Mark Trumbo is Angels’ jack of all trades

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Mark Trumbo knew there was a chance he could play five positions this season. The Angels utility player did not, however, expect to play all five within a five-game span.

But there was Trumbo starting in right field against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night, capping a five-game string in which he started at designated hitter Thursday night, in left field Friday night, at third base Saturday night and at first base on Sunday.

“It’s fairly interesting,” said Trumbo, who was pushed off first base by the signing of Albert Pujols. “At the same time, it’s exciting.”

Trumbo, who made one career start in right field, in September 2010, may not think so once the game starts. Tropicana Field’s grayish, opaque roof can make it difficult for veteran outfielders to pick up the ball, and a bank of lights ringing the ceiling along the third-base line can blind the right fielder.

The Angels lost a game here years ago when Orlando Palmeiro raced in from right field to field a fly ball in the ninth inning and lost it in the lights. The ball went straight over his head for a walk-off hit, and Palmeiro never stopped, running all the way into the third-base dugout.

“You have to try to stay behind the ball a little more, and if you lose it, hang in there as long as you can,” said Trumbo, who made 10 appearances in right field, but no starts, last season. “I’ll have to communicate with Peter [Bourjos, Angels center fielder] and be very vocal.”

The Angels enter play Tuesday 6 1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West and mired in a power slump in which they’ve hit two home runs in the last 60 innings. Neither Albert Pujols nor Torii Hunter, the third and fourth hitters in the lineup Tuesday, have homered this season.

The Angels lineup: SS Erick Aybar, 2B Howie Kendrick, 1B Albert Pujols, DH Torii Hunter, RF Mark Trumbo, LF Vernon Wells, 3B Maicer Izturis, C Chris Iannetta, CF Peter Bourjos, P Ervin Santana.

The Rays lineup: LF Desmond Jennings, 3B Ben Zobrist, 1B Carlos Pena, 3B Evan Longoria, DH Luke Scott, RF Matt Joyce, CF B.J. Upton, C Jose Molina, SS Sean Rodriguez, P David Price.

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Mark Trumbo is Angels’ jack of all trades