Escobar Is Mentor to Rookie Santana

Kelvim Escobar was slowed by shoulder problems in spring training and is on the disabled list recovering from elbow surgery, but that hasn’t prevented the veteran from taking rookie Ervin Santana under his injured right wing.

Although Escobar never experienced the extreme highs and lows of Santana, who has a 1.00 earned-run average in his three wins and a no-decision and a 16.46 earned-run average in his four losses, he was once a highly touted young pitcher with great stuff in Toronto and dealt with some inconsistency early in his career.

“I’ve talked to Ervin a lot,” said Escobar, who is expected to return in early September. “He’s young and very talented and has a long way to go, a lot to learn, but he’s going to be good. The main thing I tell him is to keep your focus, because every pitch means something.”

Santana has a 95-mph fastball and an above-average slider, but has had trouble minimizing damage in his four losses, giving up two five-run innings, a four-run inning and a three-run inning.

The 22-year-old right-hander’s next two starts, including tonight’s series opener against Oakland, will go a long way toward determining whether the Angels pursue a starting pitcher before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline. If he heeds Escobar’s advice, Santana will have a good shot of staying in the rotation.

“When guys get on base and you’re in a tough spot, young guys become too aggressive,” Escobar said. “You have to be calm, forget about runners and make your pitches. Don’t try to be too perfect. It’s not how hard you throw, it’s making pitches, changing speeds. Throw the ball down in the zone and you’ll be fine because you have great stuff.”

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If there is one aspect of the game Mike Scioscia is most passionate and concerned about, it is the pitcher-catcher relationship, but the Angel manager did not seem overly concerned by pitcher Bartolo Colon’s “stubborn” refusal to follow catcher Bengie Molina’s game plan in Saturday’s 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Colon said he shook off Molina a number of times when he was ahead in counts, opting to try to put hitters away with fastballs instead of off-speed pitches. The Twins scored five runs in the fourth inning to erase a 4-0 deficit.

“On any given count, you’re going to have a number of options, one thing you shouldn’t do and two or three things you can do,” Scioscia said. “Bart felt very strong with his fastball, and Bengie thought he should have mixed it up more.

“It’s not a huge issue. We’ll learn from it. Certainly, I have no issue overall with our pitch selection. This experience will make things go a little smoother in the future.”