ARLINGTON, Texas — The Angels might have looked a little blurry-eyed against the Texas Rangers in Thursday night’s series opener.
The team’s chartered flight didn’t arrive at DFW Airport until 4 a.m. local time, so the Angels didn’t check into their hotel until nearly 5 a.m.
The first team bus from the hotel to Globe Life Field left at 1:30 p.m.
“I was asleep at like 6 or 6:30,” Angels rookie first baseman Niko Kavadas said. “I think I got six hours and five minutes. Showered and hopped on the bus.”
Manager Ron Washington said he’ll let his players try to catch up on rest before Friday’s game. For Thursday’s game, however, it was all systems go. It was important for the Angels’ young players, especially those with no history at Globe Life Field, to get in some pre-game batting practice.
“[We needed to] come in here today and get a workout and then tomorrow we’ll back off,” Washington said. “You have to get out here and get a feel for the ballpark, do some sweating, and just go for it. No excuses.”
The Angels’ 10-1 victory over the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium, luckily, only lasted 2 hours, 18 minutes.
This is Kavadas’ first trip to Arlington, so getting some BP swings was important.
“We have guys on the squad who haven’t seen the stadium before, haven’t seen how the ball flies, haven’t seen how the ball caroms off of different parts of the wall,” Kavadas said. “I think that’s really, really important, so I’m excited to take advantage of that.”
Players, he said, adjust to tough turnarounds by preparing ahead of time, perhaps sleeping longer in the days before the trip. Thursday’s starting pitcher Jack Kochanowicz, by the way, took an earlier flight to DFW, so he was able to get a full night’s rest.
“You see a day like this on the schedule, and you know it’s coming,” Kavadas said. “So the idea is you backload some sleep prior to it, and then tonight you get some additional sleep as well. So it’s being proactive rather than reactive and taking care of it before it happens, so when nights like these that are inevitable happen, you’ve got some sleep logged.”
WASHINGTON WANTS KAVADAS TO LET IT FLY
Kavadas is only in his third week in the majors, but he’s feeling more comfortable with every at-bat. The 25-year-old Notre Dame alumnus hit his second home run on Wednesday but has struggled for much of his first 13 games, batting .095 with four RBIs, 21 strikeouts, and three walks. Washington keeps reminding Kavadas that “a swinging bat is a dangerous bat.”
“And he does have a dangerous bat, he’s just got to swing it a lot more,” Washington said.
Kavadas has a .409 on-base percentage over parts of four minor league seasons.
“I told him at the major league level, if you don’t get it off your shoulder – because these guys are around the plate a lot, you don’t know the umpires – so if you see something, you’ve got to get a swing at it.”
Kavadas wasn’t in the starting lineup Thursday against Rangers left-hander Cody Bradford. Kavadas said he’s feeling more comfortable, especially with some of his former Triple-A teammates joining him in the clubhouse, such as Ryan Miller and Ryan Zefferjahn.
“It’s been good to have some familiar faces in the clubhouse and I’m getting comfortable with the staff and knowing everyone’s names and how everyone operates,” he said. “I think these last couple of weeks have been really, really good.”
His homer on Wednesday came on a 98.8 mph inside fastball on a 3-and-1 count.
“I was able to create a leverage count and get a really good heater from Bobby Miller on the inner half,” Kavadas said. “Yeah, it felt good to get the head [of the bat] out.”
The Angels want to see more of the same.
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“Hopefully, we can get him to the point where he’s starting to feel more comfortable and starts seeing pitches and swinging at them instead of watching to see if they’re a ball,” Washington said. “Swing before you take.”
STREAKING WARD
Outfielder Taylor Ward is on a tear at the plate. Ward entered Thursday’s series opener against the Rangers with a 14-game hit streak and has five consecutive games with an extra-base hit, including home runs in the past three.
The last time an Angels player homered in more than three consecutive games was Mike Trout, who hit homers in seven consecutive games from Sept. 4-12, 2022.
“It looks like he’s locked in. He’s taking the pitches where they are and swinging at them where they are,” Washington said of Ward. “He’s not trying to force anything and that’s when you know you’re seeing the ball well.”
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Samuel Aldegheri, 0-1, 3.60 ERA) at Rangers (TBA), Friday, 5:05 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM
