April 15, 2017 Page 1 of 18

Clips

(April 15, 2017)

April 15, 2017 Page 2 of 18

Today’s Clips Contents

FROM LOS ANGELES TIMES (Page 3)

JC Ramirez struggles early during debut as Angels starter in 7-1 loss to the Royals

Angels ace Garrett Richards needs more tests to determine cause of his biceps injury

FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER (Page 5)

Still looking for quality starting pitching, Angels lose to Royals

Angels Notes: Matt Shoemaker looking for better results

FROM ANGELS.COM (Page 8)

Halos unable to pick up Ramirez, fall to KC

Rough night for Calhoun on bases, in field

Marte, Cron platooning at 1B for now

Shoemaker faces KC on Jackie Robinson Day

Hard knocks: Results betray Pujols' contact

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (Page 15)

Duffy pitches gem as Royals beat Angels 7-1

FROM ESPN.com (Page 17)

Angels right-hander Garrett Richards (biceps) to remain on DL

April 15, 2017 Page 3 of 18

FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES .

JC Ramirez struggles early during debut as Angels starter in 7-1 loss to the Royals

By Pedro Moura

Angels right-hander JC Ramirez had pitched in 111 major league games before Friday night at Kauffman

Stadium. But this gusty Midwestern night marked his first career start, so he quickly noticed when an

Angels reliever began to warm as he struggled along in the third inning.

“Oh, starting is not easy,” Ramirez said he thought. “Because I’m in the bullpen, I know that it sucks for

us when the starting pitcher doesn’t go that far.”

He told himself then to trust his breaking balls, and finished two more innings without trouble. But by

then it was far too late. He had given up five runs in the first third of the game, and the Angels fell 7-1 to

Kansas City. The 28-year-old’s starting debut was a failure.

“Too many fastballs,” Ramirez said. “I know I’ve got good velocity, but they’re good hitters, too.”

Two pitches into his first inning, Ramirez served up a single to Alex Gordon. Mike Moustakas hit

Ramirez’s next pitch, a middle-middle fastball, for a two-run home run.

Then, in the second inning, a walk, a single, a sacrifice bunt, and a wild pitch produced a run. In the

third, a walk, a double, a groundout and a sacrifice fly produced two.

Ordinarily, right fielder Kole Calhoun would have caught the double, but he took an indirect route to the

baseball, hopped, and missed it by a few feet. The mistake by the typically elite defender cost the Angels

two runs.

“It was windy, but it’s not like I don’t know that,” Calhoun said. “I didn’t think he hit the ball as well as

he did. I saw it the whole way. I took a couple hard steps in, and before I knew it, I’ve gotta jump and the

ball’s over my head. It fooled me.”

The Angels managed little against Kansas City ace left-hander Danny Duffy, and what little they did was

early. To begin, Yunel Escobar singled through the middle, Calhoun walked on four pitches, and Mike

Trout singled. Escobar scored, but Lorenzo Cain threw out Calhoun trying for third.

“You kinda want to push the envelope early in the game,” Calhoun said. “He had to make a great throw,

and he did.”

Said Trout: “That’s one of those times where you take a chance and you get thrown out.”

April 15, 2017 Page 4 of 18

Duffy, a Lompoc, Calif., native, blended his sharp slider with a changeup and two fastballs. He struck out

six Angels and walked two. After the first inning, the Angels produced only two more hits, both singles.

At one point, the Royals had set down 13 consecutive men.

Behind Ramirez, right-hander Deolis Guerra served up a solo shot to Salvador Perez in the sixth inning.

Kansas City native Mike Morin handled the seventh and the eighth, as the Angels’ relievers continued to

pitch better than their starting brethren. Through 11 games, Angels starters have logged a 6.27 earned-

run average, worst in the major leagues.

Ramirez is one of three native Nicaraguans in the majors, and one of the others, infielder Cheslor

Cuthbert, is a Royal. That the two players could match up in Ramirez’s first career start was a big deal in

the Central American country of 6 million people.

“Everyone back home is waiting for that moment, for Nicaraguans to face each other,” Cuthbert said

before Friday’s game. “They’re excited for that.”

