Jorge Soler gets a day off against Athletics

Grissom got the Angels going in the fourth inning with a solo home run off Twins’ starter Zebby Matthews and drove in their final run in the following frame with a sacrifice fly. He could be working his way into an everyday role again with his third straight here and sixth in the Angels’ last nine games.

Grissom was swinging well and playing regularly before going on the injured list with an oblique issue at the beginning of the month, but he’s just 3-for-21 since returning and the Angels have decided they prefer Donovan Walton and Denzer Guzman over him. With 58 hard-hit balls and just 20 strikeouts over 176 plate appearances, Grissom has shown some promise this year. He seems worthy of more playing time.

The Orioles scored once in the top of the 10th, which would have been enough if their defense hadn’t faltered. After two quick outs in the bottom of the inning, with the automatic runner having advanced to third, Nolan Schanuel hit a routine grounder to the right side. It was clearly the second baseman’s ball, but Pete Alonso started to go after it and couldn’t recover and Keegan Akin couldn’t handle a bad throw on the run while trying to cover first. With the throw getting away, Schanuel advanced all of the way to third. Logan O’Hoppe then hit a tapper down the third base line. Samuel Basallo got to it too late to attempt to go to first, and Schanuel was able to run around his tag attempt without being called for being out of the baseline. Akin also made no attempt to get to home plate for a tag play, though that might not have worked out anyway. So, that’s how the Angels won. Soler had nothing to do with the rally, but his two-run homer was the team’s biggest real hit of the game. He has two homers, four RBI and three walks in three games since coming off the IL.

Soler rejoins Los Angeles’ lineup for Monday’s series opener against the Orioles following a two-week absence recovering from a mild oblique strain. The 34-year-old slugging corner outfielder has delivered a pedestrian .220/.300/.402 slash line with nine homers and 33 RBI across 243 plate appearances over 58 games this season. He’s a fringe option in deeper mixed leagues as a cheap power source at this stage of his career, especially given his struggles to avoid the injured list over the past two seasons.

Soler has been out since June 4 with an oblique strain that must have been pretty mild. He was hitting .246/.291/.385 before getting hurt, so he hasn’t been very helpful this year. Still, he figures to return as a regular, partly in the hopes that he’ll put together a hot streak and net a modest return at the trade deadline.

The Angels appear to be easing Grissom back into action, as he started two straight games after coming off the injured list on Wednesday. Expect him to be back in there on Saturday. Nolan Schanuel is at first base and batting second for the Halos against opposing left-hander Jeffrey Springs on Friday evening in West Sacramento.

Grissom has been out since June 8th with the oblique strain and could get right back into the starting lineup. The 25-year-old was hitting .246/.325/.410 with four homers and 27 RBI across 155 plate appearances through 40 games. He remains an option in deep fantasy leagues.

Grissom heads to the injured list after missing three consecutive contests over the weekend with side tightness. No word yet on the severity of the strain, which will determine how much time he misses. The 25-year-old has proven to be a worthwhile reclamation project for a perpetually rebuilding Los Angeles franchise, hitting .246/.325/.410 with four homers and 27 RBI across 155 plate appearances through 40 games.

This might mean that Vaughn Grissom is IL bound, which would be unfortunate. The 22-year-old Guzmán has hit .336/.403/.571 for Triple-A Salt Lake. If he thrives, he could get a chance to stick at second or third, and while it probably won’t happen this year, the Angels could consider moving Zach Neto off shortstop to make room for Guzman in the future.

Grissom was a late scratch from Friday’s lineup due to tightness in his left side and now he winds up missing the entire weekend series against the Dodgers. It sounds like he has shown improvement and will be able to avoid a trip to the injured list, but if this lingers into the start of next week, the Angels may be forced to make a move.