Nope, I think what it means is we have a closer platoon, per se, with the left-handed Downs and the right-handed Frieri. Mike Scioscia used Downs for the eighth, and had him warming up as Jered Weaver was laboring through the seventh, because the Padres had a bunch of left-handed hitters coming up. That can happen a lot more often, and it points to two things: 1. Scioscia’s confidence in Frieri, who has pitched lights out in the two weeks he’s been with the Angels; 2. Scioscia’s lack of confidence in Hisanori Takahashi, who he seemingly doesn’t trust to get tough lefties out late in games.

– Alden

Angels (17-22)

Mike Trout, CF
Maicer Izturis, 3B
Albert Pujols, 1B
Mark Trumbo, RF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Vernon Wells, LF
Erick Aybar, SS
Bobby Wilson, C
Jered Weaver, SP

Padres (14-25)

Will Venable, RF
Cameron Maybin, CF
Chase Headley, 3B
Yonder Alonso, 1B
Jesus Guzman, LF
John Baker, C
Everth Cabrera, SS
Alexi Amarista, 2B
Jeff Suppan, SP

Some pregame notes …

• The Angels are just going to have to deal with the fact they won’t have Kendrys Morales‘ bat in the lineup during these road Interleague games … or are they? Pujols told Mike Scioscia recently about playing third base, which he did for seven games last year and spent a good portion of his first two big league seasons at. Scioscia said, “We’re a long way off,” from seeing Albert at 3B and it won’t happen this weekend. But it could happen during that six-game stretch from June 8-13, when the Angels play in Colorado and Arizona. That would allow Scioscia to get Pujols, Morales and Trumbo in the same lineup. … Who needs defense?
• Back to Albert. It’s not just that he’s hit home runs the last couple of days. It’s the way he’s hit those home runs that make you think he might — just might — be starting to turn it around. The one off Gavin Floyd saw him keep his hands in on a fastball and drive it to left-center field. The one off Chris Sale was on a high fastball that he stayed back on and drove right up the middle. “The way he puts it,” Scioscia said, “he feels really comfortable about the process and where he’s going to end up. He says that when he gets there, you’ll see a big difference.”
• Ernesto Frieri is right back where it all started, just two weeks after being acquired for infielder Alexi Amarista. In case you hadn’t noticed, Frieri hasn’t allowed a hit and has struck out 10 batters — 10! — in his first 4 2/3 innings with the Angels. Amarista is playing second base and will stay there now that Orlando Hudson has been released.

Some Angels links from Thursday …

• C.J. Wilson can’t find strike zone, defense can’t find fly balls, offense can’t find firepower — Halos give one away to White Sox
• Torii Hunter won’t return until the situation surrounding his son is resolved
• Notebook, on the spark Trout has given the Angels and the production Izturis and Alberto Callaspo are providing in the 2 spot
• Justice: Dismissing coaches never easy

Some AL West links …

• Nolan Ryan expects Josh Hamilton to test free agency
• Castrovince: M’s offense taking baby steps
• High school transition helped Jarrod Parker reach bigs

And things are not looking good for my Heat right now.

– Alden

A hitting coach has a lot of responsibility. How much influence? To a man, Angels players recently said it’s very little at the Major League level, and not just because they were defending the recently-dismissed Mickey Hatcher. It’s just that most players at this level already have their own approach, know what works and doesn’t, and understand their swings better than any man alive. All a hitting coach can do, many will say, “is be there.”

But a big reason Jerry Dipoto made the decision to dismiss Hatcher, and replace him with Jim Eppard, was because he wanted to implement a certain philosophy from top-to-bottom, of controlling counts, of drawing walks and of (hopefully) boasting high on-base percentages. He understands Eppard isn’t going to automatically turn Vernon Wells or Erick Aybar or Peter Bourjos into on-base machines, for example. But, Dipoto said: ” You can make it better. You can make it better by understanding situations, by attacking situations and by laying the foundation for future growth. Really, those are my only expectations – that we see a tangible result between now and the end of the year in our ability to lay a foundation offensively that we can build on.”

