Percival Trying to Pace Himself so He’ll Still Have a Closing Kick

He’s no kinder, but Angel closer Troy Percival is a wee bit gentler this season, his mow-’em-down, blow-it-by-everyone mind-set replaced by a more strategic, almost crafty, approach.

The often untouchable Percival figured fatigue was a factor last September, a rocky month in which he went 0-2 with a 7.88 earned-run average, so he has gone into something of a conservation mode in 1999.

He hasn’t abandoned his 95-mph fastball--Doug Jones, he isn’t--but Percival is trying to make batters get themselves out instead of striking them out.

“Every hitter has hot zones, and before I’d challenge that zone with a fastball,” Percival said. “Now, maybe I’m giving them a pitch they like but not in their location.

“It’s too early in the season to say how it’s going to work, but I’ve been getting more short fly balls and ground balls, and I’m not throwing 12 pitches to hitters like I used to.”

After pitching a scoreless ninth inning for his fourth save Friday night, Percival is 1-1 with a 1.00 ERA. He has 10 strikeouts in nine innings, down slightly from his career average of 1.3 strikeouts per inning.

And, with the exception of his 32-pitch, 1 2/3-inning effort against Seattle on April 17, Percival had not thrown more than 20 pitches in any of his nine appearances.

“Over the last few years, with arm problems and fatigue, I figured I’d have to start conserving pitches,” said Percival, whose career ERA in September (4.12) is considerably higher than his overall 2.77. “Hopefully I’ll be stronger in September because of it.”

And he can always fall back on his signature heater, as he did Wednesday night, when he struck out Jose Cruz with runners on second and third to end the Angels’ 12-10 victory over Toronto.

“When I need the strikeout,” Percival said, “I turn it on when I have to.”

*

As great as it would be to return to his native Japan to open the 2000 season--the Angels have expressed interest in joining the Seattle Mariners there next year--reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa said such a trip would be very taxing on players.

“There’s a 16-hour time difference, and it’s easier when you go there,” Hasegawa said. “But coming back, we’d be very, very tired, and that could be bad. We would need at least three or four days off to recover.

“Going to Cuba or Mexico, or from the West Coast to the East Coast is one thing. Going to Japan would be much different.”

There are statistics to confirm Hasegawa’s fears. Four NHL teams have opened their seasons in Japan in the past two years, and they combined for a 3-12-5 record in the five games after their return to North America.

In 1997, the Mighty Ducks and Vancouver Canucks played two games in Japan. Both went 1-2-2 in their next five games. The San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames played two games in Japan in 1998. The Sharks went 0-4-1 and the Flames 1-4 in their next five games.

“It would be kind of neat to go there,” right fielder Tim Salmon said, “but the last thing you’d want to do is open the season all wiped out.”

*

Behind the plate for the third time this season Friday night was Todd Greene, somewhat surprising because Steve Sparks’ pitches don’t exactly travel at a high rate of speed, giving catchers little chance of throwing out runners to begin with, and Greene has battled shoulder problems for the last year and a half.

But Greene made a very strong--but too high--throw on Magglio Ordonez’s stolen base in the fourth and another good throw trying to pick off Mike Caruso at third as Ordonez took second in the fifth inning.

“Todd’s arm is fine,” Manager Terry Collins said. “He’s catching because of the three guys [Charlie O’Brien and Matt Walbeck being the other two] we have here, he’s the one who has the most experience catching a knuckleball.”

Greene caught former Angel knuckleballer Dennis Springer for about seven weeks in 1997.

“If the knuckleball is working well, Ivan Rodriguez is not going to throw guys out because you have to concentrate so hard on catching it,” Collins said. “And I really believe the only way to get Todd better is to run him out there so he keeps building arm strength and endurance.”

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ CHUCK FINLEY (1-2, 6.85 ERA)

vs.

WHITE SOX’S JAMES BALDWIN (2-2, 5.09 ERA)

Edison Field, 7

TV--Channel 9 Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090)

* Update--Finley hopes to build on his last start, when he threw six shutout innings before giving up three runs in the seventh in Monday night’s 4-3 victory over Toronto. Finley, who got a no-decision, struck out seven and walked two. The Angels have had little trouble with Baldwin, who has a career 1-5 record and 6.87 ERA against Anaheim. White Sox designated hitter Frank Thomas needs one extra-base hit to break Luke Appling’s club record of 587. Appling accomplished the feat in 2,422 games; Thomas has played in 1,257 games.

* Tickets--(714) 634-9000.