July 25, 2017 Page 1 of 13 Clips (July 25, 2017) July 25, 2017 Page 2 of 13 Today’s Clips Contents FROM LOS ANGELES TIMES (Page 3) Angels place Alex Meyer on disabled list Angels' Bud Norris is carving a niche as a reliever What's in a name? This 'Bud' is for you Angels mailbag: What is happening with one week until the trade deadline? FROM ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER (Page 8) At 32, Angels’ Bud Norris is seizing opportunity to be called upon at closing time Angels place Alex Meyer on the DL with shoulder inflammation FROM ANGELS.COM (Page 11) Meyer lands on DL with shoulder inflammation FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (Page 11) Indians go for fifth straight win in opener vs. Angels July 25, 2017 Page 3 of 13 FROM LOS ANGELES TIMES Angels place Alex Meyer on disabled list By Pedro Moura The Angels placed right-hander Alex Meyer on the 10-day disabled list Monday, citing a recurrence of the shoulder inflammation that has plagued him in the past. The 27-year-old recorded the best start of his career Wednesday against Washington. Facing the team that drafted him, he permitted just one hit and one walk in seven scoreless innings. Had he remained on schedule, Meyer would have next started Wednesday in Cleveland. Because of their recent off days, the Angels do not need to replace him on their roster until Saturday in Toronto. When the Angels acquired Meyer from Minnesota on Aug. 1 last year, he was recovering from a shoulder injury that had forced him to miss most of the season. They revamped his delivery and his shoulder exercises in an attempt to avoid similar issues. He has said several times this season he believed the alterations were effective. Meyer missed 10 days in May because of back spasms. In that case, his condition quickly improved, and he only missed one start. Infielder and former top prospect Kaleb Cowart is with the Angels in Cleveland. He exited triple-A Salt Lake’s Sunday game early, after focusing on second base in recent weeks. He will officially be promoted Tuesday, likely taking Meyer’s spot on the Angels’ roster. Angels' Bud Norris is carving a niche as a reliever By Pedro Moura The Baltimore Orioles spent the first week of May 2015 in New York to play the Mets and the Yankees. Between his two scheduled starts there, Bud Norris fell ill. He says he lost 25 pounds in a week, his body flushed. He tried to pitch at Yankee Stadium but couldn’t. “Something happened, whether it was self-inflicted, internal or whatever,” he said. “My body shut down. It was bad. It was not pretty. And Baltimore didn’t know how to diagnose it.” He went on the disabled list with what the Orioles called bronchitis. His parents flew to visit and make potfuls of soup. He rushed back, didn’t pitch to his 2014 career-best standard, and was cut. “I’ve been climbing out of that hole ever since,” Norris said. From Baltimore, Norris went to San Diego, Atlanta and Los Angeles. The Dodgers acquired him when Clayton Kershaw injured his back in June 2016, then released him one week before the postseason, one July 25, 2017 Page 4 of 13 start before he could collect a $500,000 bonus. He went home and watched the playoffs, noting the times he thought the Dodgers could have used him. “It was a rough go, to be honest,” he said. He was unemployed until the last week of January, when the right-hander signed a minor league contract with the Angels. General manager Billy Eppler told him he’d have a chance to start, pending the progress of others. If not, Norris heard, he could make the team as a reliever. He did, initially as a long man making multiple-inning appearances. Then injuries forced him to the back of the bullpen. Norris has 15 saves in 16 tries, a 2.23 earned-run average and 51 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings. Increased use of his cutter has rendered him hard to hit even for left-handed batters. After a 5.79 ERA in 196 innings over 2015 and 2016, Norris, at 32, has become one of the majors’ better relievers and a key reason the Angels remain in the playoff race. His success has also made him the club’s most desirable rental. With the trade deadline days away, contending teams have expressed interest in adding him to their bullpens. Only 2 1/2 games out of a playoff spot despite a 49-51 record, the Angels have to decide whether to sell. Norris is aware. Between 2012 and 2013, he spent months on trade watch with his first team, Houston. He learned he needs support to help process the possibilities. “I know that it’s a possibility I do get moved,” he said. “It’s a flip of the coin, at times. I don’t necessarily want to get traded right now. I would love to stay here and help this team get to a world championship, because I think we still have an opportunity to do that. “But I can’t sweep those feelings under the rug. I have to go to my resources: my family, my agent, my sports psychologist. When I can talk about those things and everybody else knows what’s going on, the better I can cope with it.” :: The last time Norris was available to pitch and Angels manager Mike Scioscia opted for someone else in a save situation was April 18. That night in Houston, Cam Bedrosian suffered a groin strain and Norris ascended one spot in the bullpen hierarchy. Since then, he has received every chance to close a game while he was on the active roster and not in need of a rest day. His teammates regularly refer to him as the club’s closer and the backbone of a bullpen that has surpassed expectations. Yet, Scioscia has refused to call Norris the team’s closer. The manager bristled at a recent question about that resistance, then asked for a definition of the term closer. He was told a closer is commonly thought of as a reliever who pitches in save situations in at least 90% of his appearances. July 25, 2017 Page 5 of 13 “Then he’s in that bucket,” Scioscia said. “And some other guys will be in that bucket, too.” The conversation regressed from there, until Scioscia specifically defined Norris’ role: “Bud will close games for us. He’s a back-end guy for us. But there are going to be some times when maybe he does pitch the eighth inning and someone else pitches the ninth inning, depending on matchups. I still think we have an element of matchup in our ‘pen that’s worked.” So far that matchup has resulted in Norris pitching in every save situation. :: When he reported to spring training, Norris said he still viewed himself as a starting pitcher. Now, he has warmed to the idea of remaining a reliever. “I think this is what I want to do,” he said last week. His ultimate goal is to complete 10 years of major league time, which would secure a sizable pension. With continued service, that should happen sometime in August 2019. “He wants to get those 10 years, to be successful, to find a way to adapt to the bullpen role,” said Blake Parker, another 32-year-old reliever. “Early on, he made the transition very easy. He just knew it was a different type of pitching. He’s finding a way to stick around.” The millions of dollars Norris already has received in his career prompted him to invest in nutrition and conditioning. In recent years, he has done more cardio work and upper-body strength exercises. “I always had thick, burly, thunder-thigh legs,” Norris said. “But I never had a core.” As a result, he is throwing as hard — in the mid-90s — as he was at 24. Just in shorter stints. What's in a name? This 'Bud' is for you By Pedro Moura How did David Norris become Bud Norris, the Angels’ closer? Here’s the story behind it: At a Mexican restaurant in Oakland sometime around 1988, David Norris’ father, grandfather and uncle ordered Budweisers, using the shortened term — I’ll have a Bud. So a 3-year-old David asked for the same, to laughter from around the table. David’s father was the Little League public-address announcer in Marin County, so he soon became known as David “Bud Man” Norris. July 25, 2017 Page 6 of 13 Later, when there were three Davids in Norris’ sixth-grade class, he told his teacher he could just go by “Bud.” The nickname stuck. Over time, even Norris’ mother has capitulated to calling him Bud. The only person who calls him David, Norris says, is Angels manager Mike Scioscia. Hey, as long as he calls. Angels mailbag: What is happening with one week until the trade deadline? By Pedro Moura What is up, Angels fans? What an interesting situation in which your favorite team has found itself. Through 100 games, the Angels are 49-51, on a 79-win pace for a full season. Odds-making machines give them no more than a 10% chance of winning a wild-card bid to the 2017 MLB playoffs, but they are only 2 1/2 games out of a spot right now. It is difficult to justify selling when you’re one great weekend away from being in playoff position.