DiSarcina Gets Some Good News

Shortstop Gary DiSarcina had his broken left forearm X-rayed this week, and for the first time since he had a metal rod surgically attached to the bone in late March, he saw some progress.

“This was the first time where you could really see the bone filling in,” DiSarcina said. “It was a nice feeling.”

Nice enough to improve his prognosis, which calls for him to return around the All-Star break? Not quite. Though he said the feeling in his arm is more discomfort than pain--a major upgrade from March--DiSarcina said it’s “still too early to say” when he might come back.

Manager Terry Collins isn’t getting his hopes up.

“Nothing is etched in stone,” said Collins, who was stung by the losses of DiSarcina and Jim Edmonds, who were expected to be ready for the season before taking turns for the worse.

“I’ve been etching stuff in stone, and it keeps falling on my head, so I’m not going to do that. I’m all done building up my hopes. One day the trainer will come in with Gary and say he’s ready to play, and I’ll say, ‘Great.’ ”

DiSarcina, meanwhile, is still struggling to cope with his absence. The first two weeks after surgery, he essentially avoided the team, but he went on the last trip and is now sitting on the bench for games.

“It’s reaching the point now where you get that helpless feeling,” DiSarcina said. “You’re still a baseball player, you’re still getting paid, and for me to not put on my uniform and be in the dugout, I’d be cheating myself. I’m not contributing, but maybe one day Andy [Sheets, Angel shortstop] will ask me where to play a certain guy, and I can help.”

DiSarcina has tried to keep his distance from Sheets, who was acquired from San Diego on March 29, but not because he’s not fond of his replacement.

“I try to put myself in his position,” DiSarcina said. “He came here from another organization and was bombarded with questions about filling in for me. If he looks over his shoulder and sees me hovering, doing nothing . . . it would bother me if I was him.”

Sheets said he appreciates the breathing room, “but at the same time, Gary is a big part of the team,” Sheets said. “There’s a lot I can learn from him, and now that he’s around, I can ask him questions about the game.”

*

Not only did Toronto right-hander Pat Hentgen silence the Angels Tuesday night, blanking them on three hits in seven innings of a 10-1 victory, he silenced his many critics, at least temporarily.

The 1996 American League Cy Young Award winner has been the subject of much speculation in Toronto--has the right-hander lost velocity on his fastball after sitting out the last month of 1998 because of a shoulder tendinitis? Is he completely healed?

And the biggie: Would Hentgen earn the $24 million remaining on his contract, which runs through 2001, or become a major drain on Toronto’s payroll, a pitcher so overpriced the Blue Jays couldn’t trade him?

Hentgen admitted being “embarrassed” by his shoddy spring training performance and his 0-1 record and a 7.08 earned-run average in his first four regular-season starts, but he was satisfied with No. 5 Tuesday night. Only one runner reached second base against Hentgen, who moved his fastball effectively around the strike zone.

“I feel the strength in my shoulder getting better and better every time out,” Hentgen said. “It’s been a tough April, but I’m just trying to give my team innings. As I’ve said all along, the biggest thing for me is spotting my fastball. It’s got nothing to do with being pain-free.”

*

The San Francisco Giants have called the Angels, among other teams, to see if they’d be interested in reliever Julian Tavarez, who apparently has been deemed expendable. The right-hander went 6-4 with a 3.87 ERA for the Giants in 1997, current Angel pitching coach Dick Pole’s final season in San Francisco, but he is struggling with a 1-0 record and 9.82 ERA this season, having given up 12 earned runs and four homers in 11 innings.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

KEN HILL

(0-1, 4.76 ERA)

vs.

BLUE JAYS’

ROY HALLADAY

(2-0, 0.00 ERA)

Edison Field, 7

TV--Fox Sports West 2 Radio--KIK-FM (94.3), XPRS (1090)

* Update--The Blue Jays recalled first baseman Kevin Witt from triple-A Syracuse and optioned reliever Nerio Rodriguez back to Syracuse. Halladay, another of Toronto’s highly touted young pitchers, has not given up an earned run in 20 innings this season.

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000.