Eckstein Is Latest to Suffer an Injury

DETROIT â€”  At this rate, the Angels are going to need one of those take-a-number dispensers outside their training-room door.

Shortstop David Eckstein was the latest Angel to suffer an injury, straining a groin while diving back to first base on a pickoff attempt in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Eckstein took second on Darin Erstad’s walk and third on Chone Figgins’ fielder’s choice, and scored the Angels’ first run on Troy Glaus’ double. But Eckstein was removed before the bottom of the first and replaced by Shane Halter, and there’s a good chance Eckstein will go on the disabled list.

“It kind of made a pop,� said Eckstein, who was limping noticeably afterward.

“It was hard to stop and put pressure on it. I was hoping it would go away and to work my way through it, but when I came into the dugout and said I heard a pop, they said you’re coming out of the game.�

Under normal circumstances, the Angels might be able to weather the loss of Eckstein for five or six days, but Glaus (hamstring tightness), Garret Anderson (stiff upper back), Tim Salmon (sore knee) and Bengie Molina (hamstring strain) have all missed playing time this season because of minor injuries, and Vladimir Guerrero has been playing with tendinitis in his right