Mike Scioscia, clearly upset at the dismissal of his good friend, had this to say when asked about the impact a hitting coach can have at this level …

“I don’t know on a day-to-day basis, but certainly over the course of time, huge. The fact of not only finding a mechanical flaw, or a trigger that’s just not there that should be there in a guy’s swing, his balance points, getting in tune with a hitter’s feel to hitting well, and then obviously on the mental side, the mental preparation, understanding pitchers, what their stuff is, what they do. These are all things that you have to bring forward and give to players.”

– Alden

Alejandro De Aza, CF
Gordon Beckham, 2B
Adam Dunn, 1B
Paul Konerko, DH
Alex Rios, RF
A.J. Pierzynski, C
Alexei Ramirez, SS
Dayan Viciedo, LF
Brent Morel, 3B

Pitching: RH Chris Sale (3-2, 3.08 ERA)

Angels (17-21)

Mike Trout, RF
Maicer Izturis, SS
Albert Pujols, 1B
Mark Trumbo, DH
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Vernon Wells, LF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Peter Bourjos, CF
John Hester, C

Pitching: LH C.J. Wilson (4-3, 3.42 ERA)

Some pregame notes …

• Pujols has driven in 12 runs in his last 10 games, after driving in just five runs in his previous 27.
• Last night was the first time manager Mike Scioscia trotted out the same lineup on consecutive days all season.
• Callaspo has six multi-hit games in his last 10. Scioscia, on the platoon (of sorts) between Callaspo and Izturis, which has been working for him a lot better: “It’s primarily on-base percentage what we’re looking for. In that 2-hole, when you look statistically, Howie’s been really comfortable hitting in an RBI situation, whether it’s fifth or sixth, and in the 2-hole, he’s maybe not as comfortable, statistically. … I think the options we have for on-base percentage, with Mike Trout leading off, for the 2-hole, the best options we have is Izturis and Callaspo. … It hasn’t shown up yet, but I think if you look at what the top of the lineups have done, we are creating more situations.”
• The Angels are 16-4 when scoring four runs or more and 1-17 when scoring three or fewer.
• The Angels have gone five straight games (51 straight innings) without an error.

Some Angels links from Wednesday …

• Pujols goes deep to back Jerome Williams’ strong start
• Jim Eppard suited to hit ground running
• Scioscia, players react to Mickey Hatcher‘s dismissal
• Wilson looks to make it three in a row for Angels

Some AL West links …

• Yu Darvish impressive vs. A’s
• Dustin Ackley‘s homer can’t save Felix Hernandez
• Brandon Inge to the DL with groin strain

And the Heat’s supporting cast will have to step up today.

– Alden

Jemile Weeks, 2B
Cliff Pennington, SS
Josh Reddick, RF
Seth Smith, LF
Kila Ka’aihue, DH
Josh Donaldson, 3B
Daric Barton, 1B
Kurt Suzuki, C
Collin Cowgill, CF

Pitching: RH Bartolo Colon (3-3, 3.96 ERA)

Angels (15-21)

Mike Trout, CF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Albert Pujols, 1B
Kendrys Morales, DH
Mark Trumbo, RF
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Vernon Wells, LF
Erick Aybar, SS
Bobby Wilson, C

Pitching: RH Ervin Santana (1-6, 5.09 ERA)

Some pregame notes …

• Angels manager Mike Scioscia didn’t want to go into any detail on Torii Hunter‘s situation. Asked for any updates, he said: “Same thing, personal issue. No update.”
• Scioscia, on Colon being able to throw 38 consecutive strikes the last time he faced the Angels: “It wasn’t like he was throwing four-seam fastballs down the middle and saying, ‘Hey, here’s a strike.’ He had uncanny command, he had uncanny movement with a lot of two-seamers and was able to really hit spots. He turns his fastball into three or four different looks. It was just a ridiculous amount of strikes he threw, but they were all quality pitches with good movement.”
• Asked Scioscia about the possibility of hitting Pujols lower in the lineup while he tries to figure some things out. Here’s what he said: “You’d only consider that if it was going to be a means to a better end. We don’t see that as anything that’s going to get us there right now. One thing is, is you look at some different lineup considerations, we definitely feel better to grind it out with where Albert is now.”