The moment did not happen. Cuthbert did not start, and Ramirez did not last long enough to face any

pinch-hitters. But the two are friends dating to a decade ago in Managua, the country’s capital and

Ramirez’s hometown. At 15, Cuthbert moved from a remote island to the capital to train and attract

attention from scouts. There, he met Ramirez, then a 19-year-old Seattle Mariners pitching prospect. He

was a starter then, but moved to the bullpen after 2011, and didn’t start another game until this spring,

at the Angels’ request.

Now, improbably, he’s in their rotation, replacing the injured Garrett Richards.

“I’m really excited for him, for this opportunity the Angels are giving to him,” Cuthbert said.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said he expects the opportunity to continue. The club does not have any

other obvious candidates to start major league games. Ramirez would next face Houston on Wednesday

at Minute Maid Park.

Angels ace Garrett Richards needs more tests to determine cause of his biceps injury

By Pedro Moura

Ailing Angels right-hander Garrett Richards underwent a second MRI examination Thursday in Southern

California, General Manager Billy Eppler said. On the disabled list with a biceps strain uncovered by an

April 7 MRI exam, Richards reported a continued lack of strength within the muscle, which prompted the

additional testing.

The results on his cervical spine ruled out cervical disc or brachial nerve issues, according to Eppler. Still,

the need for more tests and the dearth of answers for what he is feeling are cause for concern. The 28-

year-old Richards is the anchor of the Angels’ rotation.

April 15, 2017 Page 5 of 18

“We will continue to evaluate him on a daily basis,” Eppler wrote in a text message.

Returning from a rare stem-cell treatment that repaired his torn elbow ligament last May, Richards

exited his first start of the 2017 season with what was first diagnosed as a biceps cramp, and eventually

as a strain. Sources said he had irritation in the nerve within the muscle.

He said he hoped to be pitching this weekend in Kansas City. Instead, he has remained in Orange County

for this seven-game road trip, and there is no plan for him to resume throwing on a particular date.

“I don’t think anything else is planned,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’re moving in the right

direction.”

Trout’s takeover

It took fewer than two weeks for Mike Trout to emerge once again as the most valuable player in

baseball. Both fangraphs.com and baseball-reference.com’s Wins Above Replacement calculations had

Trout tied or alone in the lead as of Friday, for the first time this season.

Since his first full season in 2012, Trout has been worth 47.8 wins per fangraphs.comand 48.9 per

baseball-reference.com, which use slightly different methods to produce the figures. His totals are 25%

and 29% better than the next-best player, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.

Short hops

The Angels purchased the contract of right-hander Deolis Guerra from triple-A Salt Lake and flew him to

town Friday to replace right-hander Daniel Wright on the roster. Wright was designated for assignment

after he logged four innings Thursday. Guerra spent most of 2017 in the majors and recorded a 3.21

earned-run average in 53 1/3 innings. …Jefry Marte started Friday at first base and has started over C.J.

Cron on all three occasions the Angels have faced a left-handed pitcher. When Luis Valbuena is activated

from the 10-day disabled list, he’ll presumably play against right-handers, which could force Cron’s

demotion to triple-A.

FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER .

Still looking for quality starting pitching, Angels lose to Royals

By JEFFREY FLETCHER

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — J.C. Ramirez had waited a long time to finally walk to the mound as a major league

starting pitcher.

Three pitches later, one thought went through his head.

April 15, 2017 Page 6 of 18

“Oh, starting is not easy,” Ramirez said later, recalling the two-run homer he gave up in the first on the

way to allowing five runs in the Angels’ 7-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Ramirez, a reliever in the first 111 games of his big league career, got an opportunity to start because of

the injury to Garrett Richards. What he learned, he said, is that he needs to use more of his pitches.

Mike Moustakas hit Ramirez’s third pitch of the game, a fastball, for a two-run homer. The Royals tacked

on another run in the second and two more in the third, although those were partly because of a

mistake by Gold Glove outfielder Kole Calhoun.

