Vaughn

Grissom

It appears to be nothing more than a routine day of maintenance for the 34-year-old slugger. Nolan Schanuel will function as the team’s designated hitter in his place while Vaughn Grissom will start at first base and bat fifth for the Halos against Athletics’ right-hander Aaron Civale.

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 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.

He’s considered day-to-day. Nick Madrigal will start in his place at second base and will bat eighth for the Angels against Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers on Friday evening.

Tonight’s homer was hit 106.8 mph off Michael Lorenzen. Grissom’s .246/.325/.410 line isn’t spectacular, but his 47 percent hard-hit rate, in combination with a tiny 11 percent strikeout rate, is very impressive. It seems doubly painful that the Red Sox traded Kyle Harrison for Caleb Durbin when they could have just gone forward with Grissom instead.

Schanuel underwent an MRI on Wednesday that revealed the ankle issue after experiencing calf tightness the past couple days. The 24-year-old didn’t feel right after testing his leg earlier this week. There is no timetable for his return. It’ll be Vaughn Grissom handling the cold corner in his absence.