Angels Take Hit at Third

A herniated disk in Dallas McPherson’s lower back will sideline the Angel third baseman for two to four weeks, thrusting Robb Quinlan into the starting third base job to open the season, creating an opportunity for infielder Maicer Izturis to make the team and knocking some power out of the Angels’ projected lineup.

McPherson, who hit 40 home runs in the minor leagues last season and was all but handed Troy Glaus’ third base job this spring, was examined by Dr. Robert Watkins, a back specialist, in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon and received an epidural shot Wednesday to relieve pain and reduce inflammation in the area.

“His symptoms regressed,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He thought he was better, then he did some light rotational stretching [Tuesday] and got stiff and sore. We’re going to shut him down until he’s pain-free. Hopefully, that won’t be too long.”

Scioscia held out hope that McPherson, the minor league player of the year in 2004, could be ready to open the season if he played 10 or so exhibition games and got 30 to 40 at-bats, but the chances of that seem remote.

McPherson, who is being touted as a rookie-of-the-year candidate, suffered a ruptured disk in his lower back and was sidelined for two months in 2003, and the Angels don’t want him to aggravate his injury this month.

The Angels also don’t want the 6-foot-4, 230-pound McPherson, who generates plenty of torque on his lower back with his big swing, to come back too soon, overcompensate for a sore back and develop other problems.

“If he starts swinging and loses his lower half because his back is stiff, it’s a concern,” Scioscia said. “His back has to be at a certain level to resume baseball activities. We’re going to monitor that real close so he doesn’t have any setbacks.”

Quinlan, who bats right-handed, was supposed to spell the left-handed-hitting McPherson against tough left-handers, but now he’ll probably open the season as the everyday starter at third, a position he hadn’t played until last season.

Quinlan is a solid offensive player with some power -- he batted .344 with five home runs and drove in 23 runs in 56 games last season before suffering a season-ending rib-cage injury in August.

He had a 21-game hitting streak from July 7 to Aug. 10 and batted .407 with 15 runs batted in to win American League rookie-of-the-month honors in July. The 28-year-old had a triple and two singles in the Angels’ 2-1 exhibition victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.

But Quinlan has limited defensive range and a subpar infield throwing arm. In the second inning Wednesday, he lost Geoff Blum’s pop-up in the sun, the ball dropping for a hit.

“He has terrific hands, and whatever he can get to, he’ll catch,” Scioscia said of Quinlan, who came up as a first baseman. “What he lacks in range and arm strength, he makes up for with guts and glory.”

Scioscia said he would consider moving second baseman Chone Figgins back to third and inserting the slick-fielding but light-hitting Izturis at second, but the manager is hesitant to make that move because Figgins, who is replacing the injured Adam Kennedy at second, is just beginning to jell with new shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

The middle-infield pair turned two nifty 4-6-3 double plays Wednesday, Figgins starting one of the plays with a nice backhand grab of Paul McAnulty’s shot up the middle in the third inning.

“I felt like I had five guys out there instead of four,” said pitcher Paul Byrd, who gave up two hits and struck out two in three scoreless innings. “That’s as good an infield as I’ve ever had behind me, especially up the middle.”

Scioscia said he wanted Cabrera and Figgins to be comfortable with each other before considering Izturis as an option at second, an alignment that would make the Angels stronger defensively but weaker offensively. Utility infielder Lou Merloni also could play third.

“We’ll play Figgins at third a few times [this spring] just to get him reacquainted with the position,” Scioscia said, “but not until we see how he and Orlando work together up the middle.”