Mike Scioscia preaches patience amid Angels’ slow start
Angels manager Mike Scioscia pats pitcher Cory Rasmus on the back as he removes him from the game in the seventh inning against the Rangers on April 8.
The Angels have gotten off to another slow start, and their manager, Mike Scioscia, is again cautioning against overreacting on the basis of 15 games.
“I think if you believe in a group of guys and show patience,” Scioscia said, “the vast majority of the time these guys will get into their game and start putting up the wins.”
The Angels have a record of 6-9. They were also 6-9 last season and in 2012. Two years ago at this point, they were 7-8, and 5-10 the year before that. Scioscia said he is aware of it and unconcerned about the trend.
“It’s early yet,” Scioscia said. “There are still things pointing upward.”
The way he sees it, what the Angels do at the start of a regular season is not at all connected to what the team has done during the Cactus League, where the Angels excelled this year.
“I know some years we got off to decent starts and we had great springs,” Scioscia said. “Some years we got off to decent starts and had rough springs. The litmus test is when you start the season.”
Simmons up, Gentry down
Scioscia shifted first baseman C.J. Cron down in the batting lineup Monday in an attempt to take pressure off him, and did the same with left fielder Craig Gentry on Wednesday.
Gentry was moved from second to ninth in the order, trading places with Andrelton Simmons.
“It’s certainly not an overhaul, but it might be a little subtlety to get some things going,” Scioscia said.
Gentry went 0 for 2 before being replaced by a pinch-hitter. He has four hits in 28 at-bats this season. Simmons did not have a hit, either, snapping his career-high 12-game hitting streak.
Short hops
Left fielder Daniel Nava, on the disabled list since Saturday because of tendinitis around his left kneecap, said he would be reevaluated Thursday morning at U.S. Cellular Field. … Left-hander Tyler Skaggs pitched four innings for triple-A Salt Lake against Fresno. Recovering from arm ligament surgery, he is expected to make at least two more starts — likely more — before returning to the Angels.
Twitter: @pedromoura
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