The Angels hope C.J. Cron can help energize their offense.
Cron has spent much of the season at Triple-A Salt Lake, but the Angels recalled him on Monday and put him in the starting lineup at first base. Albert Pujols is in the lineup as the designated hitter.
"This is where you want to be, so it's good to be back," Cron said.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia was pleased with reports from Triple-A, where Cron was hitting .323 with 6 home runs and 23 RBI.
"Of all the guys down there, he's swinging the bat best," Scioscia said. "With what C.J. did last year, and this year he hasn't quite gotten his game, but hopefully he's made adjustment. He was swinging the bat well there an hopefully he'll give us a boost up here. ... He's always got a great attitude. That's not even a question. I think he just made some adjustments for what he's doing in the batter's box that hopefully pay off."
Last year, Cron made his Major League debut with the Angels in May and batted .256 with 11 home runs and 37 RBI over 79 games. This year, he batted just .204 with one home run and 6 RBI in 35 games.
Cron figures playing every day in the minor leagues is what helped him get back in a groove at the plate.
""I just got my at-bats," Cron said. "I wasn't playing much up here. I couldn't control that (when I would be back). The only thing I could try to do was get better."
Said Scioscia: "I think in the beginning he was getting plenty of at-bats. He was playing about five days a week early. I don't think he was sporadically playing once a week. When we knew he needed to work on some things he went down. I think there's some at-bats guys need to keep their edge. It's not necessarily seven days a week. (With) C.J., we know what he can do when he's swinging the bat well."
