Angels' Niko Kavadas: Homers, reaches three times in loss
Rotowire
Kavadas went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk and three runs scored in Saturday's loss to the Rangers.
Kavadas reached and scored in each of his first three trips to the plate while also adding his fourth home run of the campaign. It marked only the fourth multi-hit performance for the first baseman this season and he's now driven in a run in back-to-back games. Kavadas' three runs scored in Saturday's loss also marked a season high for the 25-year-old.
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Angels' Niko Kavadas: Playing time continues to slip
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Kavadas is not in the lineup for Thursday's contest against the White Sox.
For the second straight day and third time in four games, Kavadas is not in the lineup versus a right-hander. Angels manager Ron Washington has leaned more towards having both of his catchers in the lineup lately, with one of them behind the plate and the other serving as the designated hitter. In Thursday's series finale, it will be Logan O'Hoppe catching and Matt Thaiss at DH.
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Angels' Niko Kavadas: Out versus southpaw
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Kavadas is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the White Sox, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.
With southpaw Jared Shuster toeing the rubber for the White Sox, the left-handed-hitting Kavadas will begin the contest on the bench. Brandon Drury will fill the Halos' designated-hitter slot.
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Angels' Niko Kavadas: Sitting versus lefty
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Kavadas isn't in the Angels' lineup for Friday's game against the Astros, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.
Kavadas will retreat to the dugout Friday as the lefty-throwing Yusei Kikuchi starts on the bump for Houston. Kavadas' absence will allow Charles Leblanc to serve as Los Angeles' designated hitter while batting fourth.
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Angels' Niko Kavadas: Pops second homer
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Kavadas went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 10-1 win over the Dodgers.
Kavadas has gotten off to a slow start in his big-league career, hitting safely in just four of his first 13 games. He has two homers, one stolen base and four RBI so far, but he's also piled up 21 strikeouts. Kavadas looks to have settled into a platoon role at designated hitter, but that high strikeout rate could cost him playing time down the stretch even with the Angels in evaluation mode.
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Angels' Niko Kavadas: Sitting versus southpaw
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Kavadas is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game at Detroit, Erica Weston of Bally Sports West reports.
Kavadas started the previous five games but will hit the bench Sunday after going 1-for-17 with eight strikeouts during that span. Brandon Drury will serve as the designated hitter while Jacob Lopez starts at second base against Tigers lefty Brant Hurter.
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Angels' Niko Kavadas: Belts first big-league homer
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Kavadas went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in a loss to Toronto on Thursday.
The Angels' offense had been shut out until Kavadas made things interesting with a three-run blast to left field in the ninth inning. The long ball was not only his first as a major-leaguer, it was also his first hit of any kind -- he had gone 0-for-14 prior to the homer. Kavadas has intriguing power, as he went deep 19 times in 94 games in Triple-A this season prior to being called up by the Halos on Aug. 16.
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Angels' Niko Kavadas: Sitting versus southpaw
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Kavadas isn't in the Angels' lineup for Tuesday's game versus Kansas City, Erica Weston of Bally Sports West reports.
The lefty-hitting Kavadas will take a seat Tuesday while the Royals send left-hander Cole Ragans to the mound. Brandon Drury will instead serve as Los Angeles' designated hitter, allowing Jack Lopez to start at second base and bat ninth.
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Angels' Niko Kavadas: Traded to Angels
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The Angels acquired Kavadas, outfielder Matthew Lugo and right-handers Ryan Zeferjahn and Yeferson Vargas from the Red Sox on Tuesday in exchange for right-hander Luis Garcia, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.
A first baseman/designated hitter with huge raw power and a lot of strikeouts, Kavadas has a better chance of breaking through with the Angels than he did with Boston. A fourth-round pick in 2021, Kavadas is already 25 and is repeating Triple-A this season. The lefty-hitting slugger slashed .281/.424/.551 with 17 home runs and a 33.4 percent strikeout rate in 83 games for Triple-A Worcester.
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Red Sox's Niko Kavadas: Rough landing in Double-A
Rotowire
Kavadas hit just .222/.370/.333 with two home runs and a 16:40 BB:K over 24 games in Double-A to finish off the 2022 campaign.
After smashing 24 homers with a 1.063 OPS in 86 games split between Single-A and High-A -- where in both cases he was older than the average player at the level -- Kavadas absolutely cratered upon his rise to Double-A. He struck out in 40 percent of his plate appearances with Portland, and his in-game power completely evaporated in the process. Kavadas did at least continue to draw plenty of walks, but that's not enough to offset such a brutal strikeout rate. All prospects come with some degree of risk, but Kavadas carries more than most.
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Red Sox's Niko Kavadas: Racking up extra-base knocks
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Kavadas has hit .333/.490/.744 with 10 home runs and a 20:25 BB:K since being promoted to High-A Greenville in late June.
He put up a 1.062 OPS through 59 games with Single-A Salem to earn the promotion, and Kavadas has been even better since moving up. Of course, he's also 23, meaning that Kavadas has been older than the average player at both levels, so it'll be important for him to keep hitting as he moves up through the minor leagues. That said, it's simply worth appreciating that he's managed to rack up 45 extra-base hits (24 homers, 20 doubles and a triple) in 83 minor-league games this year. Since he certainly has nothing left to prove in High-A, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Notre Dame product move up to Double-A later this month.
