American League

Sporting News, The, May 21, 2001

Anaheim

16-20: 2nd

Shoulder operation dims DiSarcina's hopes for 2001

What slim chances SS Gary DiSarcina has of playing again this season were reduced when he underwent arthroscopic surgery to trim a tendon in his right shoulder. DiSarcina, who missed all but 12 games of 2000 because of a rotator-cuff tear, still was experiencing pain from another tear suffered this spring. Exploratory surgery determined the damage was minor. DiSarcina will resume rehabilitation this week, and he hopes to play again by the end of this season. ... After having struggled with his rhythm and control, LHP Jarrod Washburn found a groove last week against the White Sox, limiting them to two runs over eight innings in a 2-0 loss. Of his 125 pitches, 81 were strikes, and he threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of 30 batters. "Those first-pitch strikes are huge," Washburn says. "When you start a guy with a strike, you put him in a hole right away. It makes guys uncomfortable in the box."

SCOUTING REPORT: If there was any doubt whether closer Troy Percival has recovered from the shoulder and elbow problems that hampered him throughout 2000, they were eliminated last Thursday, when he threw two scoreless innings in a 7-6 win over the White Sox. Percival has regained control of his fastball, but the key to his success might be the return of his power curve, which he has been able to throw for strikes when he's ahead or behind in counts. The pitch helped make Percival one of baseball's most dominant relievers in 1995 and '96, but arm problems prevented him from throwing it effectively from 1997 to 2000.

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME: RHP Shigetoshi Hasegawa was the Angels' most valuable pitcher in 2000, with a 10-5 record and nine saves in 66 appearances. But he's 1-3 with three blown saves this season, and he has allowed five of 10 inherited runners to score. Most of his problems have come against first batters, who are 6-for-16 against him. His style is to work ahead in the count, so he likes to throw first-pitch strikes. But when he gets behind, he gets in trouble. --Mike DiGiovanna

TSNumber

.340

The combined average for the team's Nos. 8 and 9 hitters through the first 35 games, with 80 hits in 235 at-bats, 38 runs scored and 41 RBIs. The Nos. 1-7 batters were hitting .239 (230-for-961).

BATTERS         AVG    G    AB    R    H   HR

Gil            .380   26    71    7   27    1
(*)Wooten      .333   22    39    9   13    3
(*)Eckstein    .321   33   109   17   35    1
Joyner( )      .277   30    83   11   23    2
Anderson( )    .264   36   148   12   39    4
Kennedy( )     .256   24    82    9   21    2
Glaus          .254   36   134   21   34    9
(*)J. Molina   .250    6    16    3    4    2
Spiezio(#)     .233   29    73    8   17    0
Palmeiro( )    .233   21    43    6   10    2
Erstad( )      .226   34   137   14   31    2
Salmon         .214   33   117   14   25    4
(*)Burke         --    1     0    0    0    0

               RBI    OBP   SB    K   BB   E

Gil             13   .384    1   13    1   6
(*)Wooten        7   .341    0    9    1   1
(*)Eckstein     11   .403    3   12    9   5
Joyner( )        8   .333    1   12    7   0
Anderson( )     17   .297    3   22    7   1
Kennedy( )      10   .303    2    8    6   2
Glaus           19   .346    0   30   18   4
(*)J. Molina     3   .294    0    3    1   0
Spiezio(#)       5   .313    1   11    9   0
Palmeiro( )      7   .283    3    4    3   0
Erstad( )       15   .280    2   24   10   0
Salmon          14   .363    3   29   27   2
(*)Burke         0     --    0    0    0   0

GRAND SLAMS: None

PITCHERS              ERA   W-L    IP     H    R   ER

Percival             0.00   2-0   12.1    3    1    0
(*)Weber             1.80   1-0   15.0   14    3    3
Levine               2.41   1-2   18.2   14    7    5
Valdes               2.81   2-2   32.0   29   10   10
Schoeneweis( )       3.24   2-2   50.0   48   19   18
Ortiz                4.30   3-3   46.0   48   27   22
Rapp                 5.03   1-3   48.1   46   29   27
Pote                 5.30   1-0   18.2   24   11   11
Holtz( )             5.56   0-0   11.1   11    7    7
Hasegawa             5.60   1-3   17.2   22   12   11
Washburn( )          5.81   1-4   31.0   36   22   20
(*)Lukasiewicz( )   27.00   0-1    0.1    1    1    1

PITCHERS            HR    K   BB   SV   AVG.

Percival             0   15    4    7   .075
(*)Weber             3    7    3    0   .246
Levine               2   13    3    0   .209
Valdes               1   20    6    0   .242
Schoeneweis( )       2   25   21    0   .257
Ortiz                5   37   16    0   .264
Rapp                 5   25   18    0   .251
Pote                 3   11    9    0   .300
Holtz( )             1   18    4    0   .256
Hasegawa             2   15   10    0   .310
Washburn( )          3   13   17    0   .288
(*)Lukasiewicz( )    1    0    0    0   .500

SHUTOUTS: None

COMPLETE GAMES: Rapp, Washburn (1)

(*) Rookie

( ) Lefthanded

(#) Switch hitter

(a) League leaders in bold

Statistics provided by STATS Inc. through Saturday, May 12.