Angels drop struggling Josh Hamilton out of cleanup spot

By Aaron GleemanApr 22, 2013, 5:29 PM EST
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Teams have been pitching around Albert Pujols to get to Josh Hamilton, so the Angels have dropped Hamilton to No. 5 in the lineup tonight after using him in the cleanup spot for each of the first 17 games.

That could be partly due to facing a left-hander in Derek Holland, but if Hamilton were hitting well the handedness of the pitcher probably wouldn’t be much of a factor. Instead he’s just 12-for-68 (.176) with 23 strikeouts and a .570 OPS, and manager Mike Scioscia prefers Mike Trumbo behind Pujols.

Justin Masterson is retired and doing missionary work

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By Bill BaerDec 10, 2018, 9:27 PM EST
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Fancred’s Jon Heyman reports that pitcher Justin Masterson is retired from baseball and currently doing missionary work, according to his agent Randy Rowley.

Masterson, 33, hadn’t pitched in the majors since 2015, though he had been trying to find work going into the past season but never latched on with a team. He spent 2016 in the Pirates’ minor league system and 2017 at the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate.

Masterson spent parts of eight seasons in the majors with the Red Sox, Indians, and Cardinals. Across 258 appearances, 184 of which were starts, the right-hander compiled a 4.31 ERA with 1,004 strikeouts and 498 walks in 1,201 innings of work.