Angels have no plans to eliminate late-afternoon games

An Angels executive said the team has no intention of eliminating 4 p.m. games next season in the wake of a broken left wrist suffered Wednesday by Washington Nationals utility player Jerry Hairston, who blamed the injury on the late-afternoon start time.

But the Angels “will certainly take it into consideration” before finalizing the 2012 schedule, said Tim Mead, the team’s vice president of communications.

“It will be part of the discussion,” Mead said. “Everything from travel to attendance to input from the baseball operations staff goes into that process.”

Hairston was hit by a full-count fastball from Dan Haren in the fifth inning Wednesday and could be out for a month. He told The Washington Post he had difficulty picking up the ball in the late-afternoon shadows between the mound and the plate.

“Somebody’s going to get really, really hurt,” Hairston said. “He could have hit my head. Really difficult to pick up the ball, so it’s going to take something serious to change.

“What if he hit me in the face? It’s just terrible. It’s irresponsible. Maybe they think they draw another 5,000 [fans] or so, I don’t know. The pitchers at this level are too good.”

The Angels began scheduling 4 p.m. weekday games last season in hopes of making it easier for families to attend games during the school year and to give visiting teams from the East Coast and Midwest an earlier start on getaway days.

Mead said crowds for the five 4 p.m. games last season were larger than the average draw for 12:30 p.m. weekday games, but he didn’t have specific figures.

Wednesday was the last of three 4 p.m. starts this season, though Sunday’s game against the Dodgers was moved to 5 p.m. — when the shadows are most challenging — to accommodate ESPN.

Hitters had difficulty picking up the rotation of pitches Wednesday, and the teams combined for only seven hits in the Angels’ 1-0 win.

“At that point of the game, the shadows crept in, but it’s the same for both teams,” said Haren, who apologized to Hairston after the game. “I’m sure he’s frustrated. You see a lot of that with [5 p.m.] ESPN games. It’s unfortunate, but it’s part of the game.”

Midsummer classic

Jered Weaver is the Angels’ only lock to make the American League All-Star team, which will be announced Sunday morning, but Manager Mike Scioscia said Haren, relievers Jordan Walden and Scott Downs and infielders Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick “deserve strong consideration.”

Weaver (9-4, 1.97 earned-run average) will oppose Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw on Saturday night and will make his next start Thursday against Seattle. That would put the right-hander in line to start the July 12 All-Star game in Phoenix on regular rest.

“If he’s on schedule and fresh, we’d be very happy if he got the start,” Scioscia said. “It’s an honor.”

Short hops

Top prospect Mike Trout went two for five with a run batted in in Wednesday’s Texas League all-star game and is batting .327 with a .425 on-base percentage, nine homers, 10 triples, 12 doubles, 26 RBIs, 61 runs and 26 stolen bases in 69 games for double-A Arkansas. … Reliever Fernando Rodney, on the disabled list since June 9 because of an upper-back strain, took another step toward a return, throwing in the bullpen Friday for the second time this week.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com