Niko

Kavadas

Kavadas gave the Twins a 6-2 lead with his two-run shot in the sixth inning. The 25-year-old has gone deep three times, and it’s pretty much the only positive thing to take from his short time in the majors thus far. Even with that homer and a double earlier, he’s still slashing an ugly .137/.228/333 slash. There’s some long-term upside, but Kavadas shouldn’t be trusted as a fantasy option right now.

It’s really not ideal to have your DH batting ninth, but the Angels do need to take a look at Kavadas, who was picked up from the Red Sox in the Luis García trade. Unfortunately, he’s just 3-for-38 with a 20/3 K/BB so far. He offers power and patience at the plate, but the strikeouts might be too much for him to overcome.

Schanuel was expected to miss the weekend while dealing with back stiffness, so it’s not a surprise to see him not in the lineup for the finale against Toronto. Niko Kavadas will start in Schanuel’s place at first base and hit eighth. Schanuel is considered day-to-day.

Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters he plans to give Schanuel the weekend off to rest a back issue that’s been bothering him recently. It doesn’t sound like a serious concern, but back issues can be tricky. It’ll likely be rookie Niko Kavadas taking over at the cold corner for a couple days until Schanuel is ready to return.

It appears to be a routine off day for Schanuel, who is batting .290 (31-for-107) with three homers and eight RBI over his last 30 games. It’ll be rookie Niko Kavadas drawing a start at the cold corner on Saturday afternoon to face Toronto righty Bowden Francis.

Kavadas’ home run was his first in the big leagues. He hit a three-run shot off Tommy Nance in the ninth inning. Kavadas was hitless in his first 14 at-bats in the majors, but blasted a home run to get off the snide. It was fitting that his first hit was a home run after he hit 22 home runs in 94 games at Triple-A this year. Kavadas will only have value in AL-Only leagues if he turns this one hit into a hot streak.

The 25-year-old first baseman was having a solid season at the Triple-A level, slashing .264/.400/.521 with 19 homers and 67 RBI over 383 plate appearances — though that dropped to .159/.229/.341 with two homers and four RBI in 11 games with Triple-A Salt Lake after being acquired from the Red Sox in the Luis Garcia deal. Expect him to see regular action at first base with the Angels over the final six and a half weeks of the season.

This comes on the heels of the Angels having designated Willie Calhoun for assignment on Thursday. Kavadas hit .264 with 19 home runs and a .951 OPS in 94 games at Triple-A this year. He has a chance to get regular playing time at least against right-handed pitching for the rest of the season. He has some power, but also struck out 130 times in those 94 games at Triple-A this year. He’s strictly an AL-Only league for the moment.

The former top 100 prospect played in 68 games for the Angels this season but simply wasn’t able to produce even, hitting .245/.315/.380 with five home runs and 20 RBI. He did demonstrate strong contact ability and good plate discipline, but time is running out for the 29-year-old to play himself into a regular role at the big league level. He had started the last three games at designated hitter, so his departure could open up more playing time for Luis Guillorme or designated hitter opportunities for Logan O’Hoppe or perhaps even a shot for newly acquired designated hitter Niko Kavadas who came over from the Red Sox at the trade deadline.

Vargas is a 19-year-old lottery ticket thrown in at the end of the deal. He has a solid 3.03 ERA across 11 appearances and four starts in the FCL and Single-A this season. He’s a long way from contributing and it’s anybody’s guess what type of pitcher he develops into over the year few years.