TEMPE, Ariz. -- The dominoes set in motion by the signing of Albert Pujols are frozen in mid-fall.
One displaced first baseman, Kendrys Morales, feels good about his chances of being the DH on Opening Day, but won't know for sure until he can run the bases. Another, Mark Trumbo, has been taking ground balls at third base off the fungo bat of Angels coach Rob Picciolo for about a month, but won't be cleared for full workouts until the end of this month at the earliest.
Morales is nearly two years removed from breaking his left ankle and Trumbo missed the end of the 2011 season with a stress fracture in his right foot.
If the Angels can find a way to get all three players in the lineup at the same time, they could be among the most powerful teams in the American League. That seems like a long way off at the moment. Trumbo hasn't played third base since a brief experiment in instructional league after he signed out of Villa Park High. Getting to slow rollers might be the trickiest part for Trumbo, who is 6-foot-5 and not the quickest man in the world.
"There's no substitute for experience," Trumbo said.
One displaced first baseman, Kendrys Morales, feels good about his chances of being the DH on Opening Day, but won't know for sure until he can run the bases. Another, Mark Trumbo, has been taking ground balls at third base off the fungo bat of Angels coach Rob Picciolo for about a month, but won't be cleared for full workouts until the end of this month at the earliest.
Morales is nearly two years removed from breaking his left ankle and Trumbo missed the end of the 2011 season with a stress fracture in his right foot.
If the Angels can find a way to get all three players in the lineup at the same time, they could be among the most powerful teams in the American League. That seems like a long way off at the moment. Trumbo hasn't played third base since a brief experiment in instructional league after he signed out of Villa Park High. Getting to slow rollers might be the trickiest part for Trumbo, who is 6-foot-5 and not the quickest man in the world.
"There's no substitute for experience," Trumbo said.
Mark Saxon
ESPNLosAngeles.comMark Saxon is a staff writer for ESPNLosAngeles.com. He spent six years at the Orange County Register, and began his career at the Oakland Tribune, where he started an 11-year journey covering Major League Baseball. He has also covered colleges, including USC football and UCLA basketball.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Mark Saxon
Mark Saxon has been writing almost daily about the Angels since 2003, shortly after Arte Moreno bought the team. He once covered three Angels playoff games in three nights in three different cities (New York, Anaheim and Chicago, in that order). He'll be feeding all the news that's not fit for his columns and news stories into this blog, plus some off-the-wall stuff that needs to be seen, heard and touched. To make it a more vibrant gathering place, be sure to comment frequently. Let's make it a lively conversation.
TEAM LEADERS
| WINS LEADER | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Jered Weaver
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| OTHER LEADERS | ||||||||||||
| BA | M. Trumbo | .315 | ||||||||||
| HR | M. Trumbo | 6 | ||||||||||
| RBI | A. Pujols | 22 | ||||||||||
| R | H. Kendrick | 19 | ||||||||||
| OPS | M. Trumbo | .916 | ||||||||||
| ERA | J. Weaver | 2.61 | ||||||||||
| SO | D. Haren | 59 | ||||||||||
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