DiSarcina Suffers Another Setback

Shortstop Gary DiSarcina hoped his grueling rehabilitation from rotator-cuff surgery would put him on course to return in May, but that was before enduring his first significant setback of the spring.

After cutting loose on several throws Thursday for the first time since he began throwing in December, DiSarcina ended up with a sore shoulder Friday and hasn’t thrown since.

He had been on a program in which he threw strenuously three days a week and lightly three days a week, in addition to taking ground balls and batting practice.

“I didn’t hold back [Thursday] because I was trying to get a good understanding of where I was,” DiSarcina said Monday. “It got really sore, so I backed off. It’s frustrating when the games have begun and you still have a long ways to go. But it’s part of the process.”

Until Friday, DiSarcina hadn’t missed a throwing day in three months. Now, he’s not sure when he’ll be able to throw again. Playing on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract, DiSarcina, the Angels’ most valuable player in 1998, realizes his career is at a crossroads.

“I think this is a one-shot thing,” DiSarcina, 33, said. “If I do it right, I should come back stronger. If I don’t, the chances of me being an everyday player again are gone. No team wants a broken-down shortstop.”

DiSarcina sat out the first 2 1/2 months of 1999 because of a broken left forearm suffered when he walked into the fungo bat of coach George Hendrick the day before spring training started.

Later that summer, he endured a rash of throwing errors trying to play despite a sore shoulder that team trainers did not believe to be serious.

Then in 2000, he struggled through another series of errant throws and shoulder problems and was found to have a major rotator-cuff tear, which required season-ending surgery last May.

“I don’t have regrets, but looking back, I would do things differently,” DiSarcina said. “I would have raised my hand and asked out of the lineup, put my pride in my pocket.

“You can’t play through a sore shoulder. You may earn the respect of your teammates, but you may wind up on the operating table with your career in jeopardy.”

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Troy Glaus said it would take at least 35-40 at-bats before he is “dialed in” this spring, but he has already punched up a few long-distance numbers. Glaus hit his second home run in two days Monday, a bomb that traveled an estimated 450 feet in a 6-2 Cactus League loss to the San Diego Padres.

“That ball was crushed,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “I thought it went about 920 feet.”

Glaus downplayed the shot.

“The difference between a home run and a line drive is minute,” he said. “I’m just trying to put good at-bats together, get comfortable and track pitches. . . . It always takes a few weeks to get going.”

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Utility infielder Jose Fernandez, playing in his first exhibition after arriving late to camp from the Dominican Republic, homered in the ninth inning. Pat Rapp gave up two hits in two scoreless innings in his first Angel start, but Scot Shields was rocked for five runs on seven hits, including Phil Nevin’s three-run homer, in two innings. . . . Relievers Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Al Levine and Mike Fyhrie each threw scoreless innings. . . . Jose Canseco’s right shoulder and lower rib cage were wrapped in ice after a morning workout, but he said there was no cause for concern. “I’m just sore,” he said. “The first two weeks [of spring training] are the worst.”