J.B. SHUCK UPDATE (revised) By JON KLEINKNECHT Inquirer Sports Editor jkleinknecht@civitasmedia Thirty-six years to the day, J.B. Shuck of the Los Angeles Angels became only the second player in franchise history to have 2 hits, score twice, drive in 2 runs, walk twice and steal 2 bases in a game. On Sunday, he accomplished the feat in a 10-9 extra-inning loss against the Pittsburgh Pirates. After going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored a day earlier, J.B. went 2-for-3 and racked up the other above-mentioned deuces on Sunday. On June 23, 1977 against the Chicago White Sox in a 10-6 win, Bobby Bonds — the father of Major League Baseball career homeruns leader Barry Bonds — banged out 2 hits, scored 4 runs, drove in 2, reached base twice on walks and stole a trio of bases. Although J.B. played in 37 games late in the season for the Houston Astros in 2011, he is considered a rookie this year by MLB standards. This year, the 2005 Galion High School graduate has played 51 games, starting 37 in the out field. He sports a solid .290 batting average, going 40-for-138 with 16 runs scored, 15 runs batted in, 8 doubles, a triple, 12 walks and 2 stolen bases. He has a slugging percentage of .362 and a .349 on-base average. In addition, he is tied for the team lead in sacrifice bunts (4) and hit a sacrifice fly. Defensively, he has thrown out 3 baserunners — including one at home plate — and committed just 1 error. In his MLB career, the southpaw has a .283 batting average playing 88 games and walking more times (23) than striking out (20). Two of the Angels’ regular outfielders (Josh Hamilton and Peter Bourjos) are dealing with injuries and the ability to play status of each is day-to-day. That means more playing time for J.B., who was signed by the Angels’ as a free agent over the winter after spending five summers mired in the Houston organization. Bourjos only recently returned from a stint of more than a month on the disabled list. It was during that time J.B. received the majority of his starts, typically playing left field and batting ninth.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 14:49:09 +0000
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