Glaus to Be DH When He Returns

BALTIMORE —  There is a chance Troy Glaus could return to the lineup next week, but it appears third base will not be in the slugger’s immediate -- and possibly long-range -- future.

Glaus, sidelined by a sprained right knee ligament and a sore right shoulder, will be the Angels’ designated hitter once his knee, the lesser of his two injuries, is sound enough for him to run.

Once Glaus’ shoulder is strong enough to do some throwing, Manager Mike Scioscia said he will consider moving Glaus to first base in place of the injured Darin Erstad so the Angels can minimize the demands on Glaus’ throwing shoulder and keep Tim Salmon -- once he returns from the disabled list -- in the designated hitter spot.

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Glaus, who is batting .296 with an American League-leading 11 home runs and 28 runs batted in, has never played first base in the big leagues and has neverworked out extensively at the position. “The important thing is keeping our offensive continuity,” Scioscia said. “If that means Troy playing first base for stretches or DH for stretches, we’ll look at that. We’ll get creative if we have to.”

Glaus injured his knee in New York on Tuesday and both shoulders diving on Minnesota’s artificial turf April 30. He remained in the lineup after injuring his shoulders and had four home runs and eight RBIs in 10 games as designated hitter.

That success has led the Angels to think Glaus can be very productive offensively even if his shoulders aren’t 100%. “When you have a bat like Troy’s, you want to get it at-bats,” Scioscia said.

So, the Angels seem willing to sacrifice a little defense to keep the bats of Glaus and Salmon, whose sore left knee limits the number of games he can play in the outfield, in the lineup.

“Any time you change sides of the infield, you’re dealing with different angles, but it’s much easier going from third base to first base than the other way around,” Scioscia said.

“It’s going to take some time for him to get comfortable communicating with the second baseman and fielding the ball in the hole, and he would have to do that with game experience. Our preference would be for Troy to play third base, but we have to be prepared to go in any direction to get his bat in the lineup.”

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Salmon suffered another setback Friday night when he was pulled from a rehabilitation game for Class A Rancho Cucamonga after two at-bats because of discomfort in his left knee. He will be revaluated today.... With Glaus out of the third-base mix, Scioscia said he would use Chone Figgins at third and Jeff DaVanon in center field against right-handed pitchers and Figgins in center and Shane Halter at third against left-handed starters.

Starting pitcher Barolo Colon came out of Friday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles after five innings and 83 pitches because of lower-back stiffness. But the right-hander, who had trouble with his command, said the problem shouldn’t affect his next start. Colon gave up five runs on five hits, including two home runs.... One of the home runs Colon allowed was to Rafael Palmeiro, whose fifth-inning blast was the 534th of his career, tying him with Jimmie Foxx for 12th place on the all-time home run list. Palmeiro’s 1,119th run-batted-in tied him with George Brett for 12th place on the all-time RBI list.

Figgins became the second player in Angel history to hit a grand slam for his first career home run. The other was Buck Rodgers against Cleveland on Sept. 29, 1961. ... Shortstop David Eckstein’s leadoff triple in the first inning ended an 0-for-19 slump.