Back home Tuesday edition of Halolinks:

• This is getting crazy. Yet another showing from the anemic Halo offense results in a lose -- a lose that could have been an easy win had their hitters shown up: Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics - May 21, 2012 - MLB.com. "In suffering their third straight one-run loss in Monday's series opener, the Angels mustered five hits, went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and scored in only one of four innings that began with a runner on base. They're now 2-for-26 with runners in scoring position over the last three games -- totaling only five runs during that stretch" And what does Angels manager Mike Scioscia have to say about it? You guessed it, another meaningless quote: Angels continue to go nowhere - Sports - The Orange County Register. ""I don't see a lot of issues with the approach. It's execution," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of an offense that has gone 5 for 48 with runners in scoring position over the past five games. "I think guys had a good idea what to do against (A's starter Tommy) Milone. I think they had a good idea what to do against the pitchers in San Diego. You have to get in the batter's box and execute, not just with runners in scoring position." You would hope players with thousands of at-bats would know that they're supposed to hit the ball or at least get on base. Heck, my approach at the plate would be just as good...see the ball, hit the ball. My execution would be awful though, just like some other peoples'. And isn't "execution" (in this usage) the same as ability?
  
• Oh great, the Angels get to face a pitcher recently called up from the minors: Angels-Athletics Preview - Yahoo! Sports. "The Los Angeles Angels didn't have much success at the plate during their series opener against the Oakland Athletics. An expected matchup with minor league callup Graham Godfrey might bring a different result for the Angels on Tuesday night." Different results? Yeah, right. On the other side of the field, C.J. Wilson hopes to figure out what's been going wrong for him in his last 3 starts: Los Angeles Angels at Oakland Athletics - May 22, 2012 - MLB.com. "Angels left-hander C.J. Wilson will be looking to rebound from three successive poor starts. Wilson, who was one of the Angels' big free-agent signings this winter, has given up 10 runs in 9 2/3 innings since dominating the Blue Jays on May 5. In his start Thursday against the White Sox, Wilson walked six batters in 3 2/3 innings."
• The Hardball Times has a couple articles about the recent firing of Mickey Hatcher: AL West: Oh, the storylines - The Hardball Times. "The Angels fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher last week. Hatcher had served in that role since the 2000 season. Looking back, his first year as hitting coach was the only time his team finished in the top half of the American League in walks. That organizational disdain for the base on balls, whether necessitated by personnel or by Hatcher's design, has led to below-average levels of team on-base percentage in all but four years of the former coach's reign. In three of those four good years, the team's OBP was propped up by American League-leading team batting average. Dave Schoenfield talked about this over at ESPN at the time of Hatcher's firing and pointed out that the Angels' approach at the plate mirrored Hatcher's own approach as a player." The fall of Mickey Hatcher - The Hardball Times. "Their runs-per-game tally was 4.12 (18th in the majors), their .253 batting average 15th, and their OBP of .313 was 21st. The teams' power numbers were average, with their 155 homers ranked 13th and the .402 slugging percentage at 14th. Their pitching was decent but—combined with an average offense—made them only the fringe Wild Card contender they ended up being and not the championship contender Moreno wanted."
• We've debated the actual contributions a hitting coach makes at the major league level, but here's a post that shows that the hitting coach can, and sometimes does have an impact: White Sox’ Adam Dunn Regains His Stroke - NYTimes.com. "As for his swing, it has been helped by a three-pound medicine ball the size of a bowling ball. During spring training, the White Sox’ new manager, Robin Ventura, and their new hitting coach, Jeff Manto, noticed that Dunn was lunging as he swung. He was shifting his weight forward in his stride, therefore depriving him of power. Ventura suggested a drill that he and Manto used as players — placing a medicine ball between Dunn’s legs during flip drills, while a coach kneels and tosses pitches to a hitter from a few feet away. "He took a liking to it, and it’s helped get his feet back under him," Manto said, explaining that the extra space between the legs forced a player to center his weight and stay back." Maybe someone should point this out to Pujols.
  
• There's always a silver lining: Vernon Wells: (Thumb) Out 8-10 Weeks - Yahoo! Sports. "Wells will miss at least eight weeks and will require surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb." The result of Wells' injury and the recent Torii Hunter family issues have created this: Outfield of the future is now - ESPN Los Angeles. "In fact, is it wrong to suggest this (the Wells injury) could actually help this team win some more games in the next few weeks? Bourjos is the best defensive outfielder in the organization, Trumbo's bat the most dangerous on the team for now and Trout perhaps a burgeoning superstar. Angels fans have been clamoring for this look since spring training and it's hard to fault them. If anything, it's the veterans who have held the Angels back, not the young players."
• Just wanted to point out a positive. Yes, the bullpen has been better, especially with the addition of Ernesto Frieri: Bullpen making strides after rough start - angels.com. However, it looks like the club is looking to sabotage the recent turn-around. "The Angels on Monday called up 26-year-old sinkerballer Bobby Cassevah, who had a 6.73 ERA and 1.92 WHIP in 12 Triple-A innings" I realize the PCL is a hitters' league, but seriously? A pitcher with a 6.73 ERA is the guy you call up?
  
