Eppler talks 'adversity' contributing to skid

BOSTON -- The Angels have been scuffling of late, entering Friday having lost seven in a row and 11 of their last 13 games. But general manager Billy Eppler, who joined the club for its series in Boston, said a perfect storm of factors led to the club’s recent slide and that he doesn’t expect it to continue.

The Angels have had to weather injuries in recent weeks, including losing shortstop Andrelton Simmons (left ankle), Andrew Heaney (left shoulder inflammation) and Griffin Canning (left elbow inflammation) to the injured list. Their pitching troubles have continued, and combined with a struggling offense it’s led to the Angels falling out of postseason contention.

“Obviously, this has been a time when we’ve been dealing with adversity,” Eppler said. “We’ve been dealing with adversity on the injury front. A time or two where we weren’t firing on all cylinders. Also, a little bit of bad luck in some unfortunate sequencing of events on the field. I don’t think a .230 BABIP on the offensive side is a sustainable number. It’s just not. But that’s what we’re faced with right now. It’s kind of been this perfect storm of circumstances and adversity all coupled together.”

Eppler, however, said he believes in the character of the club’s players and doesn’t see it being effort-related or anything of that nature.

“We know our true talent level and we’ll play to it,” Eppler said. “Right now, it’s just been a convergence of a lot of different circumstances out of our control. You just have to stay present. Yesterday’s gone. Tomorrow’s not here yet. So you have to stay completely present. I know our guys are there supporting each other. They’ve got each other’s backs. We support them.”

With the Angels more than 10 games out of the AL Wild Card chase, they’re expected to give several youngsters playing time down the stretch, including second baseman Luis Rengifo, third baseman Matt Thaiss and starting pitchers Jose Suarez, Jaime Barria and Patrick Sandoval. Canning is also throwing a bullpen session on Saturday and could return as early as next week.

“They’ve come up out of necessity,” Eppler said. “Thaiss is playing third base for the first time and then having to do it on a pretty big stage. Rengifo is getting a load of playing time and handling moving around the infield, putting together really good at-bats. The [young pitchers] are handling the responsibility and I feel good about how they’ve developed and how they are competent and learning and growing. Quite frankly they feel like guys we’ll be able to trust, right now, but also as we move later into the season and future seasons."

The Angels have reached the postseason just once since Mike Trout joined the team in 2011 and it came back in 2014. The Angels have an obvious need for pitching this offseason and could address it with several contracts coming off the books, including Matt Harvey ($11 million), Trevor Cahill ($9 million), Cody Allen ($8.5 million) and Jonathan Lucroy ($3.35 million).

Eppler, though, wouldn’t get into specifics on how he’ll approach free agency this offseason after the Angels opted to go with a strategy of signing players to one-year deals last offseason after failing to sign any players to multi-year deals.

“We talked to the ‘quote, unquote’ premium guys last winter, too,” Eppler said. “Always looking for ways to improve the club and make it better. So it wouldn’t be any different this winter.”

Ramirez, Middleton to start rehab assignment

Relievers Noe Ramirez (viral infection) and Keynan Middleton (Tommy John surgery) will begin rehab assignments with Class A Advanced Inland Empire on Saturday. Ramirez is expected to need roughly two outings, but once he returns, he’ll have to serve his three-game suspension for hitting Jake Marisnick with a pitch on July 16.

Middleton, who dealt with a nerve issue in his elbow that forced him off his rehab assignment in mid-July, is expected to need three to five appearances before being reinstated.

Angels add Mejia, trade for Del Pozo

Left-hander Adalberto Mejia joined the Angels on Friday after being claimed from the Braves on Thursday. First baseman/reliever Jared Walsh was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room for Mejia on the roster.

Additionally, the Angels acquired lefty reliever Miguel Del Pozo from the Rangers for cash. Del Pozo had a 5.12 ERA with 65 strikeouts, 21 walks and five homers allowed in 45 2/3 innings at Triple-A Nashville.

“He’s kind of intriguing,” Eppler said. “He’s a left-handed reliever with a really good breaking ball. He’s had success against both lefties and righties. We’re excited to get him in the fold. We’ll see if he’s a candidate to come up at some point.”