TUESDAY ANGELS ROUNDUP:DL Gets Crowded, But Angels Still Winnin'

Up next for Angels: Tuesday at San Francisco - Los Angeles Times
Making his major league debut, Sean O'Sullivan, started the season at double-A Arkansas, where he was 1-2 with a 5.30 earned-run average in three starts before moving to triple-A Salt Lake, where he was 5-2 with a 6.02 ERA in 10 starts.

Let's see...5.30 ERA in AA, 6.02 in AAA.  There might be a pattern developing here, but not a good one.

Angels win again but may lose Torii Hunter - Los Angeles Times
"I'm fine, I'll be OK, but I'm really liking those meds right now," said Hunter, whose ribs were wrapped in a compression sleeve. "I think I'm kind of high."

Some Kelvim Escobar news...

Escobar placed on DL - Angels blog - OCRegister.com
Mike Scioscia said the team is confident Escobar will be able to come off the DL Monday. The move is retroactive to the last time Escobar pitched.

Angels blog - OCRegister.com
"We have a closer. I’m not going to be thinking anything like that, but maybe next year, who knows?" Escobar said. "I want to keep playing this game and I’m a free agent. I’ve been a closer before. I’ve shown I can close and I think I have the mentality and I have the stuff to do it."

Angels right-hander Escobar headed back to DL - MLB - CBSSports.com
Escobar is eligible to come off the DL next Monday and manager Mike Scioscia thinks he should be on schedule. Escobar likely will pitch the eighth inning but also could be an option to close out games.

And now some Ervin Santana news...

Ervin Santana scratched from Tuesday's game - Los Angeles Times
The Angels don't think Ervin Santana's latest elbow setback, which forced the right-hander to be scratched from tonight's start against the San Francisco Giants, is serious, but it is definitely cause for concern.

Ervin Santana to the DL - FanGraphs Baseball
Part of the reason for the increased contact rates is the velocity of Santana’s fastball. No longer is Santana flashing a fastball that sits in the mid-90s; instead, he’s barely touching that point

Team Reports - MLB at CBSSports.com
425 -- Innings pitched by RHP Scot Shields between 2004 and 2008, the most of any major league reliever.

Oh yeah, we shouldn't forget about Scot Shields.

AccuScore: Playoff shifts after week 10 - Yahoo! Sports
In the AL West, the Angels are making their move thanks to Jered Weaver’s hot start. They went 4-2, which helped them capitalize on Texas’ 2-4 week. The Angels plus-8.3 percent improvement accounts for most of the Rangers’ minus-11.8 percent.

Nolan Ryan challenges conventional thinking on pitch counts - Joe Posnanski - SI.com
Bill James: I think that what Ryan is doing CAN succeed, because he is doing battle with an empty suit. There's really no basis to the belief that a mature starting pitcher can't throw 150 or 160 pitches in a game -- when he's feeling good, when he's throwing freely and not fighting anything -- without negative consequences.

Demotions Should Only Be Beginning for Halos - Bleacher Report
The demotions of Jose Arredondo and Howie Kendrick sent a message to the team that they needed to right things in a hurry. However, those demotions should only be the beginning of the transformation of the offense.

What We Learned In Week Ten - FanGraphs Baseball
Kendrick was hitting just .231/.281/.355 when he was demoted, but had anything really changed? His walk rate, strikeout rate, and isolated power are all right in line with his career numbers.

Flawed and Feisty - CBSSports.com
The Halos are hanging around, but are they going anywhere?

Anyone know who wrote this?

Scioscia leaves power on bench - SweetSpot by Rob Neyer - ESPN
It's easy for us, standing well apart from the action, to recommend playing the kids who have hit in the minors instead of the veterans who just sort of hit in the majors. But Scioscia's been there for every single game of Wood's and Rodriguez's struggles with the big club, and we really can't ask him to forget what he's seen.