In any event, Ramirez did learn from his experience, which he says will help if he starts on Wednesday in

Houston. That’s the Angels’ plan at the moment.

“Those guys were aggressive,” Ramirez said. “If I keep pitching, my next outing will be Houston and they

are aggressive too. I need to throw more of my curveball and slider.”

Ramirez retired the final nine batters he faced to get through five innings, which was some consolation

for him: “I proved to myself I can do better.”

The Angels need improvement from all their starters. Since winning four in a row — with ninth-inning

rallies to get the last two — the Angels have now lost three in a row, each time falling behind early.

Angels starters have finished the sixth inning just once this season, and none has thrown a pitch in the

seventh. They have a 6.43 ERA. Only once in 11 games has a starter earned a victory.

It’s only because of the success of the overworked bullpen and the late-inning heroics of the hitters that

the Angels are keeping their heads above water, with six victories in the first 11 games.

Ramirez didn’t bear all the burden for this loss, though. In the third inning, with a runner at first and one

out, Lorenzo Cain hit a drive to right field, and Calhoun misjudged it. It went over his head for a double,

which the Royals parlayed into two more runs with productive outs, turning a 3-1 lead into 5-1.

“I made a bad read on it,” Calhoun said. “That’s a ball I should catch. It comes back and costs us two

runs. I should have had that ball. … I saw it the whole way. Just fooled me I guess.”

While Cain’s drive eluded Calhoun, the same two players were on opposite sides of another key moment

early in the game.

Yunel Escobar singled and Calhoun walked to start the game, and then Mike Trout singled to center to

drive in Escobar. Cain, the Royals center fielder, made a perfect throw to nail Calhoun at third. Had

Calhoun been safe, the Angels would have been in good shape for a two- or three-run inning before

Ramirez threw a pitch.

Instead, they got nothing else that inning, and only had one more runner in scoring position through the

rest of lefty Danny Duffy’s seven innings.

April 15, 2017 Page 7 of 18

“It’s a tremendous throw,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He put it right on the money.”

Angels Notes: Matt Shoemaker looking for better results

By JEFFREY FLETCHER

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Matt Shoemaker will get the ball again on Saturday with a chance to reverse what

the Angels are hoping isn’t a trend.

Neither of Shoemaker’s first two starts have gone as well as the Angels would hope, based on the lofty

standard he set for himself last season.

Although he gave up just two runs in his first start, he walked three and required 99 pitches to grind

through five innings. Then on Sunday he gave up seven runs in 4-1/3 innings, an outing that could be

glossed over because the Angels won that game with a remarkable seven-run ninth inning.

Given an extra day before Saturday’s outing, Shoemaker said there’s nothing specific he can put his

finger on for the frustrating start.

“Just better pitch execution,” he said. “You could say this every game, but take a couple pitches out of

the other game and it’s fine. You are always working on stuff, not one specific thing. Just a bunch of little

things.”

Manager Mike Scioscia said Shoemaker has had “some pitch selection issues.” The only difference from

last year so far is that Shoemaker has thrown his slider more often and his splitter less often, although

it’s still too small of a sample to be truly instructive.

“You can say you want to throw this pitch and this pitch and this pitch, but if two of them aren’t

working, you are backed into a corner,” Scioscia said. “It comes down to pitch execution, which will

enhance his pitch selection. I think Shoe is going to be fine.”

Shoemaker’s performance bears close attention because he is coming off the best season of any of the

Angels starters. Also, he’s a pitcher who has been historically streaky. He was outstanding in 2014, then

struggled so much in 2015 that he was briefly demoted to Triple-A. He was sent down again in April

2016 before returning and becoming the Angels’ best starter.

“Some of his streaks are streaks of brilliance,” Scioscia said. “If you take that out, he still gives you

chances to win games.”

ALSO

Scioscia said the team medical staff administered further tests to Garrett Richards on Thursday and

“everything was good.” The Angels are still unsure when Richards will be cleared to resume throwing,

though. Richards is on the disabled list because of a biceps strain. He is eligible to be activated on

Sunday.

