Alberto

Callaspo

This was expected. Callaspo is a very good defensive second baseman, and the Angels are loaded with shortstops. He might be ready to compete for a job in the majors in 2006.

It might be a good idea if there were anything at all for him to do on the Diamondbacks. Both Orlando Hudson and Stephen Drew are playing well. Perhaps Callaspo can play over Hudson against lefties until Craig Counsell gets back, but that wouldn’t give him fantasy value. He’d be better off left in Triple-A.

Callaspo, who has been seeing time at shortstop since Stephen Drew was promoted, is batting .339/.406/.474 in 443 at-bats. The Diamondbacks are only going to want to break in so many youngsters next year, so they’ll probably keep Orlando Hudson at second base. Callaspo, though, seems on his way to becoming an average major league regular.

There was little point to calling up Callaspo in the first place if this was how he was going to be used. He made just two starts for the Diamondbacks, the last coming on Aug. 12. He was 4-for-15 with a double.

Alberto Callaspo is batting playing third base and hitting eighth. Angels manager Mike Scioscia says that the benching has nothing to do with Trumbo’s two errors in Thursday’s game. Their plan is to have Callaspo play third base when the team has a ground ball pitcher on the mound. Still, if Trumbo can’t play at least passable defense, he’s likely to concede more time there.

Trumbo sat out Wednesday’s game due to flu-like symptoms, but he’ll serve as the Angels’ designated hitter on Thursday while Kendrys Morales gets the night off. Maicer Izturis will make the start at the hot corner.

Trumbo will keep Alberto Callaspo glued to the bench after going 2-for-4 with a walk, steal and his first home run in Thursday’s loss to the Twins. It will be his fourth start in seven games. Unless Trumbo greatly improves on his 2011 line of .254/.291/.477, his brutal defense is going to make it hard for the Angels to leave him at third base long-term.

Alberto Callaspo is playing third base and hitting sixth. The Angels will continue to stick to their plan of using Callaspo whenever the team has a ground ball pitcher on the mound. C.J. Wilson’s ground ball rate (49.3 percent) was 12th in the American League in 2011.

Mark Trumbo, meanwhile, has started in the other two. Callapso is by far the better defensive player and offers a higher career OBP, but it seems the Halos are going to employ a kind of platoon at the hot corner all year.

That’s now two starts at the hot corner for Callapso and two starts for Mark Trumbo through the Angels’ first four games. It’s a situation that will probably be worth monitoring all year, with Callapso offering the better defense but Trumbo providing more power potential.