Bench Could Get Thinner

The Angels, so thin in starting pitching depth, might have to sacrifice offensive versatility by keeping Mickey Callaway in their bullpen after Kevin Appier and Aaron Sele return from the disabled list next week.

When the Angels were rained out Thursday in Cleveland, Callaway lost his scheduled start Saturday in Toronto. Scot Shields, who would have started Thursday, will replace Callaway on Saturday.

Shields’ emergence as a capable starter -- he carried a shutout into the sixth inning of a spot start last week -- does not allow the Angels to stamp Callaway as a surplus arm and discard him. With the top starters at triple-A Salt Lake not ready to help in Anaheim -- Chris Bootcheck because of a 7.22 earned-run average and Steve Green because of an elbow injury -- and with the fragility of Appier and Sele, the Angels probably could not afford to lose Callaway right now.

Said Manager Mike Scioscia: “I don’t think we’re so deep that, because one guy steps up, you can say we’re not going to need the rest of those guys.”

By stashing Callaway in their bullpen, the Angels would reduce their bench to four position players. He is out of options, so the Angels cannot send him to Salt Lake unless he clears waivers. Despite his 1-3 record and 6.04 ERA, the Angels are convinced that a pitching-poor team such as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays or Cincinnati Reds would claim him.

In addition, the Angels would be reluctant to make Shields a regular starter, given the extraordinary resilience of his arm.

“It’s definitely not ruling him out of the mix to start in the future,” Scioscia said, “but he has the ability to be an impact pitcher in the bullpen, which carries a lot of weight.”

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For so long, Tim Salmon was considered the best player never to make the All-Star game. The stars appeared to be aligned for him this season, with an atypically hot start that includes an 18-game hitting streak and with Scioscia serving as the American League manager, a post that includes the perk of selecting the All-Star reserves. Two years ago, Arizona Diamondback Manager Bob Brenly picked six of his players as reserves.

But, under a new format announced Thursday, the number of players selected by the AL manager fell from 21 last year to five this year.

“I’m not holding my breath,” Salmon said. “It makes no difference to me. I got to play in the biggest game in the world and I got a ring for it.”

Still, Salmon acknowledged a “we wuz robbed” perception in the year after the Angels won.

“When the Yankees win, it looks like half their squad is there, so I guess it looks like it,” he said. “But there are so many great players that, whatever the system you come up with, there will always be guys that get left out.”

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The reason for Francisco Rodriguez’s return to Venezuela was not to attend the funeral of his grandmother, as the Angels originally believed. His grandmother, Isabel, the woman who raised him and whom Rodriguez calls his mother, is alive and well. The woman who passed away was the mother of his grandfather, whom Rodriguez called his grandmother. Carmen Rodriguez was 79.

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Thursday’s rainout is expected to be made up as part of a doubleheader on Aug. 9, on the Angels’ next visit to Cleveland.... When the Angels tried to sneak minor league left-hander Eric Cyr through waivers last week, the Cincinnati Reds claimed him. The Reds tried the same trick this week, and the Angels claimed him back Thursday. The Angels also designated minor league right-hander Elio Serrano for assignment.

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ON DECK

Opponent -- Toronto Blue Jays, three games.

Site -- SkyDome, Toronto.

Radio -- KSPN (710) all three games, KWKU (1220) today, XKAM (950) Saturday and Sunday.

Records -- Angels 13-14, Blue Jays 11-18.

Record vs. Blue Jays (2002) -- 7-2.

Today, 4 p.m. PDT -- John Lackey (1-2, 7.76) vs. Cory Lidle (3-2, 5.75).

Saturday, 10 a.m. PDT -- Scot Shields (1-0, 0.77) vs. Doug Davis (0-0, 12.00).

Sunday, 4 p.m. PDT -- Ramon Ortiz (4-2, 4.38) vs. Mark Hendrickson (1-4, 7.26).