• I predict Mark Trumbo does this during his career: Giancarlo Stanton busts Marlins Park scoreboard with tape-measure grand slam (VIDEO) - Yahoo! Sports. "Stanton's grand slam traveled an estimated 438 feet and, as was noted more than a few times, came off a pitcher who started his career in 1986, three years before the 22-year-old Stanton was even born."
• New owners, same thugs: 4 arrested after man's beating at Dodger Stadium - Wire. "The latest attack occurred Sunday, when the victim, a man in his 20s, had a collision with another driver and three other men pinned him down, police said. The other driver kicked and hit the victim in the head and face while he was on the ground, police Sgt. David Armas said. "It was just a minor fender bender that just got totally out of hand," he said." It was noted in the article that security responded quickly.
  

Game two of the three game series against the A's in the Bay Area!

Probables
Angels (Wilson) @ A's (Godfrey) - 7.05PM

Pregame Picks:
Pick your player! Select one player to represent you.
Hits, Runs, and Walks earn you points. Strikeouts and LOBs lose you points.
Minimum is 0, Maximum is 4. Rounds down.
If your player does not play, you earn 0 points.

Also take a look at making some Pick6 selections as well!

Continue reading this post »

What if you could confront the Angels about how terrible they are doing?

Well... I just happened to realize that they might be pulling up to their road hotel after a miserable 2-1 loss to the Athletics and the need to coach them, to scold them and to insist they do better got the better of me Monday night...

In addition to advising against screaming in your hotel room as you produce a video late into the evening, I also advise against sidewalk agitation of your team's players as they are on their way in from another day at the office.

In other news, from my fourth row seats behind the Angels dugout I saw Bobby Cassevah and Kole Calhoun among the fray at the game's outset. Cassevah will be making his season debut for the club when he appears in a game ad Calhoun's first footstep onto a field in uniform will be his major league debut. When the lack of appearances by non-starting rehab returns and prospect fourth outfielders standing outside the dugout for the National Anthem are your highlights, your team is in a trench.

It's come to the point where if the Angels fall behind by a run or two, you might as well change the channel, because you've already seen this show before. Albert Pujols will play fielding practice with the shortstop. Mike Trout will get stranded on base a few times. Some combination of lousy relievers will cause trouble and then maybe get out of it. The only thing missing was a meaningless late-inning home run courtesy of Vernon Wells.

Jerome Williams threw junk all night and walked an unhealthy number of batters, but it was just good enough to limit the toothless Oakland Athletics to two runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. That's good enough for an average team to win on most nights, and yet the Angels offense failed once again to produce anything beyond their typical sequence of weakly batted balls. They only scored at all because Jemile Weeks collided with Daric Barton while fielding a pop-fly off the bat of Mike Trout, which the official scorer mercifully ruled as a double. As Mark Gubicza would say, it looks just like a line-drive in the box score (and on Trout's already gaudy Rookie of the Year resume). As I would say, although it's a one-run loss on paper, it's a shutout in my heart.

So the brave new Wells-less world still won't fix everything. The Angels have now scored five runs across three consecutive losses to meager West Coast opponents. A world-burning march to a division championship is probably not in the cards, no matter how long the Cursed One stays on the disabled list. At least someone else gets a chance to actually generate some value in the outfield, while Arte collects on whatever insurance policy he took out on Vernon Wells. It's truly a sick, sick world where one of your own getting injured is a win for everyone.

Mike Scioscia's Angels, ladies and gentlemen. Shutting out your heart since 2009.

Continue reading this post »

He is NOT in tonight's starting lineup:
Trout LF, Callaspo 3B, Pujols 1B, Trumbo RF, Morales DH, Kendrick 2B, Aybar SS, Bourjos CF, Wilson C

It was a year and a week ago that Halos Heaven caught up with Angels outfield prospect Kole Calhoun in the dugout of San Manuel Field, home of the inland Empire 66ers, where he played last season. He tore up the California League with the Angels High A affiliate and was loose and pleasant pregame here answering questions from the online halo advocates on the 66ers "Bloggers Night" at the park.

Outfielder Mike Trout replaced Bobby Abreu on the team. Ryan Langerhans came up in place of Torii Hunter going on the restricted list. Then Vernon Wells and Langerhans both got injured at Petco Park during a solar eclipse. There might be more circuitous routes to get to the big leagues, but it might be the longest, strangest trip that the Arizona native Calhoun has been on. After opening eyes in Spring training the hope among fans was for a September callup if a great trade could not be worked out. He'll be in a big league Angels uniform tonight, halo and all, in Oakland.

Angels to Lose Two Outfielders to Disabled List

The Los Angeles Angels have likely lost two outfielders to the disabled list in the game against the San Diego Padres on Sunday, with both Vernon Wells and Ryan Langerhans injured in the loss. Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com reports:

Wells sported a cast on his right hand and Langerhans was wearing a sleeve to protect his right shoulder. Both will travel to Anaheim for follow-up MRIs on Monday, but neither injury is expected to change the status of Torii Hunter, who’s been on the restricted list for a week and will remain in Texas until the situation surrounding his teenage son (charged with sexual assault of a child) is resolved.

Langerhans, who was added to the Angels' roster to replace Hunter, hurt his shoulder on a diving catch attempt in extra innings. The Angels had to finish the game with Albert Pujols at third base and Howie Kendrick in left field.

No corresponding moves have been announced yet, but at least one replacement appears to be on his way, according to Mike DiGiovanna:

Continue reading this post »