New Guy Loves Playing With Troys

Since being traded Tuesday from Colorado to the Disney-owned Angels for a player to be named, pitcher Scott Karl has discovered it really is a small world after all.

The left-hander attended the same high school (Carlsbad) as third baseman Troy Glaus, but at different times. He was born in the same Fontana hospital on the same day (Aug. 9) as closer Troy Percival, but two years apart.

Come Tuesday night, Karl will likely have one more thing in common with Glaus, Percival and the Angels--he will have joined them in their quest for a playoff berth.

Manager Mike Scioscia wouldn’t make it official, but all indications point toward Karl starting against Toronto on Tuesday. The 29-year-old threw seven shutout innings for Class-A Lake Elsinore on Thursday and had a locker with his name plate over it in the Angel clubhouse Saturday.

“If it works out the way it’s supposed to, I’m very excited about this,” said Karl, who has a 52-54 career record in six seasons. “I see this club on the doorstep, ready to make a push, and I want to be part of that. I want to be in a five-man rotation. I haven’t had that this year.”

Karl started 32 games or more and threw 192 innings or more for four consecutive seasons (1996-99) in Milwaukee and thought he’d do the same after being traded to Colorado last winter. But the Rockies, impatient with his 1-3 record and 7.40 ERA in May, demoted Karl to the bullpen after eight starts.

“I didn’t get anything done in Colorado,” Karl said. “I don’t want to bad-mouth anyone over there, but I got off to a bad start, they gave me eight starts, and nothing after that. When you start 33 games a year, all 33 aren’t going to be great.’

Karl’s strength is his durability. He eats up innings, and when he mixes his fastballs, sliders and changeups well, moves them in and out and keeps his pitches down, he can be very effective.

“I’m from the Tom Glavine school of baseball,” Karl said. “I don’t blow it by guys. I’ve got to hit my spots. A good game for me is 12 pitches an inning and a lot of ground balls.”

*

Percival, out since Aug. 5 because of an inflamed nerve in his elbow, was activated for Saturday night’s game and pitched the ninth inning, but Shigetoshi Hasegawa was still the Angel closer--at least temporarily.

Scioscia said he wanted to work Percival, who gave up a two-run homer to Travis Fryman, into a non-save situation “to get his feet on the ground, to get back into the flow of things,” before returning him to the closer role.

“If you ask Troy, I’m sure he’d tell you he’s ready to close games,” Scioscia said. “But from our experience, we think it’s better for a guy who has been out for an extended period to come back in a situation where there’s a little more margin for error.”

*

Tim Belcher, out since July 3 because of an elbow injury, will start for Class-A Lake Elsinore today, and it’s possible the veteran right-hander will need only one or two rehabilitation appearances before returning to the Angels. Belcher has built up so much arm strength during his bullpen workouts that he has been pegged to throw 90 pitches today.

*

Reliever Mike Fyhrie, out since Aug. 12 because of an inflamed elbow, has been playing long-toss and will throw off a mound today or Monday. Fyhrie, who has a 2.28 ERA in 25 appearances, hopes to return in early September.

*

After reading how Indian pitcher Dave Burba would like to “shoot him, cut him up into pieces, stab him, or whatever, so I don’t have to face him again,” Angel leadoff batter Darin Erstad said: “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

TODAY

ANGELS’

KENT MERCKER

(1-2, 5.30 ERA)

vs.

INDIANS’

CHUCK FINLEY

(10-9, 4.09 ERA)

Edison Field, 5

TV--ESPN. Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Update--Finley has had much success against his former team, going 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA against the Angels in two games in Jacobs Field, but this will be his first start against them in Edison Field, where Finley’s image adorns the right-field wall, just below former Angel owner Gene Autry, as a member of the Angels’ all-time team. Though Finley has been durable and dependable, starting 26 games and throwing 167 1/3 innings, he has gone beyond the sixth inning only once in his last seven starts. Mercker has made steady progress since his return from a May 11 brain hemorrhage, giving up six runs in 11 innings of his last two starts, against New York and Boston.

* Tickets: (714) 663-9000