Molina’s Injury Could Hurt the Most

The Angels’ latest injury could be their most severe. Catcher Bengie Molina could be out until Sept. 1 because of a partially torn left hamstring, sending General Manager Bill Stoneman scrambling to investigate whether he should trade for a catcher as well as a relief pitcher.

Molina suffered the injury while batting Tuesday in his first game after missing three because of a mild strain in the same hamstring. Athletic trainer Ned Bergert said the injuries were not related. Bergert also said the latest injury, diagnosed after an MRI examination Wednesday, was as severe as the right hamstring injury that sidelined Molina for seven weeks last season.

The Angels put Molina on the disabled list and recalled his younger brother from triple-A Salt Lake. Jose Molina was batting .307 at Salt Lake and batted .270 in 15 games with the Angels last season. Manager Mike Scioscia said Jose and Jorge Fabregas would split most of the catching duties, with Shawn Wooten also available.

“We feel we have guys that can come in on a short-term basis and do the job,” Scioscia said.

Bengie’s batting average had fallen from .326 on May 2 to .268, but he led major league catchers by throwing out 46% of runners trying to steal and worked extremely well with the pitchers. Stoneman said that several other clubs had expressed interest in trading for Jose this season and said he was unsure he could trade for anyone better.

“If somebody’s available that can be a reasonable upgrade at a reasonable cost, we’ll look at it, but it’s hard to get catching at any time of the year,” Stoneman said.

The Angels’ tastes, then, would lean more to a catcher such as Brent Mayne of the Kansas City Royals than Ivan Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers or Jason Kendall of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On this trip, the Angels have put Bengie Molina, closer Troy Percival and reliever Dennis Cook on the disabled list, and Scioscia said outfielder Darin Erstad might be unavailable for several more days because of a foot infection. As the Angels battle their division rivals with a depleted roster, the remaining sound players would celebrate if Stoneman could make a deal.

“You always think they’re looking for ways to improve the club,” outfielder Tim Salmon said. “There’s no doubt we’ve had some bad news. It would be nice to hear something good.”

Molina, 27, never played more than 108 games in any of his seven minor league seasons, often slowed by injury. He played 130 games in his rookie season with the Angels two years ago, batting .281 with 14 home runs. The Angels then signed him to a four-year, $4.25-million contract; he has been injured in each of the two seasons since.

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The Angels would be thrilled if Cook could return by Sept. 1, but they’re not counting on it. Still, Cook said he feels obligated to try to rehabilitate the torn labrum and partially torn rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder. He originally told doctors he would opt for surgery on Friday, which would have ended his season, but changed his mind and decided to take a chance on rehabilitation.

“The more I thought about it, these guys are paying me to try to pitch this year, not to try to fix it for next year,” he said. “Plus, we’re winning, and I want to be a part of it as much as possible.”

Cook, 39, also said he would defer any decision about retirement. He signed a $1.25-million contract with the Angels last winter and had been leaning toward retirement after the season.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

AARON SELE

(7-6, 5.08 ERA)

vs.

ATHLETICS’

BARRY ZITO

(12-3, 3.30 ERA)

Oakland Coliseum, 7

TV--Channel 9.

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

Update--The Angels promoted pitcher Chris Bootcheck, a first-round draft choice two years ago, to triple-A Salt Lake. Bootcheck, 23, was 8-7 with a 4.81 ERA at double-A Arkansas.