Torii Hunter is expected to rejoin Angels next week
OAKLAND — Right fielder Torii Hunter, on the restricted list since May 14 while he deals with the arrest of his 17-year-old son, will probably rejoin the team early next week, Manager Mike Scioscia said.
Hunter has been in Texas, where Darius McClinton-Hunter was arrested on a sexual assault charge. Though the Angels have not been required to pay Hunter during his 10-day absence, he is receiving his full salary, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly about it.
If Hunter returns for Monday night’s game against the New York Yankees in Angel Stadium, he will have been away for two weeks. With a salary of $18 million and players paid over six months, Hunter would have received about $1.5 million during his absence.
Scioscia said Hunter, who is batting .256 with five home runs and 15 runs batted in, has been throwing, running and hitting but will probably need to work out for a day or two in Anaheim before returning to the lineup.
“We want to evaluate how he feels, where he is,” Scioscia said. “He won’t come in and be grossly out of shape from where he was. But I think when you get back into baseball activities at a higher intensity, you have to ease your way back into playing games.”
Opening act
Kole Calhoun, who was called up Monday from triple-A Salt Lake, made his first big league start Wednesday, in right field.
“It definitely gives you an adrenaline rush seeing your name in the lineup,” Calhoun, 24, said. “It was awesome to see.”
Even better was the opposite-field double Calhoun hit to left field in the fifth inning for his first major league hit in a 3-1, 11-inning victory over the Oakland Athletics. Calhoun said the ball from his hit will go to his family “and they can debate over who gets it.”
Short hops
The Angels plan to designate reliever David Pauley for assignment and recall infielder Andrew Romine from Salt Lake on Thursday. … Shortstop Erick Aybar, knocked out of Tuesday night’s game when he was hit in the right knee by a pitch, did not start Wednesday but was able to pinch-hit in the 10th inning. He is expected to return to the lineup Thursday night in Seattle. … The struggles of former Angels third baseman Chone Figgins continue: Figgins, who signed a four-year, $36-million deal with the Mariners before 2010, is hitting .180 with a .245 on-base percentage, two homers, eight runs batted in and 10 runs.
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