Angels focused heading into reunion with Hamilton
ANAHEIM -- After the Angels wrap up their homestand against the Yankees Wednesday, they'll head to Arlington, where Josh Hamilton and the Rangers will be waiting.
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Friday's series opener will be the first time the Angels face Hamilton since they traded him back to Texas on April 27, and manager Mike Scioscia would like to see Hamilton find time to speak to his former teammates and owner Arte Moreno.
"I'm hoping he'll take an opportunity to thank the teammates that supported him," Scioscia said Wednesday afternoon. "And again, I really think that he should reach out to Arte and let Arte know that maybe some of the things he did weren't what he signed up to do."
Following the trade and the Rangers' reintroduction of Hamilton, Scioscia expressed disappointment regarding Hamilton's lack of "accountability" to his Angels teammates.
The Angels' reunion with Hamilton comes immediately after the team had to deal with the resignation of general manager Jerry Dipoto.
The players' reaction to seeing Hamilton for the first time was similar to their reaction to Dipoto's resignation: acknowledging the moment while reiterating their focus on playing and winning the games.
"Obviously we bonded here and had a good friendship," Mike Trout said. "He was a great guy, just hopefully he doesn't get hits against us."
Right fielder Kole Calhoun echoed the sentiment.
"[Josh is] a good friend. He was a good teammate when he was here, but now he's on the other side, so we're going to go out there and we're going to try to win," Calhoun said. "He's a great guy and everything, but we're focused on the 25 guys in here."
Left-hander C.J. Wilson played with Hamilton in both Texas and Anaheim, and could be pitching against him on Sunday if Hamilton plays, as he eases back into games from a left hamstring strain.
"When you have a personal friendship with somebody, there's that added little gamesmanship to it. So I'll probably stare at him and pretend like I'm gonna throw him all fastballs, but I'm not," Wilson said. "There's a lot of history of friendship there, and a lot of Xbox games and whatnot. But he's just another guy with a bat on the other team that I'm trying to strike out."
Worth noting
• Angels reliever Cam Bedrosian was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake after Tuesday night's game against the Yankees, and reliever Mike Morin (strained left oblique) was activated from the disabled list in a corresponding move before Wednesday's series finale. The team needed bullpen depth with closer Huston Street and setup man Joe Smith both having pitched four straight days.
• Jered Weaver, on the 15-day DL with right hip inflammation, threw another bullpen session Wednesday. Scioscia said Weaver has recovered well, physically, and now is trying to clean up his mechanics.
"He's getting his work out in the bullpen," Scioscia said. "He's had a number of sessions with [pitching coach] Mike Butcher, and I think he's making progress. We'll get a read on him probably after another week or so, just to see how he's rebounding and how he feels."