Five things to take from Angels’ 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays

Jered Weaver

Jered Weaver/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Angels

 

Jered Weaver, now 4-6 on the year, had a decent outing, giving up four earned runs in 7 2/3 innings. Certainly, it was an improvement over his previous outing, when he gave up three home runs and allowed seven earned runs in an 8-7 loss to the Yankees. Even so, Weaver’s season ERA of 4.61 is the second-highest of his 10-year career. The only other time he had an ERA of over 4.00 was in his third season in 2008 when it was 4.33. He has a fine career ERA of 3.35.

Kyle Kubitza’s results in his major-league debut were a mixed bag. He did have two hits, but the third baseman just called up from Triple-A Salt Lake had a mental error in the second inning when instead of throwing to first on a two-out ground ball by Joey Butler, he threw to second to get Kevin Kiermaier leading off second. Kiermaier was eventually tagged out, but not before Nick Franklin scored the second run of the inning. The run counted because the third out came on a tag insead of a force play. Kubitza also had a couple of baserunning mistakes in the third inning. He was playing because David Freese has a tight hamstring. Freese did pinch-hit for Kubitza in the ninth.

Albert Pujols, Kole Calhoun and Carlos Perez – the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters – were a combined 0-for-11. Throw in a 1-for-4 performance by Mike Trout, make that 1-for-15 by those four. That’s not going to get it done on most nights.

– Speaking of Trout, after striking out a career-high and major-league-leading 184 times in 2014, he is once again striking out too much. He has 56 strikeouts on the season. That does not lead the league, but we should note that 13 of those strikeouts have come in the past 10 games. He has struck out six times in the past four games, including twice in this game. Trout, who three times this season has been struck out three times in a game, has seen his batting average fall from .303 on May 22 to .285. His average was at .333 on May 2.

– To say manager Mike Scioscia has been patient with outfielder Matt Joyce would be putting it mildly. Scioscia continues to put Joyce in the lineup, but Joyce can’t even get to the proverbial Mendoza line. After going 0-for-3 in this one, his batting average is .186. He has not had an RBI since May 30, when he hit a home run. Joyce has 167 at-bats and has played in 52 of the Angels’ 59 games, so this is not a small sample size we’re talking about.

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Third baseman Kyle Kubitza recalled, Nieuwenhuis DFA’d

Kyle Kubitza

Kyle Kubitza/Photo courtesy of Los Angels Angels

 

The Angels on Wednesday designated former Azusa Pacific University outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis for assignment and recalled third baseman Kyle Kubitza from Triple-A Salt Lake City.

Kubitza was in the starting lineup at third base Wednesday evening at Tampa Bay as David Freese is nursing a sore hamstring.

Nieuwenhuis came over to the Angels in May from the New York Mets after hitting just .079 in 38 at-bats with New York. He began 2-for-6 with the Angels, but had just one hit in his last 16 at-bats after going 0-for-5 Sunday. Nieuwenhuis hit just .136 with the Angels.

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Five things to take from Angels’ 8-2 victory over Tampa Bay Rays

Albert Pujols hits his 536th career home run Tuesday night, tying him with Mickey Mantle for 16th-place all-time/Photo by Chris O’Meara, Associated Press

 

– First and foremost, Albert Pujols hit the 536th home run of his career to tie Mickey Mantle for 16th-place all-time. It was Pujols’ 16th of the season, tying him for the team lead with Mike Trout.

– Angels fans have to hope that Kole Calhoun’s second three-hit game in the past four games means he’s finally starting to shake himself out of a rather lengthy slump. He was hitting .314 on May 13 and had dipped to .266 on June 2. He stayed there for one more game, moved to .276 after going 3-for-4 on June 5 but then dropped back down to .266 by going 0-for-7 the next two games. Not only did Calhoun go 3-for-5 in this one, he drove in four runs. He had one RBI in six games this month ahead of this performance. Calhoun now sits with 29 RBIs.

– Also nice to see was the job by starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker, who seems to be having a sophomore jinx of sorts. He has been better of late, but even by giving up just two runs in 6 1/3 innings in this one, his ERA on the season is 4.86. Shoemaker (4-4) struck out six and walked just one while throwing 84 pitches.

–  This victory stopped a five-game losing streak and pulled the Angels within four games of the Astros (34-26) in the AL West. Unfortunately for the Angels (29-29), they have been caught and passed by the Texas Rangers (31-27), who are in second just two games back of the Astros.

– Former Asuza Pacific University star Kirk Nieuwenhuis is getting a decent look here by the Angels after being acquired from the New York Mets. But after starting 2-for-6, he has gone in the tank. Nieuwenhuis went 0-for-5 in this one and is 1-for-his-last-16 and has seen his average drop to .136 with the Angels. Nieuwenhuis hit just .079 in 38 at-bats with New York before coming to the Angels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Director of scouting Ric Wilson high on top pick Taylor Ward

Taylor  Ward

Taylor Ward/Photo courtesy of Fresno State

 

Ric Wilson, scouting director for the Angels, was stoked with the Angels’ first pick in Monday’s First-Year Player Draft. His name is Taylor Ward, he’s a catcher out of Fresno State and he was the 26th pick overall in the first round.

“We are very excited with this selection and this is a great pick for us,” Wilson said. “We’ve scouted him all year long and have gotten to know him and feel very comfortable having him join our system. He has a tremendous throwing arm and we think he’s going to be a premium big-league catcher. We’ve always liked his skill level and what he can do on both sides of the ball.”

Ward was originally drafted out of Shadow Hills High in Indio by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 31st round in 2012. He opted to play college ball, however, and he went on to hit .288 for the Bulldogs over three years with 29 doubles, 16 home runs and 98 RBIs in 162 games. Along the way he threw out 60 percent (33 of 55) of baserunners attempting to steal.

Ward this past season hit .304 with 14 doubles, seven home runs and 42 RBIs and was named first-team All-Mountain West. He became the seventh catcher in franchise history to be selected in the first round and first since Hank Conger in 2006.

Ward was listed by Fresno State as being 6-foot-1, 190 pounds.

 

 

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