ANAHEIM — Jorge Soler and Vaughn Grissom are each making progress toward returning to the Angels’ lineup.
Both have been doing some light hitting. Both ran the bases on Friday afternoon before the team’s series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays. Grissom also took ground balls.
“I don’t want to say they’re close to getting back, but they’re starting to do some stuff, which is nice to see,” Manager Kurt Suzuki said. “They’re moving around. They’re playing catch.”
Grissom is out with an oblique issue that he felt suddenly when taking some swings before last Friday’s game at Dodger Stadium. He said earlier this week that he was feeling good about his condition because the Angels shut him down before he could make it worse.
Soler had been dealing with aches in his groin, hip and oblique for weeks before he finally went on the injured list on Saturday.
“This is a good first step,” Suzuki said. “We’ll see what it looks like when they start hitting not he field and stuff like that, but I like the strides that they’re making.”
Grissom was hitting .246 with a .735 OPS, playing first, second and third base. His opportunity at third is seemingly gone now that the Angels want to give Denzer Guzman an everyday opportunity.
Soler was hitting .220 with nine home runs and a .702 OPS, mostly at DH. While he’s out, the Angels are able to rotate the DH spot among Mike Trout and other players. If Soler can be productive when he returns, he could make himself into a trade chip with some value.
JOYCE TAKES THE MOUND
Right-handed reliever Ben Joyce took a significant step in his rehab by throwing 10 pitches off a mound on Friday in Arizona.
Joyce, who is rehabbing from shoulder surgery, seemed to be on the verge of returning to the active roster in early May. He was then shut down because he wasn’t rebounding as well as they’d hoped after each minor league game.
He didn’t throw off a mound for about a month.
“We’ll see how he feels after today,” Suzuki said. “But the fact that he did get off a mound is encouraging.”
IT’S THAT TIME
With the College World Series starting in Omaha, Suzuki remembered some of the best days of his baseball career. Suzuki played for Cal State Fullerton when they went to the College World Series in 2003 and 2004, winning the title in 2004.
“In general for baseball, I think the players get a lot of notoriety,” Suzuki said. “The players get a lot of ESPN coverage and pub and stuff like that. I think it’s a great time for baseball.”
Infielder Nick Madrigal (Oregon State), right-hander Chase Silseth (Arizona) and left-hander Reid Detmers (Louisville) also played in the College World Series. Madrigal’s team won it.
The only Angels player represented by the current teams in the College World Series is left-hander Drew Pomeranz, who pitched at Mississippi.
NOTES
First baseman Nolan Schanuel was not in the lineup on Friday, but he said he was fine. Schanuel has been dealing with a sore ankle and he was hit in the calf by a pitch on Tuesday. Suzuki said he wanted to load his lineup with right-handed hitters against Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan. The Angels started all right-handed hitters. …
Right-hander Taijuan Walker, who re-signed with the Angels on a minor-league deal, started at Triple-A on Thursday night and gave up three runs (two earned) in five innings. Walker’s fastball averaged 92 mph, which was slightly up from his average in the majors this season.
UP NEXT
Rays (RHP Griffin Jax, 1-4, 4.15 ERA) at Angels (RHP José Soriano, 7-4, 2.96 ERA), Saturday, 7:07 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM