guerra designated for asssignment; LHP Chris Jones recalled
MWAH Says: The game of musical bullpen chairs continues. Guerra got a week in the ‘pen, had one outing in which he was called on for an inning too many but was otherwise solid, and now could be lost on the waiver wire. Jones has been awful as a starter for Triple-A Salt Lake, posting a 6.32 ERA in nine starts. I’d be shocked if he does more than work in mop-up duty against the Tigers and/or Pirates.
The Story: C.J. Wilson felt “awful” before being shut down again
MWAH Says: I feel for the guy, but I’m pretty sure everyone but him saw this one coming from a mile away. When your answer to shoulder pain caused by changing your mechanics is to change your mechanics even more, the writing’s on the wall. At this point, I would be shocked if Wilson suits up for the Angels this year.
The Story: Tyler Skaggs throws two-inning sim game in Arizona
MWAH Says: I think this means Skaggs is now back ahead of C.J. Wilson again on the rehab timeline. Eventually one of them actually has to return to Anaheim, right? Or is this one long Kafka novel? Anyway, the next step for Skaggs is a three-inning outing against live hitters on Friday.
The Story: Underappreciated Mike Trout is as good as ever
MWAH Says: Jeff Passan hits a lot of the same notes we touched on Friday. Can never have enough articles talking about how awesome Mike Trout is.
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