OC Register: Angels’ David Fletcher has caught the attention of manager Mike Scoiscia

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM >> Angels third baseman David Fletcher had only had 51 major-league at-bats before Saturday, but the Cypress High School alum has caught the attention of Manager Mike Scoiscia.

Fletcher on Friday night had a huge hit, a tying RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen that helped the Angels defeat the Dodgers 3-2 in Game 1 of the Freeway Series at Angel Stadium.

Of those 51 at-bats, it was Fletcher’s 31st against a right-handed pitcher. The right-handed batter is hitting better against right-handers – .323 (10 of 31) – than against southpaws (.250, 5 of 20). But he’s being platooned with the left-handed-hitting Luis Valbuena.

Fletcher was hitting .294 with six RBIs and an on-base percentage of .345. He doesn’t have a home run, but he hit six in 254 at-bats in Salt Lake City before being recalled in mid-June.

Valbuena had nine home runs and 30 RBIs in 235 at-bats before Saturday, but he was hitting just .213 with an OBP of .258. He was hitting .222 (14 of 63) with runners in scoring position, compared to .500 (5 of 10) for Fletcher.

Sign up for Home Turf and get exclusive stories every SoCal sports fan must read, sent daily. Subscribe here.

Scioscia was asked prior to Game 2 Saturday, won by the Dodgers 3-1, if he’s been tempted to put Fletcher out there every day. With right-hander Ross Stripling going for the Dodgers, he was not in the starting lineup but entered in the seventh inning and hit one to the track in the ninth inning off Jansen to go 0 for 2.

“I think David’s played a lot,” Scoscia said. “I think he’s played some second, he’s played third. I think that any time a player plays well, obviously, they’re going to win more at bats, win more playing time and he’s definitely doing that.”

Fletcher had started 12 of the 19 games in which he’d played, 10 at third base, two at second. He’s also been used in the outfield as well as at shortstop a couple of times. Six of his starts have come against righties, six against lefties.

“So, yeah, David’s going to get an opportunity to play whenever we feel that there are at bats for him,” Scoiscia said. “He’s done well. He led off the other day in Seattle, we’ll use him in a multitude of roles and I’m sure that his playing time will increase as we move on and he continues to string together good at-bats.”

A man of few words, Fletcher said he would love to play all the time. But he is far from consumed by that possibility.

Related Articles

• Dodgers make lead stand up this time, beat Angels in second game of Freeway Series
• Angels warm to the task, rally in ninth to take Freeway Series opener against Dodgers
• Rookie catcher Jose Briceno impresses Angels
• Freeway Series updates and box score: Angels defeat Dodgers in opener
• Angels hitters come up empty again, dropping series to Mariners

“Yeah, obviously, everybody wants to be an everyday player,” said Fletcher, who turned 24 on May 31. “Right now, though, just trying to do my role and help the team get wins.”

As for batting against right-handers versus southpaws, Fletcher intimated it doesn’t matter to him. Again, his big hit Friday came against Jansen, who throws right.

“I mean, I don’t really think about right-handed, left-handed pitcher,” Fletcher said. “It was a big hit that helped the team win, so it was big.”

Former Angels sports psychologist Ravizza in medically induced coma

Dr. Ken Ravizza, a former professor of kinesiology at Cal State Fullerton who worked for the Angels as a sports psychologist, is in a medically induced coma after suffering a heart attack while driving.

Ravizza of late has been working for the Chicago Cubs, who were in L.A. on June 25-28 to play the Dodgers. Word of Ravizza’s situation was found on Twitter. Cubs manager Joe Maddon confirmed what happened via email.

Ravizza reportedly was stricken while driving in Orange County. A ote posted by Claire Tehan Ravizza on CaringBridge – a page that helps families facing medical issues communicate – indicated that Ravizza had an EEG on Saturday that indicated his brain is responding to the “deep sedation,” but that it’s too soon “to make a clear determination of brain activity.”

The post also said that Ravizza’s heart and blood pressure are stable.

Ravizza, who previously worked for the Angels for some 15 years beginning in 1985 – he came back a few years later for a brief second stint – began working at Cal State Fullerton in 1977 teaching physical education classes.

Not long after, he began helping student-athletes with mental toughness.

“He was one of Fullerton’s secret weapons,” former CSF women’s gymnastics coach Lynn Rogers said. Thanks in part to Ravizza, the Titans won the 1979 national championship.

In a 2014 story published in the Orange County Register, Ravizza had this to say about his work: “In sport you have to deal with the reality of the situation that you’re in. You can’t hide. As the Greeks used to say, ancient Greek tradition, you go and you stand naked before the gods.”

Simmons cool with not going

Shortstop Andrelton Simmons is having a career year, hitting a team-high .315 with six home runs and 39 RBIs before Saturday. But his chances of making the American League All-Star team are slim because the league has many fine players at that position, such as Manny Machado (Orioles) and Carlos Correa (Astros).

He won’t win the main fan ballot, meaning his only chances will be via the player ballot or the fan ballot that will decide the final spot on the team.

Simmons isn’t concerned.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said. “Not too worried about it, honestly. Four days off sounds equally amazing so … whoever makes it is a great honor because you’re making it out of an elite group really because there are a lot of good shorstops in the American League, especially.”

Simmons knows what he’ll be doing if he doesn’t make the grade for the July 17 game in Washington D.C.

“It would be a great honor if I do,” he said. “If I don’t, just sleeping a lot and catching up, getting ready for the second half.”

Shoemaker to start throwing

Matt Shoemaker missed the second half of 2017 with a forearm injury, and had surgery to repair the radial nerve in his right forearm.

He pitched in one game this season, then was shut down and had surgery to repair a split tendon in the same forearm on May 29.

Shoemaker remains in good spirits, though, because he is going to begin throwing next week with the idea of returning sometime this season.

“I start a throwing program and, hopefully, can build back up, everything feels great, Lord willing we’re good to go,” said Shoemaker, whose best season was 2014 when he went 16-4 with a 3.04 ERA.

Shoemaker, 31, can’t wait to get back.

“It’s frustrating, to say the least,” he said. “You just want to be out there and play. You want to play, you want to help your team and when you think everything’s good and then some little thing like this comes back, it’s insanely frustrating.

“When it first happened again, it was really rough, I guess you could say, mentally, emotionally. But you’ve just gotta fight through that and now I’m looking at the positives of, ‘Hey, I get to start throwing next week and build back up and get ready to go.’ “

View the full article