Some Angels links from Monday …

• Angels shutout for eighth time in 36 games
• Dan Haren‘s struggles continue
• Trumbo will be counted on with Torii away
• Angels place Hunter on restricted list
• Angels host Honorary Bat Girl
• Santana looks to cool A’s in Anaheim

Some AL West links …

• Josh Hamilton‘s historic week among all-time best
• For now, Ichiro Suzuki staying put in 3 spot
• Manny Ramirez on track to join A’s by May 30

And with Chris Bosh out, the Heat will be tested.

– Alden

That’s an interesting thought. I’ve never pictured Trumbo as a 3-hole hitter because he just didn’t show he can get on base enough last year. But right now, he has been by far their best hitter, leading the team in batting average, homers, RBIs and OPS, so I don’t think it would be a bad idea to put him there. Whether or not Mike Scioscia actually does it, though, is doubtful. The bigger question here is when you move Albert Pujols down in the order (temporarily) so he can get going and not affect you as much while trying to figure some things out. It’d be weird to see Pujols batting sixth or something, but the longer he goes like this, the harder it’ll be to justify him hitting in a lineup’s most important spot.

– Alden

Jemile Weeks, 2B
Cliff Pennington, SS
Josh Reddick, RF
Jonny Gomes, DH
Seth Smith, LF
Josh Donaldson, 3B
Daric Barton, 1B
Kurt Suzuki, C
Collin Cowgill, CF

Pitching: RH Tyson Ross (1-3, 7.71 ERA)

Angels (15-20)

Mike Trout, CF
Maicer Izturis, 2B
Albert Pujols, 1B
Kendrys Morales, DH
Mark Trumbo, RF
Alberto Callaspo, 3B
Vernon Wells, LF
Erick Aybar, 2B
Bobby Wilson, C

Pitching: RH Dan Haren (1-3, 4.19 ERA)

Some pregame notes …

• The Angels placed outfielder Torii Hunter on the restricted list so he can handle what the club called a “personal matter.” Hunter’s 17-year-old son, Darius McClinton-Hunter, was one of five arrested in Prospect, Texas, on charges of sexual assault. It’s not known how long Hunter will be out at this point.
• To take his place on the roster, the Angels called up LHH outfielder Ryan Langerhans from Triple-A Salt Lake. Langerhans wasn’t with the club by the time they were taking BP, but was expected to be available for the series opener.
• Trumbo will see the bulk of the playing time in right field while Hunter is away. If Peter Bourjos, Trumbo and Trout are in the same outfield, manager Mike Scioscia said, it would be Trumbo (stronger arm) in RF and Trout in LF.
• Situations like this, it sure is good to have a guy like Trumbo who can bounce around and give you production at different positions. “His numbers are good everywhere he plays, but I think as opposed to sitting here on the bench or going out and playing a different position than he has before, he’s fine with playing a different position,” Scioscia said. “He understands the situation, he’s a good athlete, and he’s shown well in the corner outfields and first base and been able to pick up third base, so we’ll see how it goes.”
• Scioscia, on Pujols (.196/.234/.275): “There’s a lot of video tape that [Mickey Hatcher is] poring through, we’ve pored through, Albert has pored through, and really, there’s indicators on both sides of the fence as to what he’s doing when he swings well and what he’s doing when he’s not so locked in. The key is the feel in the batter’s box. And Albert’s searching for a feel. … There’s not one clone to how he needs to look at the box. It comes into him getting a comfort level, getting a feel in the box, and once he gets that, just running with it. Because once he gets it, it stays for a long time.”
• Scioscia doesn’t anticipate any problems with Haren (tight lower back) tonight.

Some Angels links from Sunday …

• Jered Weaver shown early exit by Rangers
• Aybar, Hatcher working on fixing consistency
• Jordan Walden working his way deeper into games
• Angels add a touch of pink on Mother’s Day
• Haren’s back OK, ready to take on A’s

Some AL West links …

• New bat in hand, Josh Hamilton aims to stay hot
• Jarrod Parker pitches well, but Justin Verlander shuts down A’s
• Mariners’ Brendan Ryan not letting struggles carry into field

And the Heat beat the Pacers in Game 1 of their second-round series, but Chris Bosh is now out indefinitely.

