Success Quick for Stevens, but Question Is Staying Power

The measure of progress for most rookies is how well they hit the curveball. For Lee Stevens, it’s how often he throws his batting helmet.

Only twice has the Angel first baseman given in to the rages that used to follow his unsuccessful at-bats in the minor leagues, signifying that either he has become more mature or more successful since he joined the Angels on July 16.

Or both.

“At this level you just don’t do it (throw your helmet) because it’s a step up,” Stevens said. “I don’t know if the reason is because there’s so many eyes on me or I’m just handling it better. I don’t know that I get frustrated any more. I’m never satisfied. I never give up.”

Stevens has seemingly adapted to the mental and physical demands of playing every day in the major leagues. Promoted after first baseman Wally Joyner was found to have a fractured right kneecap, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Stevens has earned a place on merit and not on contingency.

“The success he’s had warrants his being here,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said. “The fact that he struggled for a short period of time is nothing unusual, with the scouting that goes on nowadays and cable (televised games). It’s easy for opponents to catch on to a young player’s vulnerabilities. A young player is going to have to make some adjustments, and so far he’s made them.

“It’s not easy to go out there and produce again after you’ve gone through a tough stretch. You have to be emotionally sound and have to make some mental adjustments. I have no question that he’s able to do those things.”

Stevens, a first-round draft pick by the Angels in 1986, knew he wouldn’t be able to maintain the pace he set in his first few games, when he was six for 17 with a double, a home run and six runs batted in. But he also knew he could hit more than .200, the level he reached July 27 after going three for 28.

Although he struck out three times Sunday, Stevens got a hit in his final at-bat and has at least one in six of his last seven games. He has gone 12 for 28 during that stretch, raising his batting average to .286 entering the Angels’ three-game series against the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox. His 11 RBIs in 20 games makes him one of the Angels’ most productive hitters.

He produced one of those RBIs in his debut with a single, part of a three-for-four performance.

“It was hard to believe, my first night getting three hits,” Stevens said. “I didn’t expect that kind of night at all. Not that it was easy, but I thought it would be tougher. I was thrown in the fire and didn’t have time to think about it or worry, and maybe that helped me.

“After that, I started trying to do a little too much, I think. I changed my mechanics from the way I had been doing things when I first got here. Now I think I’m back to where I was. I wasn’t trying to hit home runs, just changing to adapt to what I thought I had to do.”

He has since discovered that all he has to do is what he did before. “The game’s pretty much the same,” said Stevens, who was hitting .293 with 16 home runs and 66 RBIs when he was recalled from Edmonton.

“The players are a little more consistent, and guys put the ball in play more. The pitchers come at you more, too. The Oakland staff impressed me. That’s why they lead the league in ERA. To me, every pitcher is a challenge. There’s no easy pitcher or they wouldn’t be in the big leagues.”

How long he will remain in the major leagues is a question Stevens prefers not to ponder. He’s guaranteed an extended stay because Joyner’s knee has been slow to heal, but just in case, Stevens hasn’t made permanent living arrangements in California.

“Obviously, I’m renting,” he said. “I try not to worry about it. It’s not necessarily that I’m trying to take his job--I’m trying to open peoples’ eyes and trying to make a name for myself. I don’t want to make it an issue of trying to take Wally’s job. I’m just doing my job.

“They take very good care of you here. You can get spoiled. A lot of players I’d talked to before I came up here who had been in the big leagues said there’s no place like the big leagues, and they’re right. Until you get there and be sure you’re going to stay there, you can’t be content.

“My job is to drive in runs and produce. One of my goals is to be more focused and concentrate more in every at-bat so I can do that job better. I’m never content. I feel I have a lot of potential left. I’ve done a little more than I expected, which is hard for me to do because I expect a lot from myself. The coaches know I’ve never been satisfied with my stats. I’m out there to work as hard as I can, whether the team’s in first place or wherever.”

Angel Notes

General Manager Mike Port said he put “some guys . . . but I wouldn’t say the whole club” on waivers Aug. 1 at the start of the new waiver period. The Angels can withdraw any player claimed by another club. Players who clear waivers can be traded before the Aug. 31 deadline for eligibility for postseason play. Waiver claims are kept confidential and Port would not say if any Angels were claimed.

Port also said his declaration on July 17 that Angel player must “flat-out start showing results” or face the possibility of being traded was not a threat. Although he said the Angels were ready to do business with other clubs, he has made no deals. After defeating Milwaukee the night of his remarks, the Angels were 45-46 and 12 games out of first place; they are 7-11 since and have fallen 16 games behind Oakland.

“It was an observation and wasn’t meant in a motivational vein,” Port said of his remarks, which were made in separate conversations with reporters. “I wasn’t questioning anybody’s effort. It was more in the category of an observation than a clubhouse motivational speech.”

Pitcher Bert Blyleven is expected to return today after being with his family since last Thursday, after his wife, daughter and two of his three sons were injured in a car accident. He’s not scheduled to pitch in the Angels’ series against Boston.