OC Register: Angels GM Billy Eppler saw better things coming for both Andrelton Simmons, Didi Gregorius

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM — Aside from being childhood friends and teammates from Curacao and both having offensive breakouts in recent years, there’s one more common thread between the shortstops of the Angels and New York Yankees.

Angels general manager Billy Eppler acquired Andrelton Simmons in November 2015, one of his first moves after taking the job.

Eppler was the Yankees assistant GM when they got Didi Gregorius in a three-way trade in December 2014.

Neither player had hit much with their previous teams, but both have blossomed since the deals.

Coming into this weekend’s Angels-Yankees series, Simmons was hitting .318 with three homers and an .866 OPS. Gregorius was even better, hitting .345 with nine homers – second only to Mike Trout in the American League – and a 1.245 OPS.

Eppler, who was quick to give Yankees GM Brian Cashman the credit for the Gregorius move, nonetheless conceded there were similarities between what he saw from both players before his teams acquired them.

“They are both high-level athletes, with very quick-twitch tendencies that help drive their athleticism,” Eppler said Friday. “They were strong on the defensive side of the game and young with some underlying process characteristics that give you some degree of hope that they have a chance to get better offensively.”

WAITING FOR CALHOUN

Kole Calhoun was hitting .174 with three walks and 27 strikeouts heading into Friday’s game. So far Manager Mike Scioscia’s only nod to the slump has been to drop him to eighth in the order and sit him against lefties.

“There is no doubt he’s trying to find a comfort level in the box,” Scioscia said. “You can look to a lot of things that aren’t working right now for Kole. Once he gets comfortable in the box, those things will reverse course very quickly. Kole is going to be fine.”

ALSO

If Shohei Ohtani starts at DH on Saturday, as expected, he will get a chance to face Masahiro Tanaka for the first time since Ohtani was a rookie in Japan in 2013. Ohtani went 0 for 11 against Tanaka. The two chatted briefly in the outfield on Friday afternoon, the prelude to a game that will be highly anticipated by Japanese fans and media. …

Matt Shoemaker (forearm strain) said he’s moved back to about 90 feet in his throwing and so far everything “feels great.” Shoemaker said he’s hoping he can get on a mound soon and return to the Angels within a matter of weeks. …

Blake Wood (elbow impingement) began playing catch on Friday. Wood said he doesn’t consider it to be a serious injury, but he’s also not sure he’ll be back when he’s eligible on Wednesday. …

Parker Bridwell (elbow inflammation), who is on the Triple-A disabled list, is getting close to throwing again, Eppler said. …

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Outfielder Jo Adell, the Angels’ second-best prospect, is on the seven-day disabled list at Class-A Burlington, Iowa, because of a thumb contusion, Eppler said. He was hurt on Tuesday night. He is expected back around the time he’s eligible. …

Alex Meyer, who is likely to miss the season after undergoing shoulder surgery, began throwing on Friday. “It was exciting,” Meyer said. “Today was a huge step, and it felt great.” …

JC Ramírez, who underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month, returned to the Angels’ clubhouse in a much better mood than he was immediately after getting the diagnosis. Ramírez said he was so down for about a week and a half that he brought in his mother for moral support. “I was really sad and frustrated,” he said. …

The Angels sent Luke Bard back to the Minnesota Twins, the team from which they selected him in the Rule 5 draft over the winter. Although Bard pitched well with the Angels, with the exception of one bad game, he was caught in a roster crunch. The Angels needed to call up a fresh reliever, and they had to use Bard’s roster spot to bring up Eduardo Paredes. …

UP NEXT

Angels (Garrett Richards, 3-0, 3.46) vs. Yankees (Masahiro Tanaka, 3-2, 5.28), 6 p.m. FS1, KLAA (830 AM)

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