– Alden

It’s sort of mind-boggling, even though he his hitting just .192, that Bourjos has started just twice in the last 12 games. You figured Mike Trout would play every day when he got called up, and you figured Torii Hunter would stay in the lineup on a consistent basis, which meant it would be between Bourjos and Vernon Wells for the last outfield spot. Wells isn’t setting the world on fire, either — posting a .231/.259/.398 slash line heading into the Rangers series — but has taken all the playing time from Bourjos anyway.

You have to figure Wells’ contract has something to do with it. The Angels are paying him $63 million over the next three seasons, which makes eating it pretty absurd at this point, so they want to give him every chance to try to be the player they expected to get when they traded for him. Yes, winning is the most important thing. But it’s not like Bourjos was doing much when he was in there, anyway. … That seems to be their rationale, at least.

– Alden

With Iannetta out, it’ll be backup Bobby Wilson doing most of the catching, with Hester serving as his backup. The Angels, a source said, aren’t actively seeking outside catching help and will go with internal options for now.

Hester, signed to a Minor League deal in late April, played in 53 Major League games with the Diamondbacks from 2009-10, putting up a .220/.294/.366 slash line.

The 28-year-old right-handed hitter spent 2011 with the Triple-A affiliates of the D-backs and Orioles, batting .252 with six homers and 30 RBIs in 92 games. This year, he was batting .266 with two homers and six RBIs in 18 games for the Triple-A affiliates of the O’s and Angels (eight of his games came for the Angels’ Triple-A Salt Lake Bees).

Young catcher Hank Conger was not an option to be called up because he’s still on the disabled list with a right elbow injury. Conger, 24, is in the early stages of his throwing program and isn’t expected to return to action for a couple of weeks. He last played April 21.

– Alden

C.J. Wilson has a pretty marquee matchup coming up Friday, when he returns to the ballpark he called home for the last seven years, faces the teammates he went to two straight World Series with and goes toe-to-toe the man his old club essentially chose to spend money on instead of him.

Below are some highlights of what Wilson (pictured left) told reporters about the matchup from Minneapolis. He mostly downplayed the emotions of returning to Texas and facing Yu Darvish. But he did say he expects to get booed, confirmed that the only formal offer he ever got from the Rangers was a three-year deal just a few days before Opening Day 2011, stated that he doesn’t blame the Rangers’ front office for moving in a different direction and recalled a time when he told GM Jon Daniels on a bus that he needed to make sure young guys like Derek Holland and Elvis Andrus were taken care of. 

Here goes …

On the upcoming matchup with his old ‘mates: “Obviously, when you change teams within the division, at some point you’re going to play your old team, and they’ve won the division the past two years because they’re great hitters. So that’s the objective for me, to prevent the other team from scoring runs. I have a tall task.”

On what could be an emotional Friday: “I think the biggest thing will just be that we’ll be playing in front of a huge crowd in a stadium that’s relatively hostile to our team – and I’m sure will be fairly hostile to me. I think a lot of people will boo me and stuff. It’s happened before in other stadiums, as well. Hey, some of them booed while I was there when I was a reliever, you know. The main objective is just focusing on the baseball aspect of it and preparing to get their guys out.”

On following the Rangers’ hot start: “Well, it’s on T.V. every day. ‘Oh, they can hit? I didn’t know that. They’re good hitters? Oh yeah.’ They were always good hitters. I knew that. I played with them for so many years. I know them really well.”

On facing Darvish: “I think it’s interesting, obviously, that we both kind of slotted into the rotation the way we did, that that’s the way it lines up. But it’s not the National League, so I don’t have to face him. I would be very prepared for his repertoire of fastballs and curveballs and splitters. He throws a lot of those to left-handed hitters, so I would be focusing on that if it were the National League, but it’s not. My job is to focus on facing Nelson and Michael Young and Josh Hamilton. Who I pitch against means nothing.”

On switching teams: “I’ve had a lot of time to practice different scenarios in baseball. High school – I transferred high schools. Junior college – I transferred to college. Minor leagues. Major leagues. Teammates are now opponents. Opponents are now teammates. There’s a lot of different stuff that goes along with it. But we’re just uniforms pitching against uniforms for a lot of fans. For me, it’s a much more academic pursuit than an emotional pursuit if that makes any sense. I study it, try to find a weakness, try to pitch to that weakness and then try to win the game.”

