“It’s go two or three weeks where it would be pretty bad,” he said, “then a week or two where it wouldn’t feel so bad.”

Bourjos has struggled through the season largely due to the injury that has plagued him on and off. He had a great 2010 in Salt Lake and a great 2011 in Anaheim, but suddenly his numbers dropped a ton this season. This was very stressful for Bourjos, but he has learned to deal with it.

“It’s difficult, but it was probably easier because I wasn’t getting many at-bats so [the injury] wasn’t affecting my playing time very much,” he said, “but it ‘s always frustrating when you’re putting in the work and you’re trying to get rid of it and it just keeps coming back. There’s really not much I could do about it though.”

Complicating the situation even further was the immense amount of depth the Angels have added in the outfield. With Mike Trout stepping into the outfield in Anaheim, that has limited Bourjos’ playing time tremendously.

Being the fourth outfielder has been something that Bourjos has been forced to deal with and that is something that is never easy.

“I’ve never been in this role in my career as the fourth or fifth outfielder,” he said. “That was tough adjusting to, but you have to just take it one day at a time and not worry about the at-bats you’re not getting, but focus on doing well in the at-bats you are getting.”

Despite the competition Bourjos has with the young Trout, he has bought into the phenomenal ability of the MVP candidate.

“It’s awesome [playing with him],” he says. “He’s the best player in the big leagues. There’s not one flaw in his game. There’s not one thing he doesn’t do well, and he’s so young. It’s stupid. If he stays healthy and plays every year, he could be the best player in the history of the game.”

High praise, to say the least. Among all the difficulties that he’s had to play through this year, one of the hardest was being mentioned among the trade rumors that swirled around deadline time.

“I’ve dealt with that the last three or four years,” he said. “You see it, but you don’t really think about it. The last three or four years it never really bothered me because it never seemed like it was possible and then this year, it just seemed like it might happen because of the situation we were in. We needed some pitchers. It wasn’t bad until the last few days going into the [trade deadline]. It was just the uncertainty of not knowing where I was going to be the next day.”

It looks like Bourjos will continue his rehab through the end of the Bees season before rejoining the Angels in their push for the playoffs.

“We talk about it quite a bit actually, more than most people would think,” Bees outfielder Doug Deeds said. “It just makes things a little more fun. The days get a little long late at the end of the season, a little more monotonous. So to keep track of scores just makes it a little more fun. Every game is important now.”

That said, it is a very uphill climb for the Bees who sit five games back of Reno in the division with just 13 games left to play.

“We know we have a lot of work ahead of us and a lot of things have to go our way,” Deeds said, “but just to be in it makes it a lot more fun in that clubhouse.”

Outfielder Cory Aldridge thinks that the Bees need to continue to do what they have been doing if they are going to make the playoffs.

“A lot of guys are just taking it game-by-game,” Aldridge said. “Everybody is getting more excited about the playoffs, but it’s just about playing inning-by-inning and game-by-game.”

Infielder Matt Long adds that execution of the little things is going to be big for the Bees down the stretch.

“We just need to focus on every aspect of the game,” he said. “Today we had [pitcher-fielding-practice] and bunt defense practice. We have to get back to playing some small ball too which is something that you can get away from sometimes. So it’s about execution and playing clean baseball.”

The Bees definitely executed Tuesday night when they beat Colorado Springs 17-5. The Bees will start a pivotal five-game series with the best team in the Pacific Coast League, the Sacramento River Cats. With the game in Sacramento the first pitch with be at 8:05. The Bees return home on Monday night to welcome in the Tucson Padres. For more information on tickets call (801) 325-BASE or visit slbees.com.

“I was a little confused,” Geltz remembered. “He said ‘Hey man you’re going to have to tighten some stuff up.’ I thought ‘what!’ I didn’t really know what he was talking about. Then he said ‘you’re going to have to make a good impression on [Angels Manager Mike] Scioscia.’ I thought he was joking. I mean, I lost it. I started crying. It was pretty cool.”

Geltz was being called up to the big leagues for the first time in his career. He packed his bags and headed to the airport. He got to Los Angeles on the Saturday the 11th, but he didn’t make his first appearance until Thursday, the 16th.

“I felt pride, I was so happy,” Geltz recalled as he thought back to his feelings entering the game against the Tampa Bay Rays. “It was awesome. It was all kind of like a blur, but when I sit back and think about it now, I remember every step on my jog into the mound. [Angels catcher Chris] Iannetta met me there and he said ‘just take a minute and remember this. Enjoy this right now. You’ll never get it again.’ It gave me chills. It was surreal. It was absolutely an unbelievable feeling.”

