Notes: Roster trimmed; Adell held out

With Major League rosters changing from 30 players to 28 on Thursday, the Angels optioned infielder Matt Thaiss and reliever Jose Rodriguez to their alternate training site in Long Beach.

Rosters will be 28 players the rest of the season, with five players on the taxi squad. The Angels’ decision to option Thaiss was a bit of a surprise, considering he’s the only natural first baseman on the roster outside of Albert Pujols. Now, Tommy La Stella and Taylor Ward will combine to back up Pujols.

“Tommy's been a lot better over there, and Taylor has done a nice job, too. So we're going to be fine over there,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “Matty Thaiss, I talked to him yesterday. Demonstrated to me he's got really good baseball instincts. I've seen it on the bases. He's a strong makeup guy, also, and I wanted him to know that. Every time I watched him, those points really came across to me. So he'll be back.”

Thaiss was 2-for-10 with a walk in five games. As Maddon noted, he made heads-up baserunning plays against the Astros in a 5-4 win on Saturday. Thaiss took second on fly ball to left in the sixth inning and scored on a two-out single from Brian Goodwin. Thaiss also scored the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly to right from Michael Hermosillo in the 10th inning.

“He'll be playing here at some point,” Maddon said. “It doesn't matter about hits, whatever. He did some nice things on the bases, and he reacts to situations well. And that's what I really like.”

Adell held out with quad tightness
Outfielder Jo Adell, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Angels’ top prospect, was held out of the lineup Thursday against the Mariners after some quad tightness. Maddon said it’s a minor injury, and the manager wasn’t even sure which quad Adell injured. Maddon also added that he has been talking plenty with Adell since his Major League debut on Tuesday and had a conversation with him about his defensive miscues on Wednesday.

“I've been with him both pregames, up until today, trying to do a little bit work with him personally on his defense,” Maddon said. “He talks well, meaning that he's not intimidated by anything. He just seems to play.”

Adell, 21, went 2-for-8 with two infield singles in his first two career games, but Maddon said it’s too early to glean anything from Adell just yet, despite his issues in right field on Wednesday.

“After a couple games, there’s nothing to conclude,” Maddon said. “He's going to be really good. I like the running, like the hustle. Been challenged on some difficult plays. We'll work through that.”