Wooten Installed as DH as Lineup Changes Again

The work in progress known as the Angel lineup underwent another change over the All-Star break.

With first baseman Larry Barnes demoted to triple-A, Benji Gil and Scott Spiezio will now share the first base job, and Shawn Wooten will become the primary designated hitter, a huge boost to the rookie who didn’t think he’d even make the team out of spring training.

Wooten, who entered Thursday night’s game with a .328 batting average, seven home runs and 23 runs batted in in only 128 at-bats, has started almost exclusively against left-handers, either at catcher, first base or DH.

But he’s also shown an ability to hit right-handers, going 14 for 48 (.292) against them, and with Jorge Fabregas available to back up starting catcher Bengie Molina, Manager Mike Scioscia can afford to use Wooten at DH.

“Being an everyday DH sounds a lot better than being a role player,” said Wooten, whose two-run single in the first inning Thursday night gave the Angels a 3-0 lead. “But I’m not greedy. I’ll take whatever they give me.”

Like Wooten, Gil has gotten most of his starts--at shortstop, second base or DH--against left-handers, and that probably won’t change. But with Wooten, who has started 13 games at first, at DH, that should create more time at first for Gil, who entered Thursday with a .331 average, five homers and 23 RBIs.

“I hope this doesn’t mean I have to become a power hitter, does it?” Gil said. “I don’t think I’m in that category of first basemen. I’ll just concentrate on getting a base hit every once in awhile.”

Spiezio, who is batting .235 with four homers and 21 RBIs but homered twice against Colorado Sunday, will start at first against right-handers. To bolster their middle-infield depth, the Angels recalled shortstop-second baseman Jose Nieves from Salt Lake Thursday.

Third baseman Troy Glaus’ shutout in Monday’s Home Run Derby--he was the only one of eight players in the All-Star competition who failed to hit a homer in Seattle’s Safeco Field--didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for the event.

Asked if he’d want to participate in the Home Run Derby again, Glaus was quick to reply, “Absolutely.”

He said he wasn’t nervous during the competition, which was won by Arizona’s Luis Gonzalez, but he did have a hard time getting comfortable.

“I just couldn’t get a flow going,” Glaus said. “I didn’t notice the crowd too much. The biggest difference was hitting without a batting cage. The pitches were fine.”

Though Tim Salmon is eligible to come off the disabled list Monday, Scioscia said it will probably take a little longer for the right fielder to “work the kinks out.” The Angels haven’t decided yet whether Salmon will go on a minor league rehabilitation assignment before being activated. . . . Reliever Ben Weber returned to the Angels Thursday after missing Sunday’s game in Colorado to be with his wife, Marisa, who remains hospitalized in Pasadena because of an edema, an abnormal accumulation of watery fluid in the tissue of the body.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ ISMAEL VALDES

(5-4, 4.32 ERA)

vs.

DIAMONDBACKS’ CURT SCHILLING

(12-3, 3.23 ERA)

Edison Field, 7

TV--Fox Sports Net.

Radio--KLAC (570),

XPRS (1090).

Update--Valdes returned from a three-week stint on the disabled list because of an inflamed shoulder and gave up two runs on four hits in five innings of a 5-2 win over Oakland on July 5. Schilling leads the major leagues with 12 wins, leads the National League in innings pitched (143 1/3) and complete games (five) and ranks second in strikeouts (160) and sixth in ERA, but the right-hander surprisingly leads the NL in homers allowed (24).

Tickets: (714) 663-9000