The Angels had a combined 51 home runs and 187 runs batted in on the bench for Wednesday’s series finale against the Cincinnati Reds in Angel Stadium: Neither Mike Trout nor Albert Pujols, who bat third and fourth, respectively, were in the lineup.
“This is a tremendous bench,” Manager Mike Scioscia joked before the game. “We’ve been trying to add depth to the team, and I guess we found one way to add bench depth.”
Although Trout’s day off was more of a maintenance issue, a day the star center fielder can combine with Thursday’s off day to “refresh,” as Scioscia said, Pujols is dealing with a potentially more serious issue: plantar fasciitis in his right foot.