Edmonds Shows Vaughn a Thing or Two

Center fielder Jim Edmonds picked up one of Mo Vaughn’s 36-inch, 36-ounce bats the other day and was awed by the size of it. “It felt like a sledgehammer,” he said.

Vaughn might have the biggest bats, but Edmonds is carrying the biggest stick early in camp. Vaughn struck out three times against three pitchers in Tuesday’s intrasquad scrimmage, but Edmonds clubbed two more home runs, giving him three homers and two singles in six intrasquad at-bats.

His only out was a one-hop smash that shortstop Nelson Castro made an outstanding stop of Tuesday and threw out Edmonds in Tempe Diablo Stadium.

“Edmonds belongs in another league,” said pitcher Tim Belcher, who gave up a two-run homer to Troy Glaus in his two innings Tuesday.

Said outfielder Matt Luke: “He’s making us look bad.”

Edmonds isn’t about to get too excited.

“It doesn’t matter--nothing counts until April 6,” he said. “I’m just a little more ahead of the game than some guys. I got out here two weeks before the first [full-squad] workout and was taking live batting practice, while most of the other guys were still in the snow.”

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Todd Greene’s shoulder may not be strong enough for him to catch in a game, but it’s certainly strong enough for him to hit. Greene’s home run off Shigetoshi Hasegawa Tuesday cleared not only the left-field wall, but another fence about 50 feet behind the wall.

Randy Velarde also homered and singled, Phil Nevin added a double and a single, and catcher Charlie O’Brien threw out two runners at second and picked off another runner at first.

Tim Salmon played right field for the second consecutive day and scored from second on Chris Pritchett’s single, providing further evidence that Salmon has recovered from off-season surgery on his left foot.

“I have to keep proving to everyone that I’m OK, but in mind it’s going to be fine,” said Salmon, who was relegated to designated hitter for most of 1998. “I’m going to play the outfield hard, I’m going to run the bases hard. I just have to get my feet in shape and used to the pounding, like everyone else here.”

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Pitcher Chuck Finley, sidelined for three straight days because of a strained muscle in his upper back, played catch Tuesday and is hoping to throw off a mound by Thursday or Friday. Manager Terry Collins hinted that if Finley were to miss more than a week or so, it might jeopardize his opening-day start. “There’s no reason to rush him,” Collins said. “We’d like him ready by April 6, but if it’s April 10, that’s fine.” . . . Third baseman Dave Hollins suffered a slightly strained hamstring and sat out Tuesday’s intrasquad game. . . . The Angels have agreed to terms on one-year contracts with reliever Mike Holtz and pitcher Ramon Ortiz, who is scheduled to start tonight’s exhibition game against Arizona State.