April 15, 2017 Page 8 of 18

Jefry Marte and C.J. Cron now appear to be part of a full-fledged platoon at first base, with Marte

starting against lefties. Scioscia said Cron could take over full time if he gets hot. “We’re looking to see

where this evolves,” Scioscia said. “When it’s a lefty, you’ll most likely see Jefry getting some looks.”

The Angels recalled right-hander Deolis Guerra, essentially putting him in the bullpen to replace J.C.

Ramirez, who is starting, at least temporarily. Guerra was not on the 40-man roster, so the Angels

moved Andrew Heaney to the 60-day disabled list to create a spot for Guerra. Guerra is out of options,

so if the Angels try to send him down later, he’ll be exposed to waivers. …

Mike Morin, a native of the Kansas City area, said he left 42 tickets for friends and family for Friday’s

game. …

Angels broadcaster Mark Gubicza, one of the star pitchers for the Royals in the 1980s, is still a big deal in

Kansas City. Gubicza said he went to a Starbucks on Friday morning and, as word got out on social

media, fans showed up with 1985 World Series items for him to sign.

FROM ANGELS.COM .

Halos unable to pick up Ramirez, fall to KC

By Jeffrey Flanagan and Maria Guardado / MLB.com

KANSAS CITY --- Left-hander Danny Duffy turned in his third straight strong start to open the season,

handcuffing the Angels on three hits and one run over seven innings as the Royals won their second

straight, 7-1, on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Duffy (2-0) walked two and struck out six while lowering his ERA to 1.80. He retired 20 of the last 22

batters he faced.

Full Game Coverage

"He was outstanding," Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain said. "He was lights-out. We've had back-to-

back great performances from Vargy [Jason Vargas] and Danny."

• After an early break, Duffy handcuffs Halos

Added Royals manager Ned Yost: "When you're not hitting, you need guys like Danny and Vargy to hold

the fort down. ... But I feel like the bats are starting to wake up."

Mike Moustakas hit his fourth homer and Salvador Perez hit his fifth for the Royals.

April 15, 2017 Page 9 of 18

Angels right-hander JC Ramirez made his first Major League start after 111 career relief appearances in

place of Garrett Richards, who landed on the disabled list last week with a right biceps strain. Ramirez,

who last started in Double-A in 2011, gave up five hits and four runs over five innings, though he

finished strong and retired the last seven batters he faced.

"I think the first three innings were rough innings," Ramirez said. "They were aggressive to me. I could

have been putting a better combination of my pitches. I think that's all."

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said he expects Ramirez to stay in the rotation for at least one more turn,

with his second start scheduled for Wednesday against the Astros in Houston.

"If nothing changes, we're anticipating it," Scioscia said. "The way he came back the last couple of

innings, hopefully he can grow with it. As of right now, we have him on the board and we'll see where it

is."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

The ambush was on: It didn't take long for the Royals to pounce on Ramirez. After the Angels took a 1-0

lead, the Royals needed to see just three pitches to take the lead themselves in the first. Alex Gordon

ripped a single to right on an 0-1 count. Then Moustakas clobbered a belt-high fastball into the right-

center-field seats for his fourth home run. Moustakas' homer traveled an estimated 425 feet and its exit

velocity was 104.4 mph, according to Statcast™.

"It's nice to get some action going early," Yost said.

Moustakas had seven home runs before his 2016 season ended in early May because of an ACL injury.

"I feel good again at the plate," Moustakas said, "but the key is to maintain it."

Tough night: Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun had a rather tough night in the field and on the bases.

Calhoun misjudged a Lorenzo Cain liner in the third with Moustakas on first and none out. Moustakas

froze, thinking Calhoun had it easily, but the ball sailed over Calhoun's head for a double -- the Catch

Probability according to Statcast™ was 81 percent.

"When I hit it, I thought he would make a diving catch," Cain said. "Then it went over his head and I

started thinking three, but Moose had to hold up in front of me."

The Royals made Calhoun pay for the mistake as a groundout by Eric Hosmer and a sacrifice fly by Perez

plated both runners, making it 5-1.

April 15, 2017 Page 10 of 18

In the first, Calhoun was cut down trying to go from first to third on a nice throw by Cain in center field.

