Erstad Willing to Be Patient--for a While

First baseman Darin Erstad made a pact with Manager Terry Collins after he suffered a severely strained left hamstring last Wednesday in Cleveland.

“I told him he’s got two weeks of me being patient with this injury,” Erstad said before Tuesday night’s game against the Twins. “Then he’s going to have to shoot me to keep me off the field.”

Yes, it’s fair to say Erstad is not a picture of patience. “I need to start playing soon for my girlfriend’s benefit,” Erstad said. “I don’t want to drive her to an insane asylum.”

So, Erstad will be back in another week?

Not so fast.

This is not the same strained hamstring that sidelined Erstad for two weeks in August and that Erstad was able to recover fully from in two weeks.

When Erstad heard a pop in his leg as he neared first base on his two-run, first-inning single against the Indians, his “initial thought was that I completely ruptured it,” Erstad said. “I’ve had two previous hamstring strains, but this was a lot more painful.”

Erstad, who is batting .303 with 19 homers and leads the team with 39 doubles and 79 runs batted in, has a second-degree strain, which requires a little more time.

He doesn’t expect to be ready for another week at the earliest, and he won’t return until he’s at or very near full strength. There will be no Kirk Gibson, hobbling-around-the-bases story here.

“The way I play, my first reaction is to bust out of the box hard,” Erstad said. “I don’t want to hurt the team. . . . I know one thing, I’m not going to change the way I play the game, because I wouldn’t be giving my all.”

Erstad has been able to walk without pain for the last few days, but there’s a considerable amount of fluid behind his knee, which is causing stiffness.

The down time has given Erstad, who sat out the last two weeks of the 1997 season because of a shoulder injury, too much time to second-guess himself.

“So many thoughts run through your head,” Erstad, 24, said. “Am I not doing something in the off-season to prepare for the season? Can I play a full season? Maybe I’m doing too much in the off-season and need to cut back--I’ve never had hamstring problems before. Obviously I have to do something different.”

The pain in his leg, Erstad can deal with. The pain of not being on the field in the thick of a pennant race for the second consecutive season is tougher to handle.

“It’s frustrating because this is the time of year you want to be out there,” Erstad said. “To have that stripped away is an empty feeling.”

*

Every Angel physician and trainer was at Edison Field for the team picture Tuesday afternoon, but closer Troy Percival didn’t need a doctor to diagnose the shoulder injury that had sidelined him since Friday.

“I feel fine--I’ll be ready to pitch today,” Percival said before the game. “I know my arm, and I’m ready to pitch. We’ve already been cautious, giving me the last two days off. When it comes down to it, they’ve got to have me for the rest of the season, and by taking those days off, I’ll be OK.”

Percival said he could have pitched Sunday against Kansas City, as well, but in hindsight, he’s glad Collins gave him the day off.

“I knew if I had gone out three or four more times I would have put myself out for a longer period of time,” he said. “I knew if I shut it down for a day or two, I’d be fine for the rest of the season. I’m usually not very good at telling them how I feel, but I was this time.”

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ KEN HILL (9-5, 4.91 ERA) vs. TWINS’ FRANK RODRIGUEZ (4-4, 6.02 ERA)

Edison Field, 7:30

TV--Fox Sports West.

Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090).

* Update--The Angels recalled pitcher Jarrod Washburn from triple-A Vancouver, but the left-hander, who went 5-2 with a 4.38 ERA during a two-month stint with the Angels in June and July is not expected to play a prominent role out of the bullpen in the final three weeks of the season. After facing Minnesota ace Brad Radke Tuesday night, the Angels will face Scott Erickson and Mike Mussina in Baltimore this weekend, and Rolando Arrojo in Tampa Bay and Rick Helling in Texas next week. “We’re not missing many guys,” Collins said.