Glaus Gives Team Glimpse of the Future

TUCSON, Ariz. —  Manager Terry Collins peered into the future Sunday and had no complaints about the view.

Troy Glaus, who could be the Angels’ third baseman as early as next year, obliterated a Mark Brownson fastball in the fourth inning, smashing a 420-foot home run over the left-field wall during the Angels’ 6-4 exhibition victory over the Colorado Rockies at Hi Corbett Field.

It was the first of what the Angels believe will be many home runs for Glaus, the 6-foot-5, 225-pounder from UCLA who was the third overall pick in the 1997 draft.

“That was a bomb, a legitimate home run,” Collins said. “He’s a good-looking player with good reactions at third base. He’ll get stronger, but he creates back spin on the ball and has a natural lift for great power.”

Glaus, 21, has been tabbed as another can’t-miss prospect, a label that comes with a certain degree of pressure, but you’d hardly know it talking to him.

“I probably have the least amount of pressure of anyone here,” said Glaus, who also impressed Collins with a 4.3-second time to first base on a grounder. “A lot of these guys are trying to make this team. I know I’m not going to make the team, so I just want to show the coaches what I can do.”

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After watching Ken Hill (three-run first inning Friday) and Allen Watson (four-run first Saturday) struggle in the first two Cactus League games, Collins was treated Sunday to the Angels’ first snappy start of the spring.

Omar Olivares, whose role may be limited to long relief after the Jack McDowell signing, threw two hitless innings, striking out one and walking one.

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First baseman Chris Pritchett was moved to the outfield this spring, the Angels believing the ability to play another position, along with his potent left-handed bat, would increase his chances of making the team.

Pritchett had a rocky day in left Sunday, drifting on Neifi Perez’s third-inning drive to the wall, dropping it and then bobbling it as he tried to pick it up, committing two errors. He also failed to make the play on Ellis Burks’ catchable fourth-inning triple.

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Second baseman Chip Hale led the Angels with three hits, a walk and a run Sunday. Damon Mashore’s two-run single keyed a three-run seventh, which gave the Angels a 5-4 lead. Jim Edmonds, Gary Thurman, Matt Walbeck and Glaus each added two hits. . . . McDowell, signed as a free agent last week, will throw a simulated game Wednesday and is scheduled to make his Angel debut Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Tempe.