Halo Headlines: forcing a reason to worry about Trout, Hamilton could return by May 23

The May 8th, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including forcing a reason to worry about Trout, Josh Hamilton could return by May 23 and much more…

The Story: Forcing a reason to worry about Mike Trout.
The Monkey Says: I actually don’t even know if people are legitimately worrying about Trout so much as they are just curious about the fact that he might be mortal. The whiffs haven’t hurt him, but there is a chance that they might, so people are compelled to see if Superman might’ve been exposed to some Kryptonite.

The Story: Josh Hamilton says he is on target to return between May 23rd and May 25th.
The Monkey Says: He’s swinging one-handed now, so it should only be a matter of time before he gets to use his bad hand and then moves onto a rehab assignment. Then, we can finally see the Angels get back to a more normal lineup.

The Story: Dane De La Rosa is one rehab outing away from being activated.
The Monkey Says: He was supposedly only throwing 90-93 MPH in his last outing, which is actually still kind of concerning. Let’s hope the Angels know what they are doing.

The Story: Hector Santiago is eager to pitch on normal rest.
The Monkey Says: Last night was his first start where he didn’t have five days rest due to all of the early-season off-days. That seems like a pretty lame excuse, especially if he was having back problems, in which case you would think the extra rest would help (which it didn’t). I know starters are creatures of habit, but give me a break.

The Story: The Anaheim city council debated the use of the Angel Stadium land.
The Monkey Says: From the story, it appears at least two of the five members want to make a deal happen with the Angels. Mayor Tom Tait seems far more interested in getting his pound of flesh from the team. He has even commissioned a study of his own for what it would cost the Angels to build a stadium elsewhere. He is just going to keep putting the screws to Arte Moreno until he gets the deal he wants or the rest of the council overrules him.

The Story: Mike Scioscia believes that Jered Weaver is pitching like an ace again.
The Monkey Says: The velocity was there as was the sharpness on his changeup and command of his fastball, so, yes, he was ace-like in his last start. Let’s see if he can do it again.

The Story: Mike Trout will once again appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The Monkey Says: Shadow of a Trout… really? That’s the best you can come up with? Of all the fish puns available to you for a cover headline, you come up with “Shadow of a Trout.” Yeesh.

The Story: Evaluating the call-up of C.J. Cron.
The Monkey Says: Thus far the see-ball-hit-ball approach isn’t working too well. Hopefully Cron can adjust, but I kind of doubt he will in time to make an impact before he faces getting sent down. Then again, Raul Ibanez might play himself off of the roster first. It’s a race to the bottom!