Cabrera Sweats the Details

It’s not quite the equivalent of going from Animal House to Army boot camp, but the transition from the free-spirited Boston Red Sox to the button-down Angels has been challenging for new shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

“I’ve never had so many meetings -- every day they tell you what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong,” said Cabrera, the 30-year-old veteran who signed a four-year, $32-million deal in December.

“They’re trying to get everyone to work as hard as they can during spring training, but a lot of the guys told me Mike [Scioscia, Angel manager] loosens up during the season. There’s a lot of concern about what you’re doing on the field here. They want perfection. That’s good, because you want to have everyone on the same page.”

The difference between the Red Sox and the Angels, apparently, is that the Angels actually have a page. When Cabrera was traded from Montreal to Boston last July 31, he wasn’t exactly handed a Red Sox playbook.

“I got to Minnesota for my first game and started asking guys what the signs were [on defense] for a double steal,” Cabrera said. “They said, ‘The catcher just throws to second base.’ But what about the sign from the catcher? ‘The catcher will do a lot of stuff, but he just throws to second base.’

“They didn’t bunt, they didn’t hit and run. We won a World Series with no signs. Then you come here, and it’s a big difference. Here, you do what you’re told.”

Scioscia holds one team meeting every morning “to recap the previous day, to move forward” and periodic meetings with position players and pitchers to go over offensive and defensive signs.

“Our system is anything but complicated, but certainly, there’s some structure to what we do on the field,” Scioscia said. “It’s a work in progress for any new player. The adjustment period is not over after 20 games in spring training.”

Scioscia also has had several one-on-one meetings with Cabrera, who is struggling with a .139 average after going hitless in four at-bats in Sunday’s 8-5 exhibition victory over the San Francisco Giants.

“He just needs to play his game,” Scioscia said. “He might be pressing a bit, but he’s a good hitter. He’ll be fine.”

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A mediocre spring for pitcher Jarrod Washburn took a considerable turn for the better Sunday when the Angel left-hander gave up one run and six hits in seven innings against the Giants, striking out five and walking one.

Washburn needed only 83 pitches to complete seven innings, so he went to the bullpen afterward and threw 17 pitches to reach 100. Washburn, who entered with a 5.93 earned-run average, also had two singles, a run batted in and a run.

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Third baseman Robb Quinlan, who struggled on defense earlier this spring, made two outstanding plays Sunday, backhanding J.T. Snow’s grounder to start a double play in the sixth inning, and making a diving backhand stop of Marquis Grissom’s seventh-inning shot and throwing to second for a forceout.

Second baseman Chone Figgins atoned for a failure to get a sacrifice bunt down in the third by driving in a run with a single in the fifth and two runs with a triple to break a 4-4 tie in the ninth.

Right-hander Chris Bootcheck, a finalist for the last bullpen spot, had his 10-inning spring scoreless streak snapped when he gave up home runs on consecutive eighth-inning pitches to Lance Niekro (two-run) and Moises Alou (solo).

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Scioscia, as expected, tabbed Bartolo Colon to start the April 5 season opener against Texas. The right-hander will be followed in the rotation by Washburn, John Lackey, Paul Byrd and Kelvim Escobar. ... Dallas McPherson will continue his rehabilitation from a herniated disk in his lower back in a minor league game today. If McPherson is not ready to open the season, he will probably be optioned to triple-A Salt Lake for a week of games before returning to Anaheim on April 15.