TuesdoLinks: Rockies slide into Anaheim

What the hell? I step into the temporary space of doing daily link dumps and figure that I might get past those travel-day-on-Thursdays thing that makes Friday news slices so slow. And here we are with a Monday off day too? Dangit.

Well, the Rockies are in town for a quick two. Let's make the most of it. Link away:

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• Here is a very good reason to be nervous about tonight's game.Kyle (not Howie) Kendrick has never faced the Angels before and, in fact, only 3 players on the Angels roster have ever seen Kendrick at all. Those are Pujols, Freese and Iannetta. We all know how poorly the Halos tend to do against unseen hurlers (I still blame franchise scouting), but now we learn that the hitting expertise is going to come from a .231, a .230 and a .101.

• Jerry Dipoto, with cash burning a hole in his pocket and the Hamilton Episode having burned a hole in the offense, is not going to sit idly by and watch as Joycanetta CowCron craters the 2015 season hopes. He is being open-minded to the idea of pulling the early trigger, and is preparing to examine options to aid the anemic offense.  There is a nugget in this article worth keeping in mind as a means to temper some of our angst: "Part of that is a bit of bad luck and scheduling. The top four pitchers in the league in ERA – Dallas Keuchel, Nick Martinez, Felix Hernandez and Sonny Gray – all play in the AL West. The Angels already have faced each of them twice, accounting for one-quarter of their games.  Also, the Angels have played 26 of their 32 games in pitchers’ parks in Anaheim, Seattle, Oakland and San Francisco. The only hitters’ parks they’ve seen are Houston and Texas." Yeah, that's a part of it.

• In Alden Gonzalez' recap of the first five weeks, Jamie Moyer has some expert advice for Jered Weaver concerning the drop in Weaver's velocity over the years. That answer? Slow down the changeup!  "There has to be a decent amount of a gap there. If they're getting closer together in speeds, then it's going to be really tough. Velocity no longer matters, but he needs the velocity in his fastball to determine the variance between his fastball and changeup."  The delta between Weaver's fastball and changeup last season was 11 to 12mph. This year it has been only 8-9mph.

• Oh Wow. Jorge Posada is one pissed off dude, and dumped his anger into his book.  And why is Posada so pissed? Because manager Jo Girardi has the audacity - AUDACITY! - to move the 39-year old player from catcher to DH. And the Front Office had the nerve to not back Posada up. Let's ignore the fact that Posada's defense had been in decline for 5 straight years. Let's ignore the fact that his 39-year old knees had already endured more than 12,000 innings behind the plate. No. Posada was a YANKEE. A Mo' Fo' member of 5 WS champions and 16 AL Pennants!!! Who the hell does a manager, of GM, or even owner think the hell they are???

• Barry Bonds is going to be back in court. Except this time Bonds is the plaintiff. He is going after MLB over collusion for nobody signing him after the 2007 season. On the one hand, he probably had a case. Unions and contracts and all. On the other hand, why is it "collusion" if 30 dudes come to the same conclusion as 30 million other people: that Barry Bonds is an ass?

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Josh Hamilton is fully recovered from off-season surgery, and right back where the former MVP left off: he went 0-4 in his latest AAA rehab session..........Silly Quote of the Day. Pete Rose on Bryce Harper: He'll be the Mike Trout in a couple years." Yeah, Nats fans probably cannot wait until their 22-year old phenom grows up and becomes like our 23-year old phenom................This is not something we deal with every day. The Yankees finished their 11-5 win over the Rays by fielding a high fly ball that went bouncing around the catwalks along the roof, which are in play. Just like you used to dial it up with the neighborhood kids when you played wiffle ball in the street...............1 ball, 1 strike fastball in the corner pocket, for the out...........Wrigley Field re-opened their bleachers yesterday. So let the ass-wiping commence............You may recall a mention last week that Reds fans had gone to Change.org to petition and get Keving Gregg sent to AAA. Well, it worked. Gregg has been DFA'd. I know many of you are now inspired................Ewww.   MLB 4th of July caps this year are fugly.  "This is the kind of American flag cap you’d find at a gas station (right next to the cheap sunglasses and the air freshener thingies), but with a team logo slapped on the front."...........