reflections
Los Angeles Angels’ Kendry Morales Out For The Season

Greetings, everyone, from Southern California! Sorry that there were no posts yesterday, but between working in my company’s Newport Beach office and dealing with the time change, I didn’t have much time to do anything.

I spent a grand total of maybe 30 hours so far in Orange County and I can already tell you this is the MILF capital of the United States. We went to dinner at Javier’s last night right outside of Laguna Beach in Crystal Cove and there were more blonds with plastic accessories there than at the Adult Video Awards.

While the place was filled with talent, the highlight of the evening was when Kobe Bryant walked into the restaurant. I felt bad for the guy, to be honest.

All he wanted to do was pick up some lobster enchiladas (fantastic, by the way) and he was swarmed by 20 people who wanted to take a picture with him. He was extremely nice to those people, but you could tell he didn’t want to be bothered.

On the subject of Southern California, what a big blow the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were dealt yesterday.

The Angels found out last night that 1B Kendry Morales is out for the season. He will need surgery on his left ankle to remove scar tissue. The recovery time is expected to be six months.

Who could believe that this all started for Morales after hitting a game-winning HR? During the HR celebration, Morales broke the same ankle, which has healed, but scar tissue has developed around the ankle that needs to be surgically repaired.

The Angels, who, believe it or not, are in first place in the American League West, will now have to go the rest of the season without Morales. Not having Morales for the entire season was most likely in the Angels’ “worst-case scenario” bucket at the beginning of the season.

The Angels will roll with Mark Trumbo at first from here on out.

Trumbo, who had a monster spring training, has been an adequate replacement for Morales so far. He is tied for the team lead in HRs with six and is on pace for a 26-HR season.

The Angels have done a good job so far absorbing the loss of Morales. However, the question is, can they do it for the course of a 162-game schedule? Without making a trade for more offense, I think they are going to be hard-pressed to do so.

The Angels have holes in their offense, starting rotation and bullpen. Nine times out of 10, a team with that many holes doesn’t have staying power.

Even if that team plays in a mediocre division.

There is the quick update of the day.

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Los Angeles Angels: Mark Trumbo Fitting in Nicely for First Place Angels

There are some people in life who believe that no matter how grim the situation is, everything happens for a reason.

Last May, Los Angeles Angels first baseman Kendry Morales hit a walk-off grand slam at home in the bottom of the 10th inning against the visiting Seattle Mariners. Making his way to home plate to be greeted by his teammates, Morales jumped feet first, landing dead center on home plate.

Morales slipped and ended up with a fracture in his left leg, all but ending his 2010 season.

In September, Mark Trumbo, an 18th-round selection by the Angels in the 2004 draft got the call he waited almost six years for: Trumbo was going to the show.

In eight games, Trumbo had just a single hit in 15 at-bats while driving in two runs. With Morales expected to be available by the early part of the 2011 season, Trumbo’s stay was seen more as a temporary than permanent status.

In late March, foot soreness slowed the rehab progress for Morales and since then, his status has been switched to “out indefinitely.”

Trumbo, who lead the Pacific Coast League in home runs in 2010 with 36, runs with 103, and second in RBI with 122, has given the Angels every reason to consider the 25-year-old to be the future long term starter at first base.

After a five game hit-less streak and an 0-for-20 slump that saw his batting average drop from .286 down to .225, Trumbo has hit safely in four consecutive games, smacking three long-balls and driving in eight runs, including four in an 8-5 win over Tampa Bay on April 29.

It marked the second time on the year that Trumbo drove in at least four runs in a game.

Through 27 games played, Trumo leads the team in RBI (17) and is tied for first in home runs (six) with Howie Kendrick.

Trumbo also leads all rookies in home runs and is second in RBI and batting average.

With the status of Morales uncertain, the first place Los Angeles Angels might have found the perfect replacement, or perhaps their future at first base.

There is the quick update of the day.

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On deck: Cleveland Indians vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Where: Angel Stadium.

When: Friday through Sunday.

TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio; WTAM AM/1100.

Pitching matchups: RHP Justin Masterson (5-0, 2.25) vs. Tyler Chatwood (2-1, 4.94) Friday at 10:05; RHP Alex White (0-0, 3.00) vs. RHP Jered Weaver (6-1, 1.39) Saturday at 9:05 p.m. and RHP Fausto Carmona (3-3, 4.43) vs. RHP Dan Haren (4-2, 1.76) Sunday at 3:35 p.m.

Season series: The Indians have lost two out of three to the Angels this season. The Angels lead, 307-285, overall.

Indians update: They outscored the Angels, 7-6, but lost two out of three at Angel Stadium in April. Carmona lost a pitchers duel with Haren, 2-0. Michael Brantley is hitting .333 (4-for-12) against the Angels, but the Indians are hitting only .141 as a team.

Angels update: The Indians missed Weaver in their first trip. They will not miss him this time. Weaver was just named AL Pitcher of the Month for April. He went 6-0 with a 0.99 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings. The Angels hit .156 against the Tribe in April.

Injuries: Indians — RHP Carlos Carrasco (right elbow), RHP Mitch Talbot (right elbow), OF Trevor Crowe (right shoulder) and INF Jared Goedert (oblique) are on the disabled list. Angels – RHP Scott Kazmir (back), 1B Kendry Morales (left ankle) and 2B Freddy Sandoval (left oblique) are on the DL.

Next: Tampa Bay visits Progressive Field on Tuesday for three-game series.

What do you guys think about this.

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MLB News: When Will Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Kendry Morales Return?

109476303_crop_340x234Norm Hall/Getty Images

Kendry Morales’ Stay on Disabled List Could be Longer Than Expected

We all remember the home plate mishap that caused Kendry Morales to miss the rest of the season after playing 51 games for the Angels in 2010. However, it looks like he will remain in the injured list for a bit longer.

His recovery from the broken leg suffered last year has been slow, and at the same time he has been having soreness on the ball of his left foot from continued running. While he will be starting the year on the 15-day disabled list, it’s still concerning that he’s not ready to go.

He originally broke his leg at the end of May, which means the recovery has been about 10-11 months. That’s a concern, and it will take him a while to get back into baseball playing shape, which he’s just doing now.

One thing that the Angels will likely have to do when he returns is keep him at DH all year. This isn’t too big of a deal for him, since he has good power, but this makes another batch of problems should they go this route, namely, Bobby Abreu would have to move back to a now-crowded outfield.

Hopefully when he does return, he can actually handle first base duties without any issue; the Angels can’t afford to have lineup problems early on in the year.

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