Quote Originally Posted by Angels.mlb.com
OAKLAND -- This has been a long time coming for Ryan Budde.
Since being drafted by the Angels in 2001, Budde has put in his time in the Minor Leagues and on Friday night he finally got his chance to start a Major League baseball game.

The soon-to-be 28-year-old has spent the better part of six seasons in the Minors, he has totaled 1,661 at-bats there and was a Rule 5 Draft pick of the Phillies, only to be returned to the Angels.

And now he can say he has started in the big leagues.

"It feels good," Budde said. "I'm ready to go. I'm gonna go in there, play my [tail] off and see what happens. I've got everyone pulling for me, so that makes it a little easier."

Budde has appeared in two games in his career, both this year, and his only career at-bat came on July 31 against Seattle.

"He's a real good receiver of the ball," manager Mike Scioscia said of Budde. "He's tough, and offensively he's made adjustments over the last couple of years to be a much tougher out in the batter's box."

Scioscia paired Budde with pitcher Dustin Moseley, a guy he caught many times at Triple-A, which should make the transition for him a bit easier.

"It's good to catch a familiar face," Budde said. "I caught Moseley almost every time out last year in Salt Lake."

Scioscia, a former big-league catcher, would obviously like to see his newest catcher do well.

"It's great to see kids who have worked hard get opportunities," Scioscia said. "He's worked hard for it, and that makes you feel good."

Budde also knows that he will have Scioscia's watchful eye keeping tabs on him during the course of the game.

"It's kind of tough," Budde said smiling. "All eyes will be on me because he knows what we should be doing back there at all times."

Infield gets makeover; Aybar recovering Thursday night's infield saw Casey Kotchman at first base, Maicer Izturis at second, Chone Figgins at third and Orlando Cabrera at shortstop.

On Friday night, it looked nothing like that.

Cabrera was in the lineup, but at designated hitter as Izturis shifted over to shortstop. Figgins moved to second base and two new faces joined those two.

Rookie Matt Brown made his first start at third base, doing so in his second stint with the club, while Robb Quinlan was at first base.

This left Scioscia with first baseman Kotchman as his only remaining infielder as the Angels are short on utility options at the present time.

"We have a short bench," Scioscia said. "But we have a lot of versatility."

On top of Figgins and Izturis being able to play three infield positions, Scioscia mentioned that Brown can play first or third and perhaps the outfield.

Help is on the way in the form of Erick Aybar from a right hand contusion; he has recently started his rehab at Salt Lake.

The utility man is 3-for-8 in two games with the Bees, but was not in the lineup for Friday's game with Albuquerque.

"Physically, he feels great," Scioscia said. "As soon as he gets his legs under him and gets some at-bats, we'll get him back up here."

Who's No. 1? With the recent demotion of Brandon Wood back to the Minor Leagues, some Angels fans might be wondering how top picks such as Wood are doing.

Wood was the first-round pick of the Angels in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft and has been up with the big club a couple of times this season.

He has shown the ability to hit for power with 25 home runs at Double-A Arkansas last year and has 16 home runs in 84 games with Triple-A Salt Lake this season.

He is a lifetime .281 hitter in the Minors, batting .257 this year and .276 in 2006. The Angels may be waiting to see his average climb higher before seeing him as an everyday player in the Major Leagues.

He is 3-for-21 in his two brief stints in the bigs, but the Angels still have high hopes for him.

"He has a tremendous amount of ability," Scioscia said. "Offensively he's trying to make adjustments. He's starting to drive the ball and that's encouraging."

In 2004, the Angels took Jered Weaver with their first pick, and three years later he is a fixture in the rotation.

He has gone 14-5 with a 2.80 ERA in parts of three Minor League seasons and owns an 18-7 big-league record with a 3.21 ERA.

In 2005, the Angels took a local product Trevor Bell out of Crescenta Valley High School with their compensation pick between the first and second rounds. He finished 2005 in Rookie ball, then played in Rookie ball in Orem last season. This season, he is at Class A Cedar Rapids and is 4-4 with a 5.21 ERA.

Last year, it was another local kid -- catcher Hank Conger from Huntington Beach High School -- who is hitting .297 with nine home runs at Cedar Rapids.

This year, the Angels' first pick was also a compensation pick, pitcher Jonathan Bachanov. They signed him three weeks ago, but he has not joined the organization just yet.

Up next: Angels righty Kelvim Escobar (11-5, 2.87 ERA) will be opposed by A's righty Joe Blanton (8-8, 3.82 ERA). Game time is scheduled for 12:55 p.m. PT.
It's good to see someone finally get a chance in the majors. Hopefully he can make the best of it.