Mailbag Mayhem: Angels curses, Mike Scioscia little ball, the LF platoon boon and MORE!

One week down, the team in first place, headed to Minnesota, eh? It's been an up and down ride so far, and we've got so. much. more. to. go. I still like this team a lot,  and i'm still sticking by my "they will at least be better than last year" mantra. How about Andrelton Simmons, huh? Stud. And that top of the order is continuing the Arizona vibes and getting on base. Greg Mahle! Yep, it was a great Opening Week, when all was said and done.

I thought with the season underway, and seeing some games that actually mattered, that I'd get a slew of questions about the Halos; things that are just stuck up in those Angels lovin' brains and you just have to run it by the ol' oracle himself (i'm talking about me there, fyi). But nope, just a handful of questions this week but they are questions nonetheless, so let's hop to it. Game on? Game on.

@halosheaven can the platooning continue throughout the year?

— Kevin R Robinson (@kevin3841) April 14, 2016

It can and IT WILL. The platoon is working ok so far, so no reason to change it. Craig Gentry and Daniel Nava have a combined .267 avg and Daniel Nava has the third best OBP out of all of the usual starters, behind only Kole Calhoun and Yunel Escobar(and Craig Gentry has next best after Nava). So you will continue to see the platoon, and right now that's a good thing.

Colleen Wolf says: Nothing to do with the ANGELS,but at what point should the Commisioner's office become involved immediately during what occurred yesterday at the yes people I am saying it at the Dodger Game?

What, the bean ball festival they were having? If so, then i'm not really sure but for arguments sake and Dodgers hating sake i'll say this: the Diamondbacks were the good guys and the commissioner should give them medals and a few extra wins on their record. Meanwhile, the Dodgers should be made to forfeit all their remaining games this year. It's tough, but fair.

John Adrian Epping says:  Still have over 2 weeks left in the month. But my main issue is switching of lineups by Mike so much. I know it's what he is. But this is not little baseball. If you look back He didn't do that when we won it all. 

Hmmm...Mike Scioscia used 102 different batting orders in 2002, per Baseball Reference. So...

Steven Garrison asks: I know it's early, we are in first place after the first nine games. Do you think we can finish out on top by being the underdog? I can see it happening. Also , I can see them making a move at the deadline for a bat.

I think they have a shot, sure. As I already reminded y'all, I think they're better than last year and last year it came down to the end. They'll probably have to win the division, as their will be steep wild card competition this year. But the Angels will be fine and now we just need Houston or Texas to slip.

I'm not sure about the big bat. It'll depend on who's out there, but if all the starting arms start clicking, their will be some fat that can be trimmed. And I aint talking about Mike Trout. Most likely it'd be Hector or C.J.

JP Valdez says: How about....currently Pennington seeems to have a better BA than Giavotella, same can be said w/Soto over Perez, so when do you feel they decide to play either set? Should the stats so far will be weighed heavier than last year's?

A bad batting average has never stopped Mike Scioscia from playing someone before, it aint going to stop him now. I think he's just playing matchups with Soto  and Perez, both are fine options. As for Giavotella, if it weren't for his improved glove work, he may have sat a few more times already, but he's an asset on the field so far(not that Pennington isn't). I think Giavotella will heat up, and Scioscia is going to give him plenty chances to do so.

Chris Harrigan says:  How about it looking to be like the 6-14 curse has been lifted?

Who, not so fast. That's one of my favorite memes curses!!! It will never, ever die. But here's another fun one: the last time the Angels had a winning streak of three games or more this early in the season, they won 100 games as well as the division. So there's some mojo for ya!

That's all she wrote, folks. Turn out the lights, the mailbag's over. Next up is Minnesota, where the air is cool and the baseball is currently BAD. The Angels can make it five in a row, they just need to keep droppin' the hammer and grindin' the gears. A baseball full of winning baseball may be on tap for all of us....living the dream. Angels are my favorite thing.