Just another day in paradise Halolinks:
- Weaver and Haren are just like Batman and Robin, except Robin is a stud too: Angels FYI: Dan Haren has whiff of success against Arizona - latimes.com. "Haren mowed down the heart of Arizona's order — Justin Upton, Miguel Montero and Chris Young — then came back to close his outing with four consecutive strikeouts, retiring the side with 10 pitches in the third inning."
- When bad news isn't really bad, but more good than first thought of as bad: Morales' calf tight, otherwise feeling good - angels.com. "It's actually a positive sign that he's really starting to get aggressive with his running and his muscles are starting to get tight," Scioscia said. "His ankle's fine. We just need to get his legs in shape." Kind of like when I walk up 3 flights of stairs and the next morning my thighs hurt. One of the hazards of living in a town that doesn't have a building taller than two stories. My bad.
- It's almost like signing another pitcher for the bullpen without the added cost: Angels reliever Kevin Jepsen is looking to rebound in the Los Angeles bullpen - angels.com. "Added pitching coach Mike Butcher: "He's impressed us so far in this camp. His velocity's back and he's in great shape." It looked like Jepsen would become a mainstay in the Angels pen last season after a 2010 campaign that saw the right-hander post a 3.97 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 59 innings. However, it didn't quite turn out that way. Jepsen spent most of 2011 in Salt Lake City where he was just as ineffective as he was in Anaheim before having season-ending surgery on his right knee.
- Grandpa, tell me about the good ole days: Los Angeles Angels closer Jordan Walden seeks education from veterans - FOX Sports. "From talking to Walden and his two new mentors, Hawkins and Jason Isringhausen, it’s clear that the second-year closer is taking the proper steps to become elite.He had the fastest average fastball in the American League — 97.5 mph. And he actually performed well under pressure, striking out 27 percent of his hitters overall, 33 percent with a runner on base and 40 percent with a runner on third, according to Baseball Prospectus."
- Food for thought: Angel Stadium: Carl’s Jr. out, Jack in the Box in - The Orange County Register. "Carl’s Jr. and California Pizza Kitchen, along with the previously announced Ruby’s Diner, are out. New brands coming in: Jack in the Box and Chronic Tacos, representatives from Aramark confirmed late Tuesday." What does Carls, Jr. have against the rest of the Angels? "Carl’s Jr. spokeswoman Beth Mansfield said. "We wish the Angels, especially our friend Albert Pujols, continued success." And when did they get so buddy-buddy with Albert?
- And I have a hard time spending 99 cents: Dodgers embracing the use of baseball apps - MLB.com. "In nearly every locker is an iPad, and loaded onto many of them is an application marketed by Bloomberg Sports that provides players access to game video and the capability to sort and retrieve any combination of game situations almost instantly, 24/7. Bloomberg's "Sport Pitch Review" is available only to professional ballplayers and at a special rate of $200 a month." Special rate of $200/mo? WTF, what's the non-special rate?? "An informal survey in the clubhouse revealed that seven of 30 Dodgers are using the app. Clubhouse use of the iPad is at a staggering 90 percent -- 27 of 30"
- This is what you'll find on all of those iPads: Walk Like a Sabermetrician: BA/OBA/SLG Calculus, pt. 1. "The false dynamism of EqR was of a much lesser magnitude than the OPS case, and thus was more of an annoyance than a damning flaw. In the case of OPS, the damning flaw of the metric is a failure to properly weight OBA, but the false dynamism caused by the different denominators is another serious black mark against it." You don't say?
- Not signing Adrian Beltre prior to last season was the biggest failure of the year for the Halos: Beltre hopes second season with Rangers even better - Star Telegram. "Beltre had a memorable first season with Texas, winning the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger. He batted .296 with 32 home runs and 105 RBIs, and "saved" 17 runs on defense, according to The Fielding Bible. All of that came in just 124 regular-season games after spending more than five weeks on the disabled list with a left hamstring strain." Imagine a 3-4-5 of Pujols, Morales and Beltre!
- Okay, it's a Jon Heyman post, but if I'm going to post the negative stuff about Harper, I should also link to the positive: Calf slows Bryce, and prodigy admits he "probably'' can't make Nats - CBSSports.com. "Harper plays and works hard (according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, he showed up at Space Coast Stadium at 7:15 a.m. today), and by all appearances he seems to have a terrific attitude, despite previous reports of excessive cockiness."
- The reason this post gets a link here is for the use of the word "lettuce": MLB Network's Kevin Millar keeps it light - azcentral.com. "Millar polled several Diamondbacks players on Tuesday, asking them who had the worst hair on the club -- pitcher Joe Saunders or veteran corner infielder Geoff Blum. "Who has bad lettuce? I think five of the six guys I talked to said it was Joe Saunders," Millar said. "Only one guy, the Tatman (Ryan Roberts), said it was Blum."