QUOTABLE

"It was nice. I've been there before. I'm not trying to sound full of myself. But when you hit that kind of

groove, it's definitely not a bad feeling." -- Duffy, on retiring 20 of the last 22 hitters he faced

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS

When Perez clubbed his team-leading fifth homer in the sixth, it was the Royals' 12th solo home run out

of the 14 they've hit this season. Perez's shot went an estimated 425 feet, according to Statcast™, and

its exit velocity was 106.2 mph.

WHAT'S NEXT

Angels: Right-hander Matt Shoemaker will make his third start Saturday -- Jackie Robinson Day across

Major League Baseball -- when the Angels play the middle game of their three-game series with the

Royals at 4:15 p.m. PT at Kauffman Stadium. Shoemaker has posted a 7.71 ERA over his first two outings

and allowed seven runs (six earned) over 4 1/3 innings against the Mariners on Sunday.

Royals: Right-hander Nathan Karns takes the mound for the Royals in Game 2 of the series at 6:15 p.m.

CT on Saturday. Karns worked 5 2/3 innings Sunday against the Astros, giving up one run.

Rough night for Calhoun on bases, in field

By Maria Guardado / MLB.com

KANSAS CITY -- Friday proved to be an uncharacteristically tough night for Angels right fielder Kole

Calhoun.

Calhoun found himself at the center of two bad plays that factored into the Angels' 7-1 lossto the Royals

in their series opener at Kauffman Stadium.

Full Game Coverage

In the first inning, Calhoun drew a walk off Royals starter Danny Duffy to put runners on first and second

with no outs for the Angels. But he then undercut a potentially big inning for the Halos when he tried

advancing from first to third on Mike Trout's RBI single to center field and was thrown out by Lorenzo

Cain for the first out.

April 15, 2017 Page 11 of 18

"I thought I had a good shot, and you kind of want to push the envelope early in the game," Calhoun

said. "He had to make a great throw, and he did."

Added Trout: "It was just a good throw. You can't take it away from Kole. He was being aggressive. You

can ask anyone, we're going to be aggressive and sometimes you take a chance and you get thrown

out."

Duffy subseq"He had three pitches and he was mixing them up well and getting them for strikes," Angels

manager Mike Scioscia said of Duffy. "He used his changeup a lot, just kept us off balance with his

fastball. He pitched a good game. We didn't get too many good looks at him."

Calhoun, who won a Gold Glove Award in 2015, also made a costly defensive miscue in the third when

he misread a line drive off the bat of Cain and allowed it to sail over his head for a double, giving the

Royals runners on second and third with no outs. The ball had a catch probability of 81 percent,

according to Statcast™.

Duffy subsequently retired the next two batters to limit the damage to one run, and the Royals quickly

erased the deficit on Mike Moustakas' towering two-run home run off JC Ramirez in the bottom half of

the inning, which gave Kansas City a 2-1 lead. The Angels trailed the rest of the way, as Duffy settled in

and shut them out over the next six innings.

"When I hit it, I thought he would have it," Cain said. "I thought he would make a diving catch."

Kansas City capitalized on Calhoun's miscue, adding a pair of runs on Eric Hosmer's groundout and

Salvador Perez's sacrifice fly to build a 5-1 lead.

"I had a bad read on it," Calhoun said. "It's a ball I should catch, and it comes back and cost us two runs. I

should have had that ball. Just a bad read, and I couldn't make up for it.

"It was windy, but it's not like I don't know that. I didn't think he hit that ball as well as he did, and I saw

it the whole way. It's not like I lost it. I took a couple hard steps in, and before I know it, I've got to jump

and the ball is already over my head. It just fooled me."

Marte, Cron platooning at 1B for now

Halos' Richards yet to be cleared to resume throwing

By Maria Guardado / MLB.com

April 15, 2017 Page 12 of 18

KANSAS CITY -- Expect to see Jefry Marte draw most of the starts at first base when the Angels face a

left-handed starter.

