OC Register: Angels sticking with Taylor Ward throughout slump, confident that he will adjust

[AngelsWin.com]

OAKLAND — Taylor Ward continues to play third base every day for the Angels, even as his batting average sinks.

Manager Mike Scioscia said it will all be worth it someday.

“Taylor is definitely getting experience,” Scioscia said before the Angels’ 21-3 loss to the A’s on Thursday. “Some of the adjustments he’s starting to figure out will make him a good offensive player, but right now there are growing pains.”

Ward is hitting .168, including an 0-for-23 slump after Thursday’s game.

He said he’s still confident, though.

“At this point, I’m just trying to have quality at-bats,” he said after Thursday’s game. “Trying to swing at good pitches. Trying to hit it when I get a good pitch. Of course, I feel pressure, but I’ve been (in a slump) before. There are a few adjustments.

“A few hard-hit balls get through, and I can be right back.”

Ward, 24, enjoyed a breakthrough season this year in the minors, posting a combined .977 OPS at Double-A and Triple-A.

That’s why Scioscia said there’s no point in having him take a step back from playing every day in the majors, despite his troubles in just more than a month.

“When you’ve done everything at Triple-A that Taylor did, at some point you’ve got to meet the beast of major league pitching,” Scioscia said. “Whether it happens now or next year, you’ve got to go through it. If he continues to stub his toe, when that next opportunity comes, the adjustments he makes will make him better and he’ll figure stuff out.”

Ward will not be playing winter ball, he said. Ward said a “miscommunication” led to Scioscia saying last week that Ward would play this winter in the Dominican Republic.

Ward said he can accomplish what he needs in his continued development as a third baseman when he gets to Arizona next year.

ALSO

Williams Jerez, who had allowed a run or an inherited runner to score in six straight games, pitched a perfect fifth inning, with two strikeouts. Jerez did not allow any runs in his first six games. The Angels acquired Jerez and Ty Buttrey from the Boston Red Sox for Ian Kinsler on July 30. …

Mike Trout hit his 36th homer, a 435-foot blast into the second deck in left field in the sixth inning. …

When the Angels took the field in the bottom of the sixth, none of the nine players had been on the opening day roster.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Andrew Heaney, 9-9, 3.97) at Astros (RHP Gerrit Cole, 14-5, 2.88), Friday, 5 p.m., Fox Sports West, KLAA (830 AM)

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[Angel Oracle]

.168 BA after a month is terrible.  No great expectations, but shouldn’t he be able to at least hit .200????

[WeatherWonk]

Why not? Keep running him out there and learning. 

I find myself wishing the season were longer, so we could get better answers about guys like Fernandez, Buttrey, Jerez, Cole, Robles and our catchers. Difficult to make decisions about FA and trades with small sample sizes.

At least Fletch has convinced me that he is NO WORSE than our 4th infielder and possibly our starting 2nd baseman.

[Lou]

"A few hard-hit balls get through, and I can be right back.”

2018 Angels team motto 

[eligrba4ever]

Confidence that a player will adjust is not the same as hope he will adjust. I rate the Angels outlook as hoping Ward will adjust.  And, with 9 games to go, it's pointless to try somebody else. 

[mulwin444]

41 minutes ago, eligrba4ever said:

Confidence that a player will adjust is not the same as hope he will adjust. I rate the Angels outlook as hoping Ward will adjust.  And, with 9 games to go, it's pointless to try somebody else. 

Pretty much...Ward is slated for AAA next season so another 9 games at the MLB level, with no other real options as an alternative, is pretty inconsequential.  I had a feeling this was more for Cowart to show something as the fulltime 2B before he's released this offseason.

[Jobu]

Is "stub his toe" a new Scioscia-ism, or has he used it before?

[Angel Oracle]

I'll be so glad to be rid of Scioscia's Scioscia-isms.   Year after year after year

[tdawg87]

He definitely got a good look at MLB pitching. Now he needs to take what be learned and apply it to AAA. if he kills it there again, he might be ready to contribute to the big league club. 

He looks better than Brandon Wood and Cowart, so that's a plus. 

[Lou]

1 hour ago, tdawg87 said:

He looks better than Brandon Wood and Cowart, so that's a plus. 

Talk about a ringing endorsement