Posted 11:11 AM by Sean
Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register serves up yet another "Percival goes from student to teacher" story, joining the previously-noted features from the L.A. Times and MLB.com. Meanwhile, it looks like Washburn is recovering from the injury to his left shoulder sustained during fielding drills on March 1, but I get the sense that he definitely won't be pitching opening day, and will probably miss his first start or two. The Angels have enough off-days near the start of the season to get by with a four-man rotation for the first couple of weeks, and their prediliction over the last couple of years has been to be very cautious about rushing guys back. So it may well be Ortiz, Appier, Lackey, Callaway for the first couple of spins through, which may have the hidden bonus of demonstrating whether Appier will be effective this year earlier than otherwise. To me, he's the most troubling question, and I'm relieved that Aaron Sele is projected to return in June, right around the point at which we'll probably know where the rotation needs fixing (if it needs fixing at all).