Marte has been in the starting lineup for all three of the Angels' matchups with southpaws this season, a

trend that continued Friday when he started at first against the Royals' Danny Duffy at Kauffman

Stadium. Manager Mike Scioscia seems to be treating first base as a bit of a platoon between Marte and

C.J. Cron, though he left open the possibility of deploying Cron against southpaws down the road.

Full Game Coverage

"I think Jefry is settling in and is really matching up well against lefties," Scioscia said. "I think we'll

continue to take a look at that. When C.J. Cron gets hot, he hits anybody, so we're still looking to see

where this evolves to. But I think if it's a lefty, most likely you'll see Jefry get some looks there."

Marte, 25, was batting .250 (4-for-16) entering Friday and has hit .200 (2-for-7) with one home run and

two walks against lefties. Cron, 27, was hitting .304 (7-for-23), but has yet to produce an extra-base hit.

He also has reverse splits over his first three years in the Majors, batting .273 against righties and .254

against lefties.

The Angels will have an interesting call to make when Luis Valbuena comes off the disabled list, as they

will likely have to option either Cron or Marte to Triple-A Salt Lake to clear a roster spot. Valbuena, a

left-handed hitter, is expected to earn most of his at-bats at first against right-handed pitching, and

Marte appears to be better suited to be platooned with him there.

Valbuena has been out since March 22 with a strained right hamstring and will have to complete a

running program before beginning a rehab assignment.

"Right now, it's just going to be on how he feels," Scioscia said. "I think the encouraging thing is he's

been in baseball activities for over a week and taking ground balls aggressively. I think by this weekend

he should have maybe a little more clarity as far as what the timeline will be, but the hurdles he has to

clear are definitely running 100 percent straight ahead, getting on the bases and repeating it."

Worth noting

• Right-hander Garrett Richards continues to experience a lack of strength in his strained right biceps,

which led the Angels to conduct an MRI on his cervical spine on Thursday, general manager Billy Eppler

said. The results of the examination ruled out cervical disc or brachial nerve issues for Richards, who will

continue to be evaluated on a daily basis.

April 15, 2017 Page 13 of 18

Richards had said that he hoped to resume throwing Tuesday, though he still has not been cleared to

pick up a baseball.

• The Angels called up right-hander Deolis Guerra from Triple-A Salt Lake on Friday and transferred left-

hander Andrew Heaney to the 60-day disabled list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Right-hander

Daniel Wright had been optioned Sunday after throwing four innings in relief against the Rangers.

Shoemaker faces KC on Jackie Robinson Day

By Maria Guardado / MLB.com

Right-handers Nathan Karns and Matt Shoemaker will face off Saturday night as the Angels and Royals

play the second game of their three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals, Angels and all on-field personnel will wear No. 42 on Saturday to honor the 70th anniversary

of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball. Kauffman Stadium also will join all other

ballparks with Jackie Robinson Day jeweled bases and lineup cards.

Full Game Coverage

Karns fought through a tough start last Sunday, giving up five hits to the first seven hitters he faced in

Houston. But Karns managed to get through 5 2/3 innings while giving up just one run.

"I got a lot of help from my defense," Karns said. "And that was a big confidence booster early on. Then I

was kind of able to settle in after that."

Shoemaker has logged a 7.71 ERA over his first two outings, though he came away with no-decisions

after the Angels managed to win both of his starts. The 30-year-old allowed seven runs (six earned) on

five hits over 4 1/3 innings on Sunday against the Mariners.

"I think there are some things he's still kind of getting his feet settled as far as pitch execution," Angels

manager Mike Scioscia said Friday. "There's certainly some pitch selection issues that he needs to

expand, but only if that pitch execution is there. He can say, 'I want to throw this pitch, this pitch, this

pitch,' but if two of them aren't working, you're kind of backed into a corner. So it comes down to pitch

execution, which I think enhances pitch selection. I think he's going to be fine."

Things to know about this game

• Shoemaker is 0-3 with an 11.34 ERA in four career starts against the Royals. It marks his highest ERA

against any opponent. Karns has faced the Angels three times in his career, going 0-1 with a 5.82 ERA.

