The March 19th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Kendrys Morales is back in action, Chris Iannetta suffers a bruised elbow, C.J. Wilson pranks Mike Napoli by tweeting his phone number and much more…
The Monkey Says: Kendrys made his return on Friday in hectic fashion, clearing his final running test in the morning and then getting five at-bats in two different minor league games, all within about an hour. He also took cuts right-handed and ran the bases on Saturday. There really is no reason to doubt his health status anymore, now all the focus shifts to whether or not he can shake off all the rust and get back to playing at top form. With him getting started on Tuesday, he has a little over two weeks to prove he is ready to handle big league pitching on an everyday basis.
The Story: Chris Iannetta is day-to-day with a bruised elbow after being struck by a foul tip.
The Monkey Says: He didn’t even go for X-rays, so it can’t possibly be serious. With him out of action for a few days, there should be a greater focus on the battle for the back-up spot between Bobby Wilson and Hank Conger.
The Story: C.J. Wilson pranked Mike Napoli by tweeting out Mike’s phone number.
The Monkey Says: Wilson pulled the prank as retaliation for Naps joking with C.J. that he couldn’t wait to hit homers off of him this season. Hopefully some of you saw it and left some unflattering messages for Mike. Well played, C.J..
The Story: Eric Hurley and Jean Segura were sent down to minor league camp.
The Monkey Says: Segura impressed just about everyone during camp, but it was time for him to head out so he could get more playing time. As for Hurley, he is supposedly still in competition for the fifth starter spot, but he hasn’t been very good and he definitely isn’t going to do anything to help his chance pitching against a bunch of minor league scrubs.
The Story: Several Angel players batting nagging injuries appear to be on the mend.
The Monkey Says: The most important update is that Jerome Williams still isn’t throwing yet (or at least as of that report), which means he is days away from Mike Scioscia’s March 21st deadline to be healthy if he is going to be the fifth starter come Opening Day. A DL stint appears to be in his future.
The Story: Ervin Santana will make his scheduled start today despite the lingering bruise on his shoulder.
The Monkey Says: That is one less problem on the Angels checklist. It will be curious to see how many pitches he is allowed to throw as he tries to get caught up on his throwing regimen.
The Monkey Says: This shouldn’t be a surprise. Next year’s free agent crop is pretty weak to begin with, especially at shortstop. Barring a bad season, Aybar is going to make bank at the end of the year and he knows it, which is why his extension talks have yet to result in anything. The big question is if the Halos really want to keep him or if they are now enamored with Jean Segura enough to let Erick walk.
The Story: Height and weight don’t appear to have much correlation on a third baseman’s fielding ability.
The Monkey Says: This is definitely a sign of hope for Trumbo, however I still think that it is a safe assumption that his size is not going to help.
The Story: The Angels aren’t forgetting about Torii Hunter’s importance as a leader.
The Monkey Says: Expect a lot of pieces like this over the course of the season. While the quotes talk about the Angels not wanting to call this Hunter’s final season, these articles all read like farewell letters to Hunter. It is hard to envision a scenario in which Hunter does return next season.
The Story: Jason Isringhausen wants to mentor by example this season.
The Monkey Says: Reading the quotes, it sure sounds like Izzy has a roster spot in his hands and he just needs to get out there a few more times and not look bad in order to hold onto it.
The Story: Fangraph’s top 100 prospects for 2012.
The Monkey Says: Mike Trout is number three and the only other Angel is Jean Segura at #91. This is the part where we all grumble about the state of the Angel farm system.
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