Tuesday Halolinks: Mike Trout's Angels weather Texas

Let's see...we're 7 games into this new season and the Angles have already been swept (again) by the Royals.  Yuck.  However, on the bright side, no other team in the A.L. West is running away with the division yet, if that's even possible this early in the season, as much as the Royals are.  We'd all hope the Halos could start the year going 7-0, but at least they haven't completely tanked the first week:

(from CBSSports.com)

• The club opened their searies in Texas by beating the Rangers 6-3 behind Matt Shoemaker.  It looked like Shoemaker was going to have a rough outing when he opened the game by giving up runs: Cowgill, Freese go deep, Shoemaker gets the victory - angels.com, "It looked as though Shoemaker was in for a long night after he gave up three runs on four hits in the first inning. But the 28-year-old right-hander got his split-finger fastball into the game, started hitting his spots and ultimately gave up just those three runs in 6 1/3 innings. After Mitch Moreland's RBI double with one out in the first, Shoemaker retired 18 of 21 batters, six on strikeouts."  Tonight the Angels will send Drew Rucinski to the mound, making his first major league start:Los Angeles Angels at Texas Rangers - April 14, 2015 - MLB.com Preview, "Rucinski will be making his first Major League start, and is holding down a spot in the rotation until Garrett Richards comes off the disabled list later this month. Rucinski, who threw two scoreless innings out of the bullpen on Saturday, pitched twice in relief against the Rangers last season and allowed four runs in five innings."  Oh, and this is what it looks like when a pitch to David Freese doesn't go quite where you wanted it:
  

  

• While reading through the comments in Stirrups' Monday links post, I came across this:

  

  
  
• Which led to this: [Opinion] Theory: Mike Trout (maybe secretly) wants to be a meteorologist (OC). reddit.com, "Hear me out. I believe his holiness Mike Trout is secretly harboring desires to be a meteorologist. That is, if his tweets are to be believed. I developed this theory by spending a day looking through all of Trout's photos on Twitter (I know I'm the weirdo here, it's fine), and I saw a pattern start to form. I saw the Trout tweeted about weather rather often, and has been for a while."
  

  

  
  
  This first comment at BBTF's Newsstand was something along the lines of "Mike Torut is even more boring than I thought."  I think that's the way we fans hope he stays.
• In other Trout news: Trout reaches milestone with game No. 500 - angels.com, "The latest: Trout is one of five players since 1914 to score at least 375 runs and hit at least 95 homers in his first 500 games, joining Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Chuck Klein and Albert Pujols."
• Richards will be making a rehabilitation start for Triple-A Salt Lake in Fresno tonight.  If all goes well, he could be back in the Angels' rotation by the end of the week: Garrett Richards on verge of return to Angels rotation - LA Times, "If he passes all of his tests, could Tuesday be Richards’ only minor league rehab start? "Possibly," Scioscia said. "We’re definitely going to err on the side of caution, but we also don’t want a guy down there wasting pitches."
• Speaking of the Angels' Triple-A team: Angels optimistic Triple-A Salt Lake team could be sending talent their way soon - The Orange County Register, "John Manuel, editor-in-chief at Baseball America and a respected prospect guru, said the Bees have one of the most talented teams in the Pacific Coast League. Browsing the roster, he sees plenty of reason for the Angels to be optimistic. "They do have some prospects on this club," he said. "They have some experience, so I would say they have good insurance for the big leagues, and they also have some guys whose better days should be ahead of them."  When was the last time something good had been written about the Angels' farm system?
  
• Some people go visit the space center while in Houston, Mike Scioscia is kinda doing that this week: Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia hopes to visit with Josh Hamilton in Houston, "Scioscia said Monday that he would like to visit face-to-face with Hamilton to "see where everything is." While calling some aspects of the uncertain situation "very frustrating," the manager said the overwhelming feeling right now is concern for Hamilton. "It just seems like as you try to get more clarity, it seems like it's getting foggier and foggier," Scioscia said. "So we'll see where this is and where this leads and just where Josh is. But first and foremost, we hope Josh is getting the help and support that he needs."
• This is sort of funny (go watch the video):Jon "Doesn't Have The Yips" Lester Airmails Throw To First Base, "The Cubs say that the media is making a mountain out of a molehill regarding Jon Lester’s problems throwing over to first base, but all available evidence suggests that the man has the yips. Prior to tonight’s game against the Reds, Lester hadn’t thrown over to first base in 66 games, since 2013."  Seriously though, this could become a bigger problem if it gets too deep into Lester's mind.  There have been players who thought too much about the little things like this and had it ruin their career.
• For those of us who are old enough to remember...this was 30 years ago. Thirty years.  THIRTY.  Dwight Gooden’s Historic 1985 Season – The Hardball Times, "Doc Gooden was the best pitcher on the planet in the summer of ’85. The numbers certainly back up such an assessment. His 24 victories (including 14 in a row), 268 strikeouts, and microscopic 1.53 ERA all led the major leagues. The latter figure was the second-lowest (post Deadball Era) behind Bob Gibson’s 1.12 mark in 1968. His 276 innings pitched and 16 complete games led the Senior Circuit." 
  

Los Angeles Angels

Texas Rangers

BATTER	GAME													SEASON
	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	SB	CS	TB	BB	K	LOB	AVG	OBP	SLG
L Martin CF	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	.139	.162	.139
S Choo RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	.167	.250	.389
A Beltre 3B	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	.194	.194	.389
P Fielder DH	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	.394	.444	.455
D DeShields PR-DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200	.333	.200
M Moreland 1B	4	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	1	.217	.321	.435
E Andrus SS	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.147	.143	.147
C Peguero LF	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	1	2	1	.400	.538	.600
R Chirinos C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.077	.200	.077
C Corporan PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.250	.333	.333
R Odor 2B	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	1	.160	.323	.360
Totals	33	3	7	3	2	0	0	1	0	9	1	11	10	-	-	-