April 15, 2017 Page 14 of 18

• C.J. Cron will likely be back at first base for the Angels on Saturday. Cron sat out Friday's opener

against Danny Duffy, as Scioscia prefers to deploy Jefry Marte against left-handed starters.

Hard knocks: Results betray Pujols' contact

By David Adler / MLB.com

On Opening Day, Albert Pujols squared up his first ball of the 2017 season. Off the bat at 104.6 mph,

launched at a 21-degree angle -- a barrel, by Statcast™'s measurement -- it had an 82 percent chance of

going for a hit. But deep in Oakland Coliseum's expansive center field, Rajai Davis had no problem

tracking it down.

Little changed in the following days. Through five games, Pujols was 1-for-20. He had four batted balls

with exit velocities of 100 mph or higher; all had gone for outs. For reference, since Statcast™ started

tracking exit velocity in 2015, the overall Major League batting average on 100-mph batted balls is .625.

Pujols did break out with five hits over the weekend, including his first home run and a two-out game-

tying single in the Angels' wild seven-run ninth-inning rally on Sunday. He followed that with another

two-out game-tying hit in the ninth inning on Tuesday. Still, the shadow lingers: Pujols has now hit 10

balls at 100-plus mph, which only 17 others have done this season. Of those 10, he has just three hits.

This is not new. In recent seasons, as Pujols ages, he's had increasingly less to show for his hard-hit balls,

which he continues to accumulate even after 17 years of ironman play and the accompanying wear and

tear on the lower half of his body. He still has his power -- Pujols hit 72 home runs from 2015-16, with

his 84 barreled balls ranking 23rd in the Majors -- and he still doesn't strike out much. But his slash line

over the past two seasons was .256/.315/.469, nowhere near what he posted in his prime.

When Pujols has gone through cold streaks during the past few years, he and manager Mike Scioscia

have often maintained that he has hit the ball better than the results, the box scores, have shown. (Last

May, for example, Scioscia told reporters of a slumping Pujols, "You guys are misreading this if you don't

think he's hitting the ball much better than his numbers show.") There is a disconnect, or so it goes,

between Pujols' talent in hitting and the outcomes he's produced.

Now, Statcast™ shows this to be true. Isolating Pujols' underlying contact quality for 2016, Statcast™ can

generate an expected batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. Based on his

combinations of exit velocity and launch angle, those estimates far exceed what Pujols' numbers

actually turned out to be.

April 15, 2017 Page 15 of 18

Last season, Pujols hit .268/.323/.457. Statcast™ estimated his slash line at .298/.351/.544. That's 30

points of batting average, 28 points of on-base percentage and 87 points of slugging missing from the

back of his baseball card.

Pujols' 2016 OPS was .780, ranking 86th of the qualified Major League hitters. His Statcast-estimated

OPS was .894, the 18th-highest expected OPS in baseball. The gap between Pujols' expected and actual

OPS was 114 points, the third-largest difference among qualified hitters, with only Kendrys Morales and

Miguel Cabrera having larger deficits.

An exit velocity of 95 mph is a good general approximation for a "hard-hit" ball. Pujols had 228 batted

balls above that mark a year ago, the fifth most in the Majors. He batted .476 on those balls, which

might seem like a high average -- except, of the 187 hitters who had at least 100 balls with 95-plus-mph

exit velocities, it ranked 176th. MLB as a whole batted .538.

The point of looking at Pujols' expected numbers in comparison to his actual ones is not to say that he

will start producing again at the level he did with St. Louis. There are good reasons that account for at

least a chunk of the gap. Pujols' slow baserunning is one; his ground balls into the shift are another. Even

though Pujols hit 228 balls at least 95 mph, for example, 102 of them were on the ground. It's hard to

get those grounders through an overloaded infield, and Pujols is unlikely to leg out many hits with his

lack of speed.

What the quality of his contact shows, though, and what is so impressive about Pujols is how skilled of a

hitter he remains.

FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS .

Duffy pitches gem as Royals beat Angels 7-1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals' starting rotation continues to be a strength.

Danny Duffy allowed three hits over seven innings and Mike Moustakas hit a two-run homer as the

Kansas City Royals beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-1 Friday night.

