April 2, 2015
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April 2, 2015 Page 1 of 23 Clips (April 2, 2015) April 2, 2015 Page 2 of 23 Today’s Clips Contents FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES (Page 3) Howie Kendrick back at Angel Stadium as a Dodger for Freeway Series Tough baseball path about to pay off for Angels pitcher Drew Rucinski Spring training: Oakland Athletics 4, Angels 1 FROM THE OC REGISTER (Page 6) Final: A's 4, Angels 1 Closing out Cactus League with answers to Angels' spring training questions Trout scores already as Angels switch to sports drink he endorses Angels advise fans to allow time for new security measures Angels Notes: A break for Garrett Richards; Wilson gets in work FROM ANGELS.COM (Page 11) Q&A: Scioscia set for another run in 16th year with Halos Angels targeting Weaver as Opening Day starter Rucinski stung by homers in last Cactus League start FROM THE LA DAILY NEWS (Page 14) Angels outfielder Dan Robertson is the ultimate underdog FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (Page 16) Chavez allows 3 hits in 6 innings as A's beat Angels 4-1 FROM BASEBALL PROSPECTUS (Page 18) Every Team's Moneyball - Los Angeles Angels: Ask First, Pitch Later FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (Page 23) Mike Trout Spurs Sports Drink Deal Between Angels, BodyArmor April 2, 2015 Page 3 of 23 FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES Howie Kendrick back at Angel Stadium as a Dodger for Freeway Series By Dylan Hernandez In the ballpark he called home for nine seasons, Howie Kendrick will be a visitor Thursday. He and the Dodgers will be at Angel Stadium for the start of the Freeway Series. "I know the place inside and out," Kendrick said. "It will be fun to get to see some familiar faces. There's a lot of memories there for me." When Kendrick played second base for the Angels, he observed how the fans in Anaheim treated former players who returned wearing the uniforms of other teams. For the most part, they were well-received. "I'd like to think I was well-liked there," Kendrick said. "Hopefully, there will be a lot of cheers. I was there a long time, went to the postseason a few times. I felt like I had a great time there. I grew up there. Hopefully, the fans will embrace me like they did a lot of the other guys that came back." His former manager will be looking on with curiosity. "I have not seen him in a Dodgers uniform," said Mike Scioscia, wondering if Kendrick is still wearing No. 47. (He is.) The Dodgers and Angels played each other twice in Arizona last month, but Kendrick didn't appear in either game. "It's going to be a little strange," Scioscia said. "You're so used to seeing him out there at second base and now he'll have a different uniform on." The three-game Freeway Series — the first two games are in Anaheim, Saturday's finale at Dodger Stadium — are exhibitions. Kendrick wondered what it would have been like if the Angels had traded him to a division rival. He shook his head when thinking what Matt Kemp will have to endure this year, when he makes multiple visits to Dodger Stadium with the San Diego Padres. "It's definitely a little different when you have that level of competition and it's tough when you're traded within the division," Kendrick said. Kendrick smiled and shook his head. "I'm just grateful they traded me to another team that was a championship-caliber team," he said. "It was right up the street, too. I'm in a different league, but I still get to see those guys." As for the games in Anaheim, Kendrick views them for what they are in practical terms. "It will be fun to get things rolling, get under some good lights and try to get your eyes acclimated to the night games," he said. April 2, 2015 Page 4 of 23 Theoretically, at least, roster spots could be at stake, as both teams look to set their bullpens and benches for their season openers on Monday. The Dodgers still have three nonroster pitchers who could be part of the bullpen: Sergio Santos, David Huff and David Aardsma. They are in competition with a group of young relievers that includes Yimi Garcia, Paco Rodriguez, Pedro Baez and Adam Liberatore. Several of the relievers could pitch Thursday since the game won't be started by any of the Dodgers' four healthy starting pitchers. Whoever starts will face the Angels' Matt Shoemaker. The Dodgers will go with Brandon McCarthy against Andrew Heaney on Friday, with Brett Anderson facing Hector Santiago in the series finale on Saturday. The Dodgers bench could also be affected by what happens between now