ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Kole Calhoun is back in the Angels lineup and will bat sixth when the team takes on the Astros in a rubber match Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on FOX Sports West.
Calhoun has missed nearly six weeks with a right ankle sprain.
Although he's hitting sixth in his return, Angels manager Mike Scioscia says he can see Calhoun returning to the leadoff spot where he spent 11 of the 14 games he played before his injury.
To make room for Calhoun on the roster, the Angels have sent pitcher Hector Santiago down to Triple-A Salt Lake City.
Santiago, in his first season with the organization, was removed from the rotation after a 9-2 loss to the Yankees on May 7.
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Following his demotion, he made two appearances out of the bullpen but the goal for him is to return to the rotation. With that in mind he will be stuck into the rotation at Salt Lake City and try to iron out the issues that led to his 0-6 start this season and 5.19 ERA as a starter.
"I think he pitched some better baseball than, maybe, his numbers show here," Scioscia said, "but definitely the overriding issue with Hector is go down there, find his delivery, repeat pitches, get that continuity and consistency that he had in the spring where he could make pitches on a more regular basis and once he does that, commands counts better you're going to see a guy that's a Major League pitcher again. Right now he needs to go find that."
Since his demotion, Matt Shoemaker has made two starts taking Santiago's turn in the rotation. Shoemaker is expected to make his third start of the season on Saturday against Kansas City, Scioscia says. In his two starts, Shoemaker is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA. Opposing batters are hitting .132 off of him.
Santiago, meanwhile, is expected to start for Triple-A Salt Lake City on Sunday.
"I'll take this as a positive," Santiago said of his demotion. "They want me in the rotation. They want to keep me stretched out and now it's just time to work and get back into it."
