Scioscia Predicting Big Things for Glaus

It happened for Manny Ramirez at age 26, when the current Boston slugger and former Cleveland outfielder knocked in 145 runs in 1998 after three consecutive seasons in the 90-110 runs batted in range.

It happened for Jason Giambi at age 29, when the Oakland first baseman jumped to 123 RBIs in 1999 and then 137 RBIs and an American League most valuable player award in 2000 after knocking in 110 runs in 1998.

And Angel Manager Mike Scioscia is convinced it will happen for Troy Glaus, the 25-year-old third baseman who had 95 RBIs entering Tuesday night’s game against the A’s after his 102-RBI season in 2000.

“Troy will explode one year and break through to be a consistent run-producer like Manny and Giambi, but that takes experience,” Scioscia said. “You have to understand the adjustments that have to be made with runners in scoring position, and experience is the best teacher. It takes a while to click. Look at Garret [Anderson] and Mo [Vaughn]. They’ve made adjustments. Troy will be capable of 130-140 RBIs a year, depending on how the table is set for him.”

A fine-china-and-linens season this wasn’t for the Angels, but the table wasn’t exactly set with paper plates and plastic forks for Glaus, either. Entering Tuesday, Glaus came to the plate 144 times with runners in scoring position, with 209 runners on base in those at-bats. Giambi had only 106 at-bats with runners in scoring position, with 189 runners on.

But Giambi, Oakland’s No. 3 batter, is batting .349 (37 for 106) with 49 walks and 13 strikeouts with runners in scoring position, a performance that has helped him amass 109 RBIs. Glaus was batting .222 (32 for 144) with 39 walks and 47 strikeouts with runners in scoring position.