ARLINGTON, Texas — The Angels might have looked a little blurry-eyed against the Texas Rangers in Thursday night’s series opener.
The team’s chartered flight didn’t arrive at DFW Airport until 4 a.m. local time, so the Angels didn’t check into their hotel until nearly 5 a.m.
The first team bus from the hotel to Globe Life Field left at 1:30 p.m.
“I was asleep at like 6 or 6:30,” Angels rookie first baseman Niko Kavadas said. “I think I got six hours and five minutes. Showered and hopped on the bus.”
Manager Ron Washington said he’ll let his players try to catch up on rest before Friday’s game. For Thursday’s game, however, it was all systems go. It was important for the Angels’ young players, especially those with no history at Globe Life Field, to get in some pre-game batting practice.
“[We needed to] come in here today and get a workout and then tomorrow we’ll back off,” Washington said. “You have to get out here and get a feel for the ballpark, do some sweating, and just go for it. No excuses.”
The Angels’ 10-1 victory over the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium, luckily, only lasted 2 hours, 18 minutes.
This is Kavadas’ first trip to Arlington, so getting some BP swings was important.
“We have guys on the squad who haven’t seen the stadium before, haven’t seen how the ball flies, haven’t seen how the ball caroms off of different parts of the wall,” Kavadas said. “I think that’s really, really important, so I’m excited to take advantage of that.”
Players, he said, adjust to tough turnarounds by preparing ahead of time, perhaps sleeping longer in the days before the trip. Thursday’s starting pitcher Jack Kochanowicz, by the way, took an earlier flight to DFW, so he was able to get a full night’s rest.
“You see a day like this on the schedule, and you know it’s coming,” Kavadas said. “So the idea is you backload some sleep prior to it, and then tonight you get some additional sleep as well. So…
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