Kendry Morales’ Status For Opening Day Is Somewhat Of A Mystery

Kendry Morales has yet to play this spring. Reports from Tempe have the Angels star 1st basemen not yet running full speed but raking in batting practice sessions. While Morales’ batting practice exploits are a positive sign its not exactly what Halo fans want to hear. In the past few days there have ben conflicting reports on Morales’ status that make his opening day readiness “uncertain” at best.

SI’s Jon Heyman Tweeted Friday

"#angels star kendry morales said to be “very unlikely” to be ready opening day. rookie trumbo a candidate to play 1b early"

 Which then prompted a dispute from Mike Scioscia , who feels Kendry still has enough time to make the progress needed to see the field on opening day. Is Scioscia being overly optimistic ( out of character for him) or does K-MO have a legit shot to return to the lineup? I’d wager to guess that if we see Morales in the Angels lineup  in the next week or so he will be able to resume his 1st base duties by opening day. The other interesting thing to watch is how Mark Trumbo hits during the next few weeks of spring. If  Mark continues to drive the ball and Peter Bourjos struggles,  Trumbo could play himself into an opening day start and some early playing time whether Morales is healthy or not.