Geltz walked the first man he faced, but calmed down after that, retiring the side on a fly out, a strikeout and another fly out. The most memorable moment of his debut was striking out Rays catcher Jose Molina.

“It was funny because after I struck him out, Iannetta tossed the ball aside and I had no idea what was going on so I had my glove up waiting for the ball. It didn’t even occur to me until afterward. Then I thought ‘Holy cow!’ That was my first strike out. I’ve seen that on TV and now that’s me. It was the coolest thing ever.”

Geltz made one more appearance against the Rays the next night where he gave up one earned run on two hits and two walks. Geltz is now back in Salt Lake with Bees, but eagerly awaiting his next call into Keith Johnson’s office.

That means the Bees will have to jump two teams to make the playoffs because only division winners qualify. With just over two weeks left in the season, this will be a herculean task and a very unlikely outcome.

Regardless of whether or not it is possible for the Bees to dig themselves out of the hole they are in, it is a great sign for the organization that the team has turned things around this summer.

A large reason for the turnaround has been the consistent lineup which has feature the likes of Andrew Romine, Kole Calhoun and Luis Jimenez. Jimenez has been tearing it up offensively and Romine and Calhoun have been doing their usual—playing consistently both offensively and defensively.

John Hester has also returned to SaltLake from Anaheim after Chris Iannetta returned from the disabled list. Hester has been pretty much platooning with Hank Conger since his return to SaltLake and they have both been playing well.

The Bees have twelve home games left in their chase for the playoffs, starting with a four-game series with Colorado Springs from Saturday to Tuesday. For information on tickets visit slbees.com or call (801) 325-BASE.

Enright was traded from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Angels on July 25. He spent his entire career with the Diamondbacks after being drafted by the organization in the second round of the 2007 Draft.

He attributes his success in Salt Lake, at least partially, to the change in scenery.

“It’s good to get a fresh start,” he said. “I had a great time and a great five years with the Diamondbacks. I had some really good years and some sub-par years also, but I just wanted to try to come over here and meet new guys and feel comfortable in a new clubhouse and doing the best I can to give the team a chance to win.”

The new chance with the Angels has clearly revitalized Enright. He says he is commanding the strike zone better, but that’s not all that’s changed.

“At the start of the year I was throwing really well and about a month and a half into the season there were a few things that went on throughout the organization that get discouraging and I think I let it bother me a little bit,” he said. “Coming over here and having that fresh start has let me free my mind and grab the baseball and just go after it.”

The red-headed right hander also feels comfortable in his corner of the clubhouse. Enright, Kole Calhoun and Doug Deeds have lockers next to each other in a corner of the locker room. All three of them have red hair and the rest of the team has labeled that area “Ginger Bread Corner.”

“For me it starts with the ginger beard,” Enright said. “They’d always have signs in Arizona, here we have the little Ginger Corner. We get a lot of crap for all three of us having lockers right next to each other but we enjoy it, we enjoy it a lot.”

Enright is slated to start again Saturday night in Nashville.

Jimenez now has 31 doubles, 13 homers and 14 stolen bases in 2012.

“Right now everything is going good,” he said. “I’ve been seeing the ball good, I’ve been putting a good swing on it and I’ve been playing good defense.”

With everything coming together the way that the Angels thought it eventually would for Jimenez, he attributes it all to two things.

“Right now focus is the number one thing,” he says. “We’ve also been seeing more pitches. When you pass 300 at-bats you start seeing the ball better and making better adjustments. You start knowing what pitches the pitcher is going to throw.”

With Jimenez’s success at the Triple-A level, many fans may be expecting to see him in Los Angeles sometime soon. That may be the case come September, but regardless of when it happens, Jimenez is trying to do his best where he’s at.

“I just have to keep doing the same thing I have been doing,” he said. “[The call-up] will come one day. I don’t know when, whenever they want me. I just have to keep doing my thing here. If I do that, I think it will come. I’m not worried that much about that, I’m just focused on doing good here because if I don’t play well here, it won’t come.”

Going into Monday night’s game with Oklahoma City, Jimenez leads the team with a .312 batting average.

In seven games with SaltLake, Wells hit .308 with two home runs, a double, two runs and three runs batted in. Wells was called up to Los Angeles on the 28th, presenting the Angels with a very good problem to have—too many good outfielders.

