Gary Matthews Jr. quietly making some noise at the plate

There have been no summit meetings between Gary Matthews Jr. and Angels management, no trade requests or complaints from the outfielder since the start of the season.

“That’s a good thing,” said Matthews, who was so upset when told he’d be the team’s fifth outfielder in spring training that he left camp for a day on March 29. “I didn’t want to come off as being selfish, but I had worked so hard to get back to this point, that I just wanted an opportunity to play.”

Matthews, who underwent surgery to repair the patella tendon in his left knee last October, is getting an opportunity, thanks in part to a torn chest muscle that sent Vladimir Guerrero to the disabled list on April 18.

If the switch-hitter hasn’t made the most of it, he is making something of it. Matthews has started 15 of the team’s 26 games and began Wednesday batting .288 with 12 runs batted in. He has as many RBIs in 59 at-bats as Bobby Abreu has in 96 at-bats.

“It’s a good start,” Matthews said. “The knee is good. It has responded very well, and my hard work over the winter has paid off. It’s nice to be healthy and not have to take anti-inflammatory medication and pain-killers.”

There has been a noticeable difference against right-handers. Matthews began Wednesday batting .317 from the left side -- he hit .223 from the left side last season. He is hitting .222 in 18 at-bats from the right side.

“Foundation is everything -- I couldn’t stay on my back side, I didn’t have the strength, and when you don’t have your base, you have nothing,” Matthews said. “It’s hard enough to play this game when you’re healthy, let alone having a significant tear in your knee. I’m glad we did the surgery.”

No knock on Wood

Top prospect Brandon Wood’s demotion to triple A after Tuesday night’s game was no surprise. The infielder had only nine at-bats in two weeks, and the Angels didn’t want him rotting on their bench, so they sent him to Salt Lake so he could play every day.

Manager Mike Scioscia was criticized for not playing Wood more, especially against left-handed pitchers, but the manager felt his lineup decisions have been warranted -- the Angels scored 80 runs in 12 games through Tuesday, an average of 6.7 a game. They began Wednesday with a .285 team average, second-best in the league.

“There’s not much on the offensive side you wouldn’t be happy with over the last two weeks or so,” Scioscia said. “Brandon’s time is going to come; it’s just not now.

“What it came down to is, we have some guys who are setting the table and hitting with runners in scoring position. We’re averaging six or seven runs a game these last two weeks, and you want to keep moving that forward.”

Power outage

While seemingly all of New England is worried that Red Sox slugger David Ortiz has not hit a home run, there is no such panic in Anaheim, where Abreu, who hit 20 homers last season, has not gone deep.

“I’m not concerned -- they’re coming,” said Abreu, who began Wednesday with a team-leading .344 average. “I’ve been hitting the ball good. I just haven’t elevated.”

Short hops

Guerrero, after being examined by a physician, was cleared to take dry swings and hit off a tee. . . . Dustin Moseley threw in the bullpen for the first time since going on the DL because of forearm tightness on April 18.

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com