MondoLinks: Losses Coming In Threes

The Halos lost Garrett Richards to TJ this weekend, and Andrelton Simmons to some kind of sprain. AND they are watching Andrew Heaney drift off in the direction of TJ himself (not there yet). And then they go out and lose 3 games to Tampa Bay. And not one of those losses was the fault of decimated pitching staff.

Scoring only 5 runs across 27 innings isn't going to win you very many games whether you have a full rotation or not. Neither a Richards nor a Heaney nor a Skaggs nor even a Wilson is going to offer up any offense. And none of those guys carries an ERA below 1.00.

I would really, really like to see this squad got the point where they really do miss a Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney. Perhaps we could start by having Albert Pujols bat his weight. And stop hitting into double plays. Those two things. Let's start there.

Have some Lost Weekend Links:

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Everywhere In Baseball

The Sky Has Fallen: We finally got more than our fair share of media love. For all the wrong reasons. Sports Illustrated has us boned.  That not being sufficient, SB Nation has boned now and forever more. FanGraphs has us boned AND raised the question about trading Mike Trout..........

M.A.S.H.: Andrelton Simmons is destined for the DL, latest is a sprained wrist, or thumb, or something there, but MRI is set for today. Meanwhile, on the play where he got injured, that still was a hell of a throw. A rainbow, for sure, but all the way across the field from his knees and under his body while falling to the ground in pain. And he still hit the first baseman. Wow.............

TJ Time: Now that Garrett Richards is headed for TJ (and maybe still an Andrew Heaney not far behind), it occurs to Peter Gammons that we have a glut of pitching injuries, and maybe we need to re-think how we work young arms..........

Liniment: Well, give us some credit. LAA has made the short list for a Tim Lincecum. And Lincecum showcase well. It would go a little way towards salving the rotation mess we now have for the next year and a half............

Harpy: Bryce Harper had a tough weekend. In a 4 game series against the Cubs, he was walked 13 times, 4 times intentionally. He struck out twice, got only 1 hit, and alligator-armed this play in right field. Oh, yes, and his Nationals lost all 4 games to the Cubs. Harper entered the series batting only .265 and with all those walks, that's pretty much how he left.........And, no, Bryce Harper shall not be running into any walls out there in the outfield and risking scuffing up his fashionable new shoes or anything. Nosirree............

Zika Update: So MLB moved the upcoming series between the Marlins and Pirates back out of Puerto Rico due to Zika virus concerns. They moved it to Miami. If you are not following the Zika story too closely, the punchline there is that Miami is also well within the Zika zone..........

Further Review: I wonder if the MLB Player's Association can institute some kind of Replay System to review the blown calls of the MLB Replay System that the owners cobbled together. But it's what I have written many, many times. Thinking that the use of instant replay is going to get every call right is, itself, false. Because the people in charge are still going to find ways to screw things up...............

Ouch: It occurs to me that if these things keep up, a comparison of the way the AL West finished last year versus how things are going this year, and then you add to the mix the mad scientist flurry of off-season personnel changes he oversaw, Jerry Dipoto might end up a contender for Executive of the Year for the Mariners. That would really, really hurt..........

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The Duffle Bag

Adam Jones won't ever live down this at-bat..........Bartolo Colon now has more home runs in the month of May than Albert Pujols..........By the way, James Shields was none too pleased to have his career stained with Colon's homer..........It is generally considered proper form to know which is the dugout your particular team is using in the game............Speed kills. Billy Hamilton, going on a hit-and-run, scores from first on a single to left field, scoring without even drawing a throw.............Ken Rosenthal , making the big bucks, just jumped onto the Halos Heaven bandwagon we have been riding since Arte walked away from the 2015-2016 Winter talent pool..........If only Mike Trout were a shortstop, he would be as invaluable as Troy Tulowitzki. (I wonder where that Purple Row guy is now???)..........Hey Dad, it's Mother's Day. You aren't supposed to outshine mom like that!..........This needs its own Monopoly Card. Something like: Get out of Jail. Go Directly to high school baseball game and pitch shutout. Collect $200.

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