BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : Catcher Slaught Is Newest Addition

The clubhouse at Tempe Diablo Stadium, already jammed with 68 players, will have to make room for one more. The Angels acquired veteran catcher Don Slaught from the Cincinnati Reds for cash.

Slaught, 37, had off-season surgery on his collarbone but Angel scouts who watched him Wednesday were pleased with the way he threw.

The club will probably carry two catchers, with Jorge Fabregas the starter and Slaught, Ron Tingley, Chris Turner and Todd Greene battling for a backup spot that could evolve into a platoon position.

Slaught played in only 35 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, batting .304 with 13 RBIs.

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After an intrasquad game and Thursday’s exhibition game against Cal State Fullerton, right fielder Tim Salmon already has two home runs, including a two-run shot in his only at-bat to highlight a six-run first inning in the Angels’ 11-7 victory over the Titans.

“That’s why I got him out of there,” Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “I don’t want him peaking too soon.”

Seven Angel regulars--Salmon, Chili Davis, J.T. Snow, Garret Anderson, Tim Wallach, Jorge Fabregas and Gary DiSarcina--started against Fullerton, but most were gone by the second or third inning.

Wallach, who led Fullerton to the 1979 College World Series championship, had a two-run single in the first inning and scored from first on Fabregas’ double, giving his surgically repaired knee an early test.

“It didn’t bother me, but I could feel something,” Wallach said. “I need to make sure I run on my toes to prevent any extra pounding on my knee. I have to make sure I run right.”

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Pitcher Phil Leftwich, a candidate for the fifth spot in the rotation, agreed to terms on a one-year contract. . . . Infielder Damion Easley, bothered by a left wrist injury for most of the 1995 season, was hit in the left hand by a fastball in the fourth inning Thursday but was not seriously injured. Moments later, after an errant pick-off throw, Titan first baseman C.J. Ankrum landed on Easley’s back. “That was one physical at-bat,” Lachemann said. “Damion was a little ticked.” . . . KMPC radio will broadcast all weekend spring training games beginning with Saturday’s game against the Chicago Cubs in Mesa.