Angels mailbag: Lots to talk about on opening day

Hello, Angels fans. Welcome to the return of the Monday mailbag. Today is opening day for your favorite baseball team. Ricky Nolasco is going to face Kendall Graveman in Oakland. Here’s some additional entertainment.

Just like last year, please submit questions through my email (pedro.moura@latimes.com) or Twitter account (@pedromoura).

This is a question I considered during the spring. Espinosa has a strong arm, and he enjoys displaying it. His average competitive throw from shortstop last season led the major leagues at 90.7 mph, according to Statcast. The Angels’ actual shortstop, Andrelton Simmons, was ninth among 36 qualified shortstops at 84.7 mph.

That doesn’t mean Simmons has a weaker arm, only that he doesn’t use all of it very often. Watch him play a game, and there’s a good chance you’ll see him dial up exactly enough arm strength to get the runner out. It’s fun to observe. Espinosa, on the other hand, goes all out every time. It’s what he’s always done, he said, and he finds it more discouraging, as a runner, to be thrown out by a lot than a little.

I asked both men’s backup, Cliff Pennington, about that early in March. As a shortstop who later learned how to play second base, he pointed out that Espinosa’s surplus arm allows him to make up for mistakes with his footwork and angling. Espinosa has played plenty of second base in his past, but not as much as he has shortstop, and so errors due to unfamiliarity are bound to happen. Maybe the arm can minimize them.

Yes. The Angels’ owner agreed to answer a few questions early in spring training. I wrote about it here. He was around his team’s camp more than in recent seasons.

I didn’t watch very many minor league games, because there were usually major league games going on at the same time. But in the few I did see, I was intrigued by 19-year-old outfielder Jahmai Jones.

In one back-field game, he ripped a ball to the center-field warning track and was nearly at second base when the opposing outfielder dove and caught it, somehow. It might’ve been the best catch I saw this spring. I have no idea who it was who caught it. Anyway, Jones took his helmet off and tipped it as he continued past second on to third. The inning was over, and Jones kept tipping his cap as the outfielder jogged back to his dugout.

Jones is raw but athletic and, team officials say, an intent learner of the game.

When Valbuena is healthy, I expect him to play first regularly against right-handed pitching. The obvious option would be to platoon him and C.J. Cron, and just count on Cron eventually reversing his odd reverse splits trend. Trading Cron or Jefry Marte, a similarly skilled player who can also handle third base, is certainly an option.

Financially or on the field? Because if it’s only financially, I can think of a few, like a Mike Trout homer-record chase. On the field, pretty much the only way success is measured is the playoffs, so, no.

Tyler Skaggs’ prolonged recovery from 2014 Tommy John surgery should instruct you that no return from that operation is a certainty, even when young. Sure, you’d expect both pitchers to be fit to pitch by then, but who can say for sure? If they are healthy, the Angels should have a pretty capable and cheap rotation of Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Skaggs, and those two. If they are not, yes, I imagine the organization will spend money on starting pitching. Richards is not under contract beyond 2018. It makes sense to push a lot of resources forward for that year.

They took a few looks at Greg Holland, the 31-year-old ex-Kansas City closer. He signed for quite a bit of money, with more potentially vesting. He is recovering from Tommy John surgery.

I don’t think I would bet on Huston Street’s career as a closer being finished. He had an extremely lengthy track record of success and one awful season. Someone will give him another chance, whether it’s the Angels this year or someone else next year. He’s due to return from his lat strain in a few weeks.

Albert Pujols is 37 years old. He has been playing professional baseball for half that time. He has had many surgeries along various parts of his legs. I think those factors, primarily, are making him slow.

The American League West contains some pretty good squads this season. I would not be surprised if it was the division with the most wins at year’s end. There is no awful team, and there are two pretty great lineups, in Houston and Texas. The Astros, in particular, should present problems.

So, while I would project the Angels to finish fourth in the division, that’s more a comment on the division than it is an indictment of their team. I’d guess them to win around 81 games in 2017. I am also often wrong.

Some background: A couple weeks ago, I appeared as a guest on the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Reds Beat podcast. There, we discussed vegetables, how great they are, and, because we are humans, how to rank them against each other.

Here’s a vegetable power ranking I’ve assembled. It’s entirely arbitrary, with grouping issues that will make some folks angry. I know not all squash is the same, but it’s already long as is. I’d also like to note that I enjoy every vegetable on this list. My general stance on food is that everything is tasty when prepared with care and knowledge.

1. corn — So versatile, so tasty, so essential.

2. cauliflower — I recognize I am the high man on this and another cruciferous, but I think cauliflower is wonderful in four or five preparations. It also keeps for a long time.

3. sweet potato, 4. onion, 5. garlic, 6. eggplant, 7. Brussels sprouts, 8. carrot, 9. kale, 10. squash, 11. soybean, 12. arugula, 13. sunchoke, 14. tomato, 15. broccolini,

16. beet — I wish I knew how good beets are when I was a child. They are awesome when pickled.

17. potato, 18. radish/daikon, 19. shallot, 20. spinach, 21. artichoke, 22. zucchini, 23. lettuce, 24. parsnip, 25. kolhrabi, 26. scallion, 27. bok choy,

28. bell pepper — This was tough to rate, because the colors create a lot of variance. I could be convinced to move it 10 spots higher or lower.

29. fennel, 30. asparagus, 31. green bean, 32. broccoli, 33. yucca, 34. chicory/endive/radicchio, 35. cabbage, 36. jicama, 37. turnip/rutabaga, 38. leek, 39. snap pea/green pea, 40. cucumber, 41. okra.

Send questions to the below addresses to be considered for the mailbag every Monday, all season long.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @pedromoura