Baughman Feeling the Heat

It can make your head spin, Angel second baseman Justin Baughman admits. Learning to play a new position in the heat of a pennant race, making the leap from Class A to the big leagues in less than a year.

“Sometimes I do feel overwhelmed,” said Baughman, who was six for 39 (.153) with two runs and one RBI in 14 games before Saturday night’s game against the Orioles. “It’s hard to distinguish my thoughts from being in a pennant race and keeping my job.

“The most important thing, obviously, is winning the division. If I hit .200 and we win the division, that will be great. But if I hit .200, I might not have a job, so it’s tough.”

The Angels didn’t want to rush Baughman, 23, who played shortstop for Class-A Lake Elsinore last season and second for a month and a half at triple-A Vancouver this season.

But with Randy Velarde sidelined because of an elbow injury and Norberto Martin and Carlos Garcia struggling offensively and defensively, they had no choice but to turn to the speedy Baughman in May.

Baughman has had his moments--a four-hit game against San Diego on June 28, two three-hit games, an occasional defensive gem--but for the most part he has looked just how you’d expect a rookie making such a transition to look: a little shaky in the field, unsure of himself at the plate. He was batting .243 with a homer and 13 RBIs through Friday night.

“Look where he’s come in a year, from Class A to triple A to the big leagues, that’s a lot to handle,” Angel third-base coach Larry Bowa said. “If we were 30 games out, the transition would be easy. But everything is magnified because we’re in a race.”

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Ken Hill threw off a mound Saturday for the first time since his June 15 elbow surgery, but the five-minute workout won’t put the right-hander on track to come back any earlier than his projected late-August return.

“It’s great news, but you have to understand, this is day one of a long hike,” Manager Terry Collins said. “This is like picking up a ball in spring training for the first time.”

Hill, who had elbow chips removed and bone spurs shaved in his elbow, hopes to throw off the mound every other day for a week or so, but he hasn’t mapped out a specific rehabilitation course.

“My arm will dictate what I’ll be able to do,” Hill said. “This is going back to basics for me. It felt good and I’m progressing, but it’s going to take a while.”

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The Angels are expected to pursue Joe Oliver when the veteran catcher clears release waivers Tuesday. Oliver, 33, hit .226 with four homers and 22 RBIs in 50 games for the Detroit Tigers before being released Wednesday night.

The Angels showed interest in Oliver last winter, after he hit .258 with 14 homers and 43 RBIs in 111 games for the Cincinnati Reds, but eventually traded for catchers Phil Nevin and Matt Walbeck. But both Angel catchers have struggled offensively and defensively this month.

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Some encouraging news on the Angel pitching front: Erik Hanson, trying to rebound from a shoulder injury, threw six innings of shutout ball, giving up four hits and striking out four, in triple-A Vancouver’s 4-1 loss to Oklahoma Friday night.

Hanson, who went 15-5 with a 4.24 ERA for Boston in 1995 but struggled the next two seasons at Toronto, is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA in four starts at Vancouver, striking out 16 and walking 11 in 19 innings.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ OMAR OLIVARES (5-6, 3.97 ERA) vs. ORIOLES’ MIKE MUSSINA (7-5, 3.67 ERA)

Edison Field, 5 p.m.

Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1010).

* Update--Mussina, the Oriole ace, has been tough enough on the Angels, with a 10-3 career record and 3.48 earned-run average against them, including a 6-1 mark in Anaheim, but tonight the Angels must face the right-hander in the twilight. “If the sun is shining,” Collins said, “it’s going to be nasty.” Olivares, 0-4 with a 9.64 ERA in his last four starts, is hoping to regain the command and the sinking fastball that helped transform him from middle reliever to the team’s most effective starter in May and June. In case you lost track: Baltimore third baseman Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,576th consecutive game Saturday night.