Wednesday Halolinks: Jason Vargas Continues Angels' Pitching Woes, Angels Are The Worst

Life is getting in the way of the important things like Halolinks, so today's linkings will be a bit shorter than usual:

I know many are frustrated with the Angels start this season, but seriously, it's not going to last all season...right? Twins 8, Angels 6 - Yahoo! Sports. "Facing one of the league's more powerful lineups in the Los Angeles Angels, the Minnesota Twins outhit them for the second straight night and came away with the win. Led by Joe Mauer, who went 4-for-5 for the second consecutive game, the Twins pounded out 15 hits at home and beat the Angels 8-6." At some point we're going to see the starting pitchers last longer than5 or 6 innings, without giving up a ton of runs: Los Angeles Angels at Minnesota Twins - April 16, 2013 - MLB.com. "The Angels have produced only four of them (wins) so far, tying the expansion 1961 team for the worst record through 14 games and putting them one off the pace of last year's crippling start -- the start they vowed to avoid. In back-to-back losses to a Twins team many expect to finish last in the American League Central, Blanton and Vargas have combined to give up nine runs in eight innings. And for the season, the Angels' rotation now sports a Major League-worst 6.07 ERA, a big reason they've failed to score first in nine games."

I live about 2 hours SE of Minneapolis and the weather people are forecasting rain today, a lot of it...with some snow possibly mixed in. I would be surprised if today's game gets played: Los Angeles Angels at Minnesota Twins - April 17, 2013 - MLB.com. ""We're going to get through one pitch, one inning at a time, and see where everything leads," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Obviously there's some snow in the forecast."

However, if they do manage to get the game in, expect the rain to be replaced by baseballs falling: Angels-Twins Preview - Yahoo! Sports. "These teams' starters have the worst ERAs in baseball. Minnesota is at 5.98 while Los Angeles is last at 6.07 - 10.13 in this series. "Everybody has their own unique set of circumstances and they're going to have to make adjustments according to their own game on what they need to do," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said about his rotation. "I think we have some really good pitchers that just aren't throwing the ball well right now.''

Oh great: How much longer can Albert Pujols play first base?; Ryan Howard hobbling- New York Daily News. ""He’s got bad wheels," said one American League evaluator who has seen Pujols many times this year, both in spring training and the regular season. "I bet he doesn’t play more than 50 games at first this year."

Target Field plays 'Sweet Caroline' in tribute to Boston - angels.com. "To show their support for Boston after the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday, the Twins played "Sweet Caroline" in the middle of the seventh inning of their game against the Angels at Target Field on Tuesday." Also: New York Yankees play "Sweet Caroline" at Yankee Stadium to honor Boston Marathon victims - ESPN New York. "To honor Boston, the New York Yankees played the Fenway Park traditional song, "Sweet Caroline," following the third inning of Tuesday night's game at Yankee Stadium."

This is interesting: Angels' Ryan Madson 'felt great' in Tuesday's bullpen session - latimes.com. "Percival, in his first season as coach at Moreno Valley High, said he received a call from his agent, Paul Cohen, saying the Angels "made an inquiry." But Cohen then left for vacation and Percival hasn't spoken to him since."

Within this notes post, there's word Ryan Madson is getting better: Settling in: Trout getting back to former self - ngels.com. "The 32-year-old right-hander threw another 40-pitch, high-intensity session on the Target Field mound early Tuesday afternoon, representing his third session with only one day of rest in between. It was, as he put it, the "closest I've felt to normal," setting him up to throw to hitters when the Angels return home on Friday, probably in a simulated game. Shortly after that, he'll venture out on a rehab assignment."

Cool article by Rob Neyer: "42" - A Rogues Gallery - Baseball Nation. "The new movie about Jackie Robinson tells many lies, as all such movies do. The great majority of people who see 42 will assume that it's telling the truth, because the great majority of viewers won't bother to marshal any facts that would suggest anything else. I don't actually want to get into all the lies today. I do want to write about 42's villains, and there are more than a few."