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Rivera clears hurdle in rehabilitation

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Times Staff Writer

After a series of discouraging medical updates on Juan Rivera, the Angels finally got some good news Wednesday regarding the outfielder who has missed the entire season because of a broken leg suffered in a Venezuelan winter-league game.

Manager Mike Scioscia said Rivera “passed a hurdle” in his rehabilitation program this week and could begin playing in games next week, which would greatly improve Rivera’s chances of returning to the majors by late August or early September.

It wasn’t a specific hurdle, such as running the bases or making sharp cuts in the outfield, things Rivera has struggled to do.

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“It’s just an overall thing, from how he looks in agility drills to baseball drills to his stamina,” Scioscia said. “He’s been making improvements, and it’s encouraging when you can clear a hurdle and get closer to being in games.”

With minor league seasons ending in early September, Rivera’s window to complete a minor league rehab assignment was beginning to close, and the Angels seemed more and more resigned to him missing the whole season.

They’re still not sure what to expect if Rivera does return, but if Rivera can regain even some of his 2006 form, when he hit .310 with 23 home runs and 85 runs batted in, he could provide a boost to the offense.

Robbing a batter of a home run like he did Tuesday night, when he raced to the wall, leaped and caught Coco Crisp’s fourth-inning drive about a foot above the fence, is almost an out-of-body experience for Gary Matthews Jr. At least, until the ball hits the glove of the Angels’ center fielder.

“I was telling a friend, it’s really weird,” said Matthews, who has made a number of highlight-reel catches this season. “In the middle of the play, everything goes in slow motion. You’re running back, you’re about to jump, you catch the ball, and all of a sudden you’re back into real time, and all your senses come back.

“As athletes, you’re so conditioned to ignore the sounds of the crowd and concentrate on the play. But as soon as the play is over, you hear the roar of the crowd, and it’s so loud it’s deafening.”

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Given a choice, many outfielders would rather take a home run away than hit one. Not Matthews, who hit a solo home run, his 14th of the season, in the eighth inning of the Angels’ 10-4 victory over the Red Sox.

“It’s fun to take them away, but I don’t hit many home runs, so any home run I get, I’ll take,” Matthews said. “It does seem like you get a better crowd reaction when you take a home run away, though. The fans get real excited.”

Bartolo Colon, on the disabled list since July 24 because of elbow irritation, has progressed enough in his long-toss sessions to throw lightly in the bullpen -- “More of a touch-and-feel thing,” Scioscia said -- on Friday.

Scioscia said Colon would need two or three bullpen workouts before being considered for a rehab assignment, where the right-hander “would need to test his arm aggressively with all his pitches,” Scioscia said.

Catcher Mike Napoli, on the DL because of a strained right hamstring, began jogging Wednesday and blocked some balls in the dirt. He will pick up his running workouts Friday and will probably be activated Tuesday in Toronto.

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

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