and the end of the series. Andre Ethier, who was struck by a pitch on the elbow on Tuesday, could play as early as Thursday. Utility men Enrique Hernandez and Alex Guerrero look like the odds-on favorites to claim the final two reserve roles, but they are being pushed by infielder Darwin Barney and outfielder Chris Heisey. The Angels' final roster spot looks like it will go to either Efren Navarro or Marc Krauss, both left-handed hitters who play some first base and in the outfield. Tough baseball path about to pay off for Angels pitcher Drew Rucinski By Mike DiGiovanna It's a familiar story line in Angels camp. Pitcher goes undrafted out of college, signs as a free agent, works at various off-season jobs to augment meager minor league income, comes out of nowhere to win big league roster spot. Only this time, it's not Matt Shoemaker. It's Drew Rucinski, a 26-year-old right-hander from Broken Arrow, Okla., who is expected to snag a long-relief role after capping a solid spring with a 5 1/3-inning, three-run, seven-hit start Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics. "Any story like that, where guys make it from way out in left field, it's awesome," Rucinski said of Shoemaker, a former substitute teacher who signed with the Angels as a nondrafted free agent in 2008 and finished second in American League rookie-of-the-year voting last season. "It gives you confidence you can do it, too. It shows you can get outs no matter who you are. Baseball is such a crazy game. You never know where you're going to end up." Rucinski, who played for Ohio State, signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians in 2011 and threw 39 innings for four low-level minor league clubs but was released the next spring. He hooked on with the Rockford (Ill.) RiverHawks of the independent Frontier League and was 7-4 with a 3.13 earned-run average in 22 games in 2012 and 4-6 with a 2.88 ERA in 15 games in 2013. His salary at the lowest rung of pro baseball: $600 a month. "Our clubhouse was basically a contemporary trailer from a construction site, and the field wasn't that great," Rucinski said. "But it's still professional baseball. You're still living the dream." April 2, 2015 Page 5 of 23 Dreams don't pay the bills, though. The off-season before the 2013 season, Rucinski worked at an Oklahoma pecan farm, raking debris out of the nuts shaken out of trees by a machine. After that season, he worked at an Ohio sporting goods store. "I was trying to pay the rent," Rucinski said. Rucinski pitched well enough at Rockford in 2013 to catch the eye of the Angels, who signed him that August to fill our their rotation in Class-A Inland Empire, where Rucinski was 2-2 with a 1.86 ERA in five starts. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Rucinski added strength and a tick or two of velocity to his fastball the next off- season. He blossomed at double-A Arkansas in 2014, finishing 10-6 with a 3.15 ERA, striking out 140 and walking 41 in 148 2/3 innings and earning two brief major league callups with the Angels. Rucinski carried that momentum into this spring, posting a 2-1 record and 2.60 ERA, striking out 16 and walking four in 17 1/3 innings. He impressed the Angels not only with his stuff, which includes a 93-mph fastball, split-fingered fastball, slider and changeup, but with the way he attacked hitters. "His stuff is real, and he shows no fear on the mound," General Manager Jerry Dipoto said. "Drew entered camp as a player who was likely to begin the season at triple A. His performance has opened eyes and made him a very relevant part of the 25-man roster discussion." Rucinski said his approach hasn't changed. "Just throw strike one and get ahead in the count," he said. If he opens the season in the bullpen, Rucinski would be a candidate to make a spot start April 14. If he is on the opening-day roster, he'll look back on the adversity he overcame as one of the reasons he made it. "The guys I played independent ball with said if you can make it through the mental toughness of playing there, not having the things you wish you had, you should be mentally tough enough to play anywhere," Rucinski said. "It was a grind." Spring training: Oakland Athletics 4, Angels 1 By Mike DiGiovanna AT THE PLATE: C.J. Cron, who will split time at designated hitter with Matt Joyce and back up first baseman Albert Pujols, lined a run-scoring double to right field in the first inning and another double to left-center in the fourth to close Cactus League play with a .415 average (27 for 65), three homers, 10 doubles and 14 runs batted in.