Duffy's performance came one night after Jason Vargas threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings to beat Oakland.

The Royals' rotation has an American League-best 2.70 ERA after 10 games.

"I'm just trying to follow Vargy, I guess," Duffy said. "He did a great job. They say hitting is contagious,

pitching is too."

Duffy (2-0) gave up a run on Mike Trout's single in the first, but retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced.

He allowed just one hit after the first, striking out six and walking two while lowering his earned run

average to 1.80 and improving to 8-0 in his past 16 Kauffman Stadium starts.

April 15, 2017 Page 16 of 18

"It took him an inning to get settled in," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He just threw the ball extremely

well, good fastball, really good changeup and some really good sliders. He did a great job of keeping

those guys off balance."

Salvador Perez also homered, his fifth of the season, and drove in two runs for Kansas City.

Moustakas homered in the first and the Royals added a run in the second when Paulo Orlando scored on

a wild pitch by JC Ramirez (2-1).

Kansas City scored twice in the third. Moustakas led off with a walk, advanced to third on Lorenzo Cain's

double and scored on Eric Hosmer's grounder. Cain scored on Perez's sacrifice fly.

Ramirez, making his first start in the majors after 111 relief appearances, was pulled after 75 pitches and

five innings, both career highs. His last start was Sept. 2, 2011, for Double-A Reading.

"I was kind of excited to start, and then I got those first two innings and I said `oooh," Ramirez said. "I

thought `I can do this.' They were just being aggressive to me."

Ramirez, who retired the final nine batters he faced, allowed five runs and four hits, two walks, a

sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.

"I think those guys jumped him out of the gate," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He threw three

pitches and he was down two to one."

The Royals upped their lead on a Perez's homer off Deolis Guerra in the sixth. Cain, who had his third

straight multi-hit game, scored in the eighth when Perez grounded into a double play.

ROSTER MOVE

The Angels purchased the contract of Guerra from Triple-A Salt Lake, where he worked 3 2/3 scoreless

innings. RHP Daniel Wright, who threw four innings Thursday, was optioned to the Bees.

April 15, 2017 Page 17 of 18

MOYLAN'S NO HITTER ENDS

Royals RHP Peter Moylan yielded a two-out single to Albert Pujols in the ninth, ending his streak of 9 2/3

hitless innings. It was the first hit he had allowed since Sept. 23 over 11 appearances. The Angels loaded

the bases after Pujols' single, but failed to score. He has not allowed an earned run in his past 12

outings, covering 11 innings.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Angels: LHP Andrew Heaney (rehabbing from elbow surgery) was moved to the 60-day disabled list to

make roster space for Guerra.

UP NEXT

Angels: RHP Matt Shoemaker has allowed nine runs on nine hits, including three home runs, five walks

and a hit batter in 9 1/3 innings in his first two starts.

Royals: RHP Nate Karns is making his first Kauffman Stadium start with the Royals after being acquired in

a January trade with Seattle.

FROM ESPN.COM .

Angels right-hander Garrett Richards (biceps) to remain on DL

By ESPN.com news services

Los Angeles Angels right-hander Garrett Richards hasn't been cleared to resume throwing, and the team

does not plan to activate him from the 10-day disabled list on Sunday when he's eligible to come off.

Richards was diagnosed with a strained right biceps last week. When doctors clear him to throw,

Richards could need a minor league rehab assignment to build arm strength.

"They'll let us know when he's ready to pick up a ball," Angels manager Mike Scioscia told reporters on

Thursday. "The longer he's out, obviously, there would be more rehab involved."

Richards missed most of last season because of a partially torn elbow ligament but chose rest and stem-

cell injections over Tommy John surgery. He made it through spring training solidly but left his season-

opening start at Oakland in the fifth inning on April 5 because of pain in his arm.

He won 28 games over the 2014 and 2015 seasons but was limited to six starts last year.

April 15, 2017 Page 18 of 18

Right-handed reliever JC Ramirez will replace Richards in the rotation. He will start Friday against the

Kansas City Royals.