Reliever Donnelly May Sit Out Most of June

Relief pitcher Brendan Donnelly accompanied the Angels to Toronto, but that was hardly an indication that the All-Star right-hander, out all season because of a broken nose and elbow tendinitis, was any closer to returning.

The Angels want their medical staff to monitor Donnelly’s throwing program, so he will remain with the team for now. He won’t know if he’ll be able to throw off a mound “for a couple of weeks,” so it appears he may sit out much of June too.

Donnelly tried to come back too soon after a batting practice fly ball broke his nose in 20 places on March 9, and he experienced severe nosebleeds. He also developed elbow tendinitis and when he finally returned to game action, Donnelly, in a rehabilitation appearance for triple-A Salt Lake on May 9, walked off the mound after six pitches because of pain. After trying to throw several times last week, Donnelly figured he’d also tried to come back too soon from his elbow injury.

“I tried to come back so fast, and now I set myself back farther,” he said after playing long toss Monday. “It’s like when you’re speeding and a policeman pulls you over and says, ‘Why are you in such a hurry?’ How late are you going to be now?

“It’s frustrating because the team is playing well, and I want to help. The bullpen has been doing fine, but there have been stretches where some guys have been tired, and I know I could help. I’ve never had elbow problems, but this is in an area where we need to take it slow, so we don’t do any more damage.”

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Heavy fog and thunderstorms late Sunday forced the Angels’ charter to be diverted from Toronto to Detroit.

The Angels reached Detroit about 2 a.m. Monday and, because of landing restrictions in Toronto, sat on the tarmac for four hours. They finally flew to Toronto, arriving at 6:30 a.m. and reaching their hotel at 8 a.m.

Emerging as a hero in the Angels’ travails was traveling secretary Tom Taylor, who made a middle-of-the-night food run to White Castle in Detroit and returned with 240 burgers and 25 bags of fries, a $325 order that caught employees of the burger joint off guard.

“I walked in, the person at the counter said, ‘Good morning,’ and I said, ‘I need eight 30-packs of burgers and 25 fries,’ ” Taylor said. “The guy behind the counter said, ‘Hold on a sec.’ Then the manager came up and took the order, and they made them in about 35 minutes.”

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The Angels have discussed a one-year deal with representatives of outfielder Raul Mondesi, whose contract was terminated by Pittsburgh last week, but they are not front-runners to obtain the slugger, who has also drawn interest from Boston, Seattle and St. Louis.

Mondesi, a former Dodger, has a good relationship with Angel Manager Mike Scioscia and is said to be interested in returning to Southern California, but one team has offered Mondesi a two-year deal, “and that may put the Angels out of it,” according to a baseball source.

The Angels are in need of a power bat for an injury-depleted lineup that is missing Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus, Tim Salmon and Darin Erstad, but with Anderson, Salmon, Erstad and outfielders Vladimir Guerrero and Jose Guillen signed through next year or beyond, the Angels don’t need Mondesi for 2005.

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A week after straining his right hamstring May 8, “I thought I was pretty much done for a couple of months,” Erstad said. Monday, Erstad took batting practice and jogged in the Skydome. Though he is still several weeks away from returning, “The outlook is much better than it was last week,” he said.

Though Anderson, the Angel center fielder, could be out for another six weeks, Scioscia said Erstad, a former center fielder, would remain at first base when he returned, “We don’t want to put a guy back in a position where he has to do a lot of running,” Scioscia said.

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Casey Kotchman’s club-record string of plate appearances to open the season without a strikeout ended at 48 on Monday when the rookie went down swinging in the fifth inning.... Toronto first baseman Carlos Delgado was pulled in the fourth inning Monday because of a jammed right knee.