LA Angels Andrelton Simmons is glad to be back in the line-up, and so is his team.

When LA Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons went down with a severely sprained ankle at the end of May it seemed Iike the Angels were stuck in first gear.

What a difference a month makes!!! The LA Angels could have just taken the excuse train superhighway after Simba went down, but just like they have done all season they have kept fighting. The Angels went 20-14 in Simmons absence and are two games over .500 for the first time all season.

For Simmons returning from the 34-game lay off couldn’t come soon enough.

“It was hard being out. I just tried to distract myself as much as possible until could start walking around and resuming baseball activities. I played with my dog a lot and did a lot of things that my wife wanted to do,” Simmons said of his rehab. “It felt like forever (being out), but I’m glad I’m better now for it.”

Simmons was originally supposed to missed two to three months with the Grade 2 ankle sprain, but he came back much sooner than expected.

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“I tried to fight with the trainers about that (timetable to come back). I don’t care about anybody else (timetable from the same injury, I just tried to make progress as fast as possible,” Simmons said about his rehab. “I’ back now and I’m happy. I don’t know how it is, but I’m ready to go.”

Simmons’ teammates Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun are happy to see their star-shortstop back as well.

“It’s great to have Simba back. He plays the game hard all the time,” Mike Trout said before Thursday’s game. “This is the first time all year our full line-up. I’m really excited. We are playing well right now and keep winning series’. This is a make or break stretch before the All-Star Break. We could go out and win some series’ and see where it goes from here.”

Veteran Kole Calhoun agrees with Trout on the importance of having Simba back.

“Getting Andrelton Simmons back today gives us the ideal line-up we had hoped to have from the beginning of the season,” Calhoun said. “This is a team that is built to win. I think everyone in this clubhouse is very confident in what we got. It’s just a matter of going out staying healthy and playing together.”

With Andrelton Simmons back in the line-up the Angels add another hitter who is batting close to .300 (.297) and another strong defensive player in the infield that will make Angel pitchers job even easier.  It also gives Ausmus more flexibility with the Angels line-up as Simmons has hit in almost every spot from first to seventh (not second spot which is Trout’s).

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Simmons is what you would call a gamer and he gives the team 110% every time he takes the field even if his body is still not quite healed.

“I guess I have a high tolerance for pain. I don’t know if it is any more than your average Joe. I just know all of our players are trying to be out there as much as possible, so I just try to join them,” Simmons said. “I’m still not at 100% but I feel really good at where I am at. I’ll try to save it when I can. But if there is a play where I need to go all out, I will give it my all.”

With Andrelton Simmons coming back it sees like this is the final piece of the puzzle that is the Angels optimal line-up. It couldn’t have come at a better time going into an 11-game stretch against division rivals who are ahead of the Angels in the standings.

With the Angels currently sitting at 42-40, 3.5 games back in the race for the 2nd wildcard now is the time for the Angels to put things all together.

“We have basically half a season left, we still have a lot of time,” Ausmus said. “It’s great to have everyone together, but we still have to go out and execute. It will be fun to see what the offense can do.”

The early results are in and the Angels offense looked very strong tonight collecting 12 hits and eight runs. Every Angel in the line-up had at least one hit and Simmons went 1 for 4 with a run scored in his first game back and he helped turn two big double plays to end both the fourth and the 6th inning in support of Griffin Canning.

Welcome back Simba, we’ve missed you this last month. Let’s Roll!!!