Gregg Makes Pitch for Spot

In what passes as intrigue in an Angel camp where 23 of 25 roster spots are set, Kevin Gregg began his bid for the last bullpen job with a rocky two-inning, five-hit start in the Angels’ 8-5 exhibition loss to Oakland on Sunday.

It was a microcosm of Gregg’s two-year big league career -- some good pitches, some bad; some good results, some bad; two runs, one earned -- which is why the right-hander is no lock to beat out Esteban Yan and Jason Bulger this spring.

“My big thing is to show them consistency,” said Gregg, who was 1-2 with a 5.04 earned-run average in 33 games during a 2005 season that included a six-week demotion to triple-A. “Inconsistency has killed me in the past, but if I can show good stuff, I like my chances.”

The same goes for Yan, though. The Angels believe Yan has better stuff than he showed in 2005, when the right-hander was 1-1 with a 4.59 ERA in 49 games, most of them low-pressure situations.

“He’s throwing the ball better now than he did at any point last year,” Manager Mike Scioscia said, not exactly a ringing endorsement of Yan’s 2005 season. “We’re going to pick the best team. If Yan is throwing the ball the way he’s capable of, he should be a part of it.”

The loser of the bullpen battle probably will be lost to the Angels. Yan has a guaranteed $1.25-million contract and could become a free agent if he doesn’t make the cut. Gregg is out of minor league options and could refuse a demotion to become a free agent. That’s why General Manager Bill Stoneman traded last week for Bulger, a hard-throwing right-hander who provides bullpen depth.

Working in Gregg’s favor is his versatility -- he started three games in 2003 and two in 2005, and during his best season as an Angel, when he was 5-2 with a 4.21 ERA in 55 games in 2004, Gregg pitched from set-up to long relief.

“Bouncing back and forth over the last couple of years has helped me out,” Gregg said. “It gives me a little bit of an edge, I’d like to think.”

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The Angels would like Chone Figgins to bunt more in an effort to force opposing third basemen to play a few more steps in, so the speedy leadoff batter has put an emphasis on the skill this spring.

“That opens the lanes in the defense for him to be a more productive hitter,” Scioscia said. “It’s an important thing for him to have in his game.”

Figgins didn’t look very comfortable with it in his first two at-bats Sunday, fouling off several bunt attempts to fall behind in the count. That didn’t keep him off base -- Figgins hit a triple to left-center field in the first inning and doubled to right field in the third.

The versatile defender also hasn’t looked comfortable in the field. Figgins committed his third error in three exhibition games when he misplayed Mark Ellis’ leadoff grounder in the first.

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First baseman Casey Kotchman had a nice all-around day, driving an opposite-field, three-run home run to left field in the sixth inning and making a back-handed diving catch of Jay Payton’s low liner in the bottom of the sixth.... The only knock on second base prospect Howie Kendrick seems to be his defense, but in addition to his two hard-hit singles Sunday, Kendrick made two nifty plays, turning Figgins’ high-and-inside feed on Payton’s second-inning grounder into a third-to-second-to-first double play and ranging far into the hole to rob Eric Chavez of a hit in the third.