Walbeck’s Absence Will Test the Catchers

As he backed up first base in an Aug. 11 game against the Yankees at Edison Field, catcher Matt Walbeck planted his right foot on the rubber-like surface in front of the visitors’ dugout.

“My body went one way,” he said, “and my knee went the other.”

The knee never made it all the way back. Walbeck, who played in pain on Tuesday, was put on the disabled list Friday because of patella tendinitis, the 19th time the Angels have used the DL. They called up Shawn Wooten from triple-A Edmonton to replace Walbeck.

“I thought I was OK, but when I caught in Toronto [Tuesday] I was miserable,” Walbeck said. “I couldn’t function properly, and that’s not doing the team any good.”

Walbeck is batting only .208 with six homers and 12 runs batted in but has done a solid job backing up Bengie Molina, throwing out 13 of 37 attempted base-stealers and guiding pitchers to a 4.89 earned-run average when he was behind the plate.

“You wouldn’t look at his stats and say he’s an impact player, but you don’t notice what he’s done for the club until you realize he’s gone,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “The challenge now is to keep Bengie fresh while Matt recovers.”

*

The backup catching role now belongs to a 28-year-old with no big league experience who is nearing the end of his first full season as a catcher.

Figuring there “wasn’t much of a future on the corners” in Anaheim, with third baseman Troy Glaus and first baseman Mo Vaughn, Wooten switched his focus from utility infielder to catcher this year.

The West Covina South Hills High graduate batted .293 with nine homers and 35 runs batted in in 51 games for double-A Erie and .353 with 11 homers and 42 RBIs for Edmonton and is one of the organization’s top power-hitting prospects.

“I’m still kind of in shock,” he said. “When I found out I was going to the big leagues, I was thinking, ‘I couldn’t start in Milwaukee or something, I have to go to New York.’ I guess if you can play here, you can play anywhere.”

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Wooten traveled Friday with pitcher Brian Cooper, the right-hander who will be activated to start today’s game against the Yankees. Reliever Al Levine also will be activated off the disabled list today. Reliever Eric Weaver and infielder Keith Johnson were sent to Edmonton to make room for Cooper and Levine. . . . Bench coach Joe Maddon, who returned to Orange County on Wednesday after complaining of fatigue, shortness of breath and a tingling sensation in his arms, will not rejoin the Angels on this trip. He is undergoing a series of medical tests.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ BRIAN COOPER

(4-7, 4.83 ERA)

vs.

YANKEES’ ANDY PETTITTE

(14-6, 4.19 ERA)

Yankee Stadium, 10 a.m. PDT

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090)

* Update--Cooper was demoted to Edmonton on Aug. 7 after giving up 22 earned runs on 35 hits, including nine homers, in 18 innings of his last four starts. The Angels wanted him to work out some mechanical flaws in his delivery, but Cooper didn’t have much time--or success. He made only one triple-A start, giving up six runs on seven hits, two of them homers, in five innings Monday.