On his conversation with Daniels the night of Dec. 8: “Jon Daniels called me the night before I signed and was like, ‘Is there anything I can do to tell you not to sign with the Angels?’ I kind of laughed. I was like, ‘Well, you could make me a contract offer.’ It’s pretty simple.”

On whether he feels the Rangers wasted his time this offseason: “All I’ll say is that I had a really good relationship with a lot of guys, front office, coaches. Obviously, in any organization there’s going to be some people that maybe you don’t interact with as much. … But what it comes down to at the end of the day is you have to do what’s right for you. They moved the way they did because that’s the way Jon Daniels, Nolan Ryan and the ownership group wanted to go. There’s nothing wrong with that. You can never begrudge over changing directions. There’s nothing wrong with that. They have a young core of players that they want to lock up – Elvis Andrus, Neftali [Feliz], Derek, those guys. And I sat down on a bus before a game with Jon Daniels and told him, ‘Whatever happens, you have to sign Derek, you have to sign Elvis, you have to make those guys feel comfortable and make them feel like part of the future.’ And I told him that because it has nothing to do with me, it has to do with those guys, and I like those guys. At the end of the day, I’m not going to begrudge anybody for what they did or didn’t do. That quote ["the Rangers wasted my time"] was taken a little bit out of context in that I could’ve signed with the Angels right away, with how hard they were pursuing me. That’s kind of what it was all about, because I was like, ‘Whoa, they want me more than anybody else, so I’ll just go with them right now.’ That could’ve happened in November, but it didn’t because my agent and I were talking about it. There was some sort of conversation in regards to, ‘Well the Rangers want to meet with us and do this and that,’ and it just never materialized in that sense. It’s not a waste of my time baseball-wise.”

On his time in Texas: “I had a lot of fun. That was a great team. We had more fun playing baseball the last two years with that team than any team I’ve ever played on, even junior college. … The guys are great, the guys are fun, and that’s why people love watching them. Adrian Beltre’s head-touch thing, the deer and the antlers, and I was a big part of that. I enjoyed that. So it was fun living that, and I’m trying to bring that over here, that fun, extroverted thing. So I learned a lot. But there was never a case of me wanting to leave or anything like that. So I just want that to be clear.”

On staying in touch with his old teammates: “Some guys, yeah, but that’s a two-way street. I have five years with these guys, trying to get to know [Mark] Trumbo and [Peter] Bourjos.  Colby Lewis I’ve known since 1999, we exchange text messages, but for the most part, we’re trying to beat those guys, therefore, our wins come at their expense and their wins come at our expense. That’s why you play, to win. So that’s a very weird grey area for a lot of guys.”

On how his old team’s hot start, and his new team’s slow one: “The guys are loose and they play good baseball. There are a lot of teams that have got off to hot starts. We’ve gotten off to a pretty poor start because we were out of sync. Some games are pitching wasn’t good, some games our hitting wasn’t good, some games we did both of those and played bad defense. If you fire on all cylinders, it doesn’t really matter what your roster consists of, you’re going to win the game. If we play the way we have been, we have a lot better chance of winning than we did in the first 10 games of the season.”

And, finally, on his impressions of Darvish: “He’s on TV every time he pitches. He’s tall. Has a really tight uniform. He’s a right-handed guy with 95-mph fastball, couple different breaking balls, like A.J. Burnett a couple years ago stuff-wise, he’s 6-foot-5, tall, lanky, long arm, hip turn, from a scout standpoint, that’s what you see, though he’s got two extra pitches. But like I said, I don’t bat off him. If I did, I know exactly what I’d be looking for, but I don’t talk about that. It’s none of your business.”

Some Angels.com links …

• Angels focused on themselves, not Rangers
• Wilson bracing for boos, Yu, in Arlington
• Born to run, Mike Trout makes rapid rise to Majors
• Offense comes to life, and Ervin Santana celebrates
• Notebook: Mike Scioscia tossed, Dan Haren on his back, Angels shutout seven times, Peter Bourjos biding time, etc.

– Alden