Angels’ Johnny Giavotella seems to be losing his spot at second base

Johnny Giavotella has missed three consecutive starts at second base, including Friday night. The Angels’ once-surprise starter seems to have ceded his role, if not to the newly activated Cliff Pennington then to a larger group.

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia was unwilling to speak with certainty about the spot Friday.

“We’ll use all those guys and try to match up wherever we can,” Scioscia said. “Gregorio Petit also figures into the mix.”

Giavotella, 29, had started 86 of the Angels’ first 106 games, and performed similarly to 2015, when he surprisingly won the starting position out of spring training and went on to hit .272 with a .693 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

He’s batting .270 with a .688 OPS this season, and has improved his defense, according to scouts who’ve watched him regularly. Giavotella worked with Oakland third base coach Ron Washington in the winter to better his positioning and improve his reaction time. Advanced metrics also grade his play more favorably.

Activated from the 60-day disabled list Tuesday, Pennington entered Friday hitting .258 with a .728 OPS this season. For their careers, the men sport nearly identical offensive statistics. Petit, signed as a minor league free agent last winter, is having the best season of the three (.288 with a .760 OPS).

Short hops

Mike Trout returned to the Angels’ lineup on Friday. …Closer Huston Street has returned to his home in Austin, Texas, for the weekend, while he waits for the cortisone shot in his inflamed right knee to take hold. He’ll rehabilitate the injury at the Angels’ facility in Arizona beginning Monday. …Right-hander Garrett Richards is with the team on a trip for the first time since Milwaukee in May. Wednesday, he was cleared to begin stress tests on his elbow, and he ran up the stairs at Safeco Field before Friday’s game. …The start time for the Angels’ Saturday game has been pushed back a half-hour, to 6:40 p.m., to accommodate the Mariners’ plans to retire Ken Griffey Jr.’s number in a pregame ceremony.

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