Next year’s opener could be in Japan

SEATTLE -- The Angels are among the front-runners to play the Boston Red Sox in a possible season-opening series in Japan at the Tokyo Dome next year, a Major League Baseball official said Wednesday.

Oakland and Seattle are the other teams being considered, though the Mariners are seen as a remote possibility because the presence of outfielder Ichiro Suzuki might detract from the buzz surrounding Boston pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka’s return to Japan.

Though they played a spring-training game in Mexico in 2000, the Angels have never played a regular-season game outside the United States. In 2003 they played a regular-season series against Montreal in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory.

“We would be intrigued by the opportunity, but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves,” said Tim Mead, the Angels’ vice president of communications. Mead said baseball officials had not contacted the organization and that he had heard about the possibility of the trip only through a media report.

The Red Sox are expected to play the same team selected to play them at the Tokyo Dome in a series on the West Coast after returning from Japan.

Any concerns about rookie Jeff Mathis’ ability to handle the everyday catching duties in the wake of Mike Napoli’s hamstring injury have been alleviated by the way Mathis has handled the pitching staff in the five days since he assumed the starting job.

Mathis caught the Angels’ first consecutive complete games in more than 14 years earlier this week, and he had a four-game hitting streak before Wednesday in which he raised his average from .095 to .250.

“Jeff’s feeling much more comfortable with everything about catching, both his pitch selection and his rapport with the pitchers,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “I think he’s much more confident and comfortable right now, and I think it’s translated into him catching good ballgames and it’s reflected on some good performances by our pitchers.”

Though Mathis has started every game since Napoli was injured Friday, Scioscia said Ryan Budde probably would start during the four-game series in Oakland that begins tonight.

The possibility of Juan Rivera returning this season from a broken left leg diminishes as the end of the minor league season draws closer. The outfielder still has not begun a rehabilitation assignment that could require several weeks, and there will be few options for him to round into playing shape once the minor league season concludes in early September.

“Hopefully, there will be enough games in a minor league schedule somewhere to get him at-bats to see where he is,” Scioscia said. There is still no target date for the start of Rivera’s rehabilitation assignment.

Scioscia acknowledged that third baseman Dallas McPherson, recovering from lower back surgery that has sidelined him since January, is not expected to return this season. . . . Ervin Santana was rocked for a second consecutive start at triple-A Salt Lake, giving up 13 hits and six runs in six innings, striking out seven and walking one. The right-hander has a 6.05 earned-run average in three starts at Salt Lake.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ben.bolch@latimes.com