Help at Plate Could Be Only a Phone Call Away

Infielder Jose Fernandez, one of the Angels’ last spring-training cuts, was batting .415 with five home runs and 17 runs batted in through 14 games at triple-A Salt Lake, and don’t think the Angels haven’t noticed.

“He’s just killing it,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We have a lot of big bats in the minor leagues we’re excited about, and that gives us options if we get stuck in the mud. But it’s premature to make a move.”

In other words, Angel designated hitter Glenallen Hill, who entered Thursday night’s game against the Mariners with a .156 average, 15 strikeouts and no walks in 45 at-bats, would have to struggle a lot longer for Scioscia to consider a switch.

“It’s tough to put a time frame on [how long we’ll stick with Hill]; it depends on how the team is going and if we have good offensive chemistry,” Scioscia said. “We have a lot of confidence in Glenallen and we want to give him every opportunity to contribute.”

Scioscia said Hill, acquired from the Yankees when Jose Canseco was released on March 28, has shown good bat speed but is falling behind too often in counts and missing pitches he should crush.

*

Second baseman Adam Kennedy said he had no idea how first baseman Scott Spiezio made a spectacular diving catch of Ramon Hernandez’s liner in the ninth inning of Wednesday night’s 3-2 victory over Oakland. Spiezio, a converted third baseman, was a little perplexed himself.

“It was reaction and pure luck, I guess,” he said. “I’m just glad it was still in the web when I landed. Sometimes they’ll hit and bounce out.”

Spiezio, who has started only three games at first, hopes such defense will warrant more playing time, but he wasn’t in the lineup Thursday night against Seattle.

*

Shortstop Gary DiSarcina, whose recovery from rotator-cuff surgery hit a snag when he tore a shoulder tendon in March, received a cortisone shot last week and is making steady progress in physical therapy. DiSarcina has started swinging a bat but is not throwing yet.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

PAT RAPP

(0-2, 7.88 ERA)

vs.

MARINERS’

JOHN HALAMA

(1-1, 4.50 ERA)

Safeco Field, 7

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

* Update--After opening the season with two shoddy starts against Texas, Rapp recovered to give up only one run on five hits in seven innings of Sunday’s 7-5 loss to Seattle. Halama, the Mariner lefty, gave up two earned runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings of that game. Seattle has flip-flopped its rotation for the weekend games against the Angels. Left-hander Jamie Moyer will now start Saturday, and right-hander Aaron Sele will start Sunday.