Two More Sidelined as Injuries Pile Up for Unluckiest Team

The Angel clubhouse looked more like a trauma center Saturday, when the team discovered that pitcher Jason Dickson has torn cartilage in his pitching shoulder and may have to sit out the season, and starting catcher Matt Walbeck has a broken bone in his right hand and will be sidelined for at least a month.

“You don’t ever get used to losing key players,” said Manager Terry Collins, who already had lost shortstop Gary DiSarcina to a broken arm this spring, “but I’m getting pretty sick of this.

“You come here in the morning and find out one guy is out for a month and another is out for at least three months. You just want to stop playing and wait until April. But we’ll play through it.”

Dickson, a candidate for the rotation or bullpen, experienced some tightness in his right shoulder this spring and had pitched poorly, with a 17.47 earned-run average in 5 2/3 innings.

While playing catch Thursday, Dickson said he felt “pinching” in his shoulder. An MRI test revealed a tear in the labrum, the cartilage outlining the shoulder joint, and Dickson will decide in the next week or so whether to undergo surgery.

Team physician Lewis Yocum said some pitchers can avoid surgery with a series of rehabilitation exercises, but if Dickson needs surgery, “he could be out three to four months or the whole season.”

Walbeck thought he tweaked his right hand on a check swing Wednesday and thought so little of the pain that he played Thursday. But after hitting into a double play Thursday, Walbeck said the hand “was absolutely killing me.”

An X-ray Friday revealed a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal--the space between the thumb and index finger--and Walbeck’s hand and wrist will be in a splint for three to four weeks.

“I was feeling good--my body, my arm, my legs--and then this happens,” said Walbeck, who was expecting to handle the bulk of the catching duties.

With Walbeck sidelined, Charlie O’Brien will assume the primary catching role, Phil Nevin will catch more, and Steve Decker will shoot for a backup job.

Todd Greene, coming back from shoulder problems, caught five innings in Saturday’s 6-5 split-squad loss to the San Francisco Giants and is hoping to catch two or three times a week.

Omar Olivares, who gave up one run on five hits in five innings of a 7-3 split-squad victory over the Giants on Saturday at Scottsdale, has all but locked up the fifth rotation spot.

With Dickson sidelined, the Angels probably will open with a bullpen of Troy Percival, Rich DeLucia, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Mark Petkovsek, Mike Holtz and Mike Magnante. That is, barring some other injury.

“Hopefully we’ll get rid of that black cloud hanging over our heads,” Greene said.

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Second baseman Justin Baughman, who has been slow in recovering from a broken leg suffered in Mexico last November, will undergo a second operation in the next two weeks, probably to insert another rod that will stabilize the tibia and promote bone growth.

Yocum said the other surgical option is a bone graft, in which bone cells are taken from one area and implanted in the fracture site. Either procedure will sideline Baughman until August, and the speedster may sit out the season.

Angel Notes

As if the Angels didn’t have enough injuries, center fielder Jim Edmonds was scratched Saturday because of a tight groin for the second consecutive day, and reserve outfielder Reggie Williams suffered a strained hamstring. . . . Third base update: Troy Glaus had a single and a two-run double in the Angels’ win Saturday. Dave Hollins, sidelined since last Sunday because of a strained hamstring, went hitless in two at-bats but made two nice defensive plays in the Angels’ loss.