DeJesus OK with reduced role
CLEVELAND — The plan when the Angels acquired David DeJesus from Tampa Bay on July 28 was for him to be part of a two-position platoon in which DeJesus (left field) and David Murphy (designated hitter) started against righthanded pitchers and Shane Victorino (left) and C.J. Cron (DH/first base) started against left-handers.
Then DeJesus struggled, going five for 41 (.122) in his first 15 games. Cron heated up, batting .338 with four homers over his last 21 games, Murphy regained his stroke and got his average up to .293, and DeJesus’ playing time evaporated.
With the Angels desperate for offense — they entered Friday ranked last in the American League in runs per game (3.0), on-base percentage (.278) and slugging (.347) in August — Manager Mike Scioscia has been starting Murphy in left and Cron at first base or DH against right-handers.
The left-handed-hitting DeJesus, 35, has started once in 11 games, his role reduced to that of pinch-hitting and late-game defense.
Not that he’s complaining.
“It’s part of the game,” said DeJesus, who flied out to left to end the eighth inning Friday night. “David is doing a great job, C.J. is swinging the bat well. … I want to be a part of a winner, so if it comes to a point where that sacrifices my at-bats but the team is still producing and doing well, that’s part of being a teammate.
“Me moping around is not going to help. If I did that, I would be a virus, and I don’t want to be a virus. I want to uplift the guys who
are playing.”
Flip-f lop
Mike Trout is batting .342 with runners in scoring position but has only 73 atbats in those situations. Albert Pujols is hitting .221 in 104 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
With that in mind, would Scioscia consider switching the two in the order, hitting Pujols in front of Trout so the struggling Trout, who is batting .200 in August, would have more opportunities with runners in scoring position?
“We’ve talked about that for a long time,” Scioscia said, “but the only guy who is really going to protect Mike is Albert.”
Two other problems with such an alignment: Pujols would clog the basepaths in front of the speedy Trout, and Trout, whose walk rate doubled after Pujols suffered a season-ending foot injury in July of 2013, would probably see fewer pitches to hit.
“If we flip-flopped them, we wouldn’t have as much depth behind Mike,” Scioscia said. “It’s not about needing to shake things up. These guys just need to get comfortable in the box.”
Short hops
Scioscia said that Johnny Giavotella, who went on the disabled list because of a personal medical issue on Tuesday, is still “battling his symptoms,” and that it is unclear when the second baseman will be ready to return. … Cory Rasmus, out since Aug. 16 because of a forearm strain, took a significant step toward a return by throwing off a bullpen mound Tuesday.