Shields happy with his progress

It doesn’t feel quite like a normal spring training for Scot Shields “because I have to be in the training room two hours a day,” the Angels reliever said Wednesday.

But on the mound, the veteran right-hander is beginning to feel like his normal self, which is an encouraging development for both the Angels and Shields, who missed most of 2009 after he had surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee.

Shields, in his second exhibition outing, struck out two and walked one in a scoreless inning against San Diego on Tuesday, showing a firm fastball and better command of his curveball.

“It wasn’t the best in terms of hitting my spots, but I was just missing up,” Shields said. “When I needed to make pitches, I did. Everything felt good with the knee. It was another positive step.”

Shields refuses to make excuses for his 1-3 record and 6.62 earned-run average in 20 games last season, but when asked how much of Shields’ struggles could be attributed to his bum knee, Manager Mike Scioscia said, “All of it. Everything he tried to do was compromised by his landing leg being injured.”

Though Shields is receiving extensive daily treatment, the knee feels strong enough that he says he has cleared the mental hurdle of coming back from surgery.

If Shields can return to something close to his form of 2004 to 2008, when he was one of baseball’s most durable and dependable relievers -- Sports Illustrated named him the setup man of the decade -- it would be a huge boost to the bullpen.

“As he gets through these outings as spring training moves on, we’ll see a refinement in his command,” Scioscia said. “I don’t know if you can ever go back four or five years with a player, but we know what his talent is and what he can bring when he is healthy, and we’re going to need that.”

Put me in, Coach

Hideki Matsui has been participating in fielding drills and is “getting close to where there’s a possibility he could play outfield,” Scioscia said. But the manager refused to put a timeline on when the designated hitter would play defense.

“It’s not like hours away, but it’s not months away, either,” Scioscia said. “It’s between hours and months, how about that? We’re going to start with one game and move on to two games, hopefully.”

Matsui, who went hitless in three at-bats in Wednesday’s 7-6 exhibition loss to Arizona, has been slowed in recent years by arthritic knees that relegated him to DH in all 142 games he played for the New York Yankees last season.

But the Angels hope he can play left field once or twice a week. That would give Scioscia the option of using the DH spot to give outfielders Bobby Abreu, Juan Rivera and Torii Hunter a bit of rest.

Short hops

Ervin Santana, who is scheduled to throw four innings and about 60 pitches against San Francisco’s triple-A team Thursday, won’t be the only big leaguer working on the Angels’ only off day of the spring. Relievers Kevin Jepsen and Fernando Rodney will each pitch an inning, and Jeff Mathis will catch Santana. Erick Aybar, who has been unable to play shortstop because of forearm tightness, will bat in every inning of the game.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

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Arizona 7, Angels 6

AT THE PLATE: Juan Rivera lined a two-run shot over the left-field wall in the fifth inning for his first spring homer, Howie Kendrick knocked in runs with a double in the first inning and a single in the second, and leadoff batter Maicer Izturis tripled, singled and drove in a run. Kendrick is now batting .346 (nine for 26) with seven runs batted in this spring.

ON THE MOUND: Joe Saunders said he threw more quality strikes with his off-speed pitches during a four-inning stint in which the left-hander gave up one run and five hits, walked two and struck out none. “My arm felt awesome,” said Saunders, who gave up four runs and five hits in 12/3 innings in his first start last Friday. “I felt good, and the command was there for the most part.” Reliever Matt Palmer was roughed up for four runs and seven hits in 22/3 innings.

EXTRA BASES: Francisco Rodriguez, the minor league right-hander with the same name as the former Angels closer, struck out Evan Frey on a full-count pitch with the bases loaded to end the seventh inning. . . . Erick Aybar, unable to play shortstop because of forearm tightness, was hitless in two at-bats as designated hitter.

UP NEXT: The Angels are off Thursday but will resume Cactus League action Friday when Joel Pineiro opposes Milwaukee’s Jeff Suppan in a 1 p.m. game in Phoenix.

-- Mike DiGiovanna