Guerrero gets day off to ‘recharge’

Orlando Cabrera used to catch flak for his footwear in Montreal, a pair of modified basketball sneakers -- high-tops with spikes -- that he wore on Olympic Stadium’s unforgiving artificial turf.

“Everyone made fun of me,” said Cabrera, who played 6 1/2 years in Montreal, “but we played on cement, and those shoes saved me. Out of all the guys I played with, I’m the only one who hasn’t had knee problems.”

One of those guys was current Angels teammate Vladimir Guerrero, who played seven years in Montreal and is still paying the price. The 31-year-old slugger had lower-back problems in 2003, and knee problems relegated the right fielder to designated hitter for 30 of 156 games last season and six of 37 games this season.

Neither Guerrero nor Manager Mike Scioscia said those knees were acting up this week, but Guerrero, who is batting .341 with nine home runs and 33 runs batted in, was not in the lineup Tuesday night against the Mariners after spending Monday as the DH in Texas.

“It’s just a day off,” said Guerrero, who had started 24 straight games. “I need it.”

Scioscia called it “a day to recharge, a day to get some gas in his tank.... We’ve used the DH spot to give him a day off his feet, but he was a little drained [Monday], and a game at DH didn’t help him recover.”

As difficult as it is for the Angels to lose Guerrero even for one day -- he’s the only legitimate power threat in the lineup -- Cabrera can understand the need to pace Guerrero.

“He’s not 25 anymore,” Cabrera said. “He’s been bothered by his knee more than anything else. He always wore spikes in Montreal, and he played the outfield every day, no DH. All those guys from Montreal, guys like Jose Vidro, Fernando Tatis, Cliff Floyd ... they all had knee problems. They’re all suffering now.”

*

The good news was that Reggie Willits did not suffer a concussion in a collision with Cabrera on Monday in Texas, but the left fielder did not escape unscathed. Willits sprained his right thumb, an injury that required several hours of treatment Tuesday but did not prevent Willits from playing.

Willits and Cabrera made lengthy runs into shallow left field for Nelson Cruz’s second-inning popup, which Cabrera caught before slamming his shoulder into Willits’ chin and knocking Willits to the ground, where he remained -- woozy -- for several minutes.

“They asked how many fingers they were holding up, and he couldn’t even say,” Cabrera said of Willits. “Just today, he told me he didn’t even know I caught the ball.”

Said Willits: “Not until we made the third out of the inning and I saw everyone running off the field did I realize Orlando caught it. I was just glad they didn’t score.”

*

Chone Figgins, who missed the first month of the season because of fractures on the index and middle fingers of his throwing hand, had a .137 average before Tuesday’s game, and his frustration is beginning to show.

“I told him to keep your head up, it’s a long season, and we need him to be happy and do his job,” Cabrera said. “He’s been hitting the ball right at people, and things like that get you frustrated. Keep doing that over and over, and your average goes down. But I think he’ll be OK. He’s mentally tough.”

*

The Angels activated infielder Maicer Izturis (strained right hamstring) off the disabled list and optioned infielder Matt Brown to triple-A Salt Lake.

*

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com