Wells will join Mike Trout, Torii Hunter, Peter Bourjos and Mark Trumbo in the Angels outfield. The team will have to figure out where to fit everyone with the arrival of Wells off the disabled list. It will be a complicated decision and one that might end up including a trade and/or someone from the big league roster playing in SaltLake.

Iannetta hit .273 with two doubles and two runs batted in. Iannetta’s move to the Angels will put him back behind the plate with former Bee Bobby Wilson as the second catcher. The pushes John Hester back to SaltLake.

The Angels now seem fully healthy and ready for their big week with a four-game series at Texas who is in first place in the American League West and at Chicago for a three-game series against the White Sox who sit in first place in the AL Central.

The most impressive part of the night was Trout’s opposite field home run which was estimated at 430 feet. Right now, Trout is having what many people are considering the best rookie season in the history of the game. Some are even going as far as to say that he is the best player in the game right now.

Does that mean he could possibly be this season’s AL Rookie of the Year and the AL Most Valuable Player? Not only does Trout lead the American League in batting average, but he also leads the league in stolen bases with 30. He has only been thrown out three times.

He’s one off the lead for runs scored in the season with 64. He’s also third in the league with a .408 on-base percentage and fourth in the league with a .990 OPS. Keep in mind, he is doing all this after missing the first 20 games of the season while he was in SaltLake, tearing it up with the Bees.

The 20-year-old Trout has sparked the Angels who are now just five and a half games back of the Texas Rangers for first place in the American League West and atop the Wildcard standings in the AL.

Only time will tell if Trout could possibly win the Rookie of the Year award and the MVP award, but if he continues to do what he’s been doing, it would be hard to find a better player. Josh Hamilton would certainly be another candidate, but the Angels were 6-14 before Trout was called up and they are 44-27 since he joined the team.

Jepsen posted a 1.35 ERA with a 0.83 WHIP over 11 appearances with the Bees in June. Jepsen went 1-1 with one save and four holds. In 13.1 innings pitched, Jepsen faced 49 batters, striking out 14 of them and allowing only seven hits. That amounts to a .156 opponents’ batting average.

Taking stock of Jepsen’s outstanding month, the Angels called Jepsen up on July 5.He got his first major league save of the season and his eighth career major league save on Sunday afternoon when he came in to shut down a ninth-inning New York Yankees rally. Jepsen inherited a bases loaded jam with the Angels leading by just two runs after entering the inning ahead 10-5. After relieving Scott Downs who had relieved Ernesto Frieri earlier in the inning, Jepsen got Alex Rodriguez to pop out to first baseman Albert Pujols to end the game.

Meanwhile, Calhoun was called up on July 15 after hitting .360 in June. That batting average led the entire organization for the month. His .720 slugging average and 3 triples also led the organization. He was second in organization with five home runs and 20 home runs and third in runs scored with 20. He did all that while only playing in 18 games for the Bees in June.

Calhoun will compete with Peter Bourjos to become the team’s fourth outfielder behind an already young and stacked outfield inLos Angeleswith former Bees Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout tearing up the league.

Angels outfielders Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo and pitcher Jered Weaver were all selected to the game by the team’s manager Ron Washington. Meanwhile Red Sox designated hitter, David Ortiz was voted in by the fans as the starting DH.

Trout and Trumbo both entered the game as defensive replacements in the American League’s outfield in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the inning, they both had to face knuckleballer R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets.

Trout stepped up to the plate and lined a base hit into centerfield. Trumbo hit next but didn’t have as much success as Trout who promptly stole second base during the at-bat. Trumbo ended up striking out against Dickey and later did it again against Reds lefty Aroldis Chapman.

Trumbo did, however, perform well in the StateFarm Home Run Derby on Monday night. He placed third in the event with 13 home runs and some of the most impressive blasts of the night, including a 457-foot shot onto the roof of the stadium above the left field bleachers. His name was also trending on Twitter for most of the derby.

Meanwhile, Weaver entered the game in the top of the fifth. He walked the first hitter he faced which was rookie sensation Bryce Harper. Weaver then got Buster Posey to fly out, forced Harper out on a David Wright ground ball back to him and ended the inning with a Dan Uggla fly out to left field.

Ortiz went 1-for-2 in the game with a line drive single to left field in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Unfortunately for the Angels, the National League won the game, 8-0. So if the Angels continue playing the way that they have been and ultimately make it to the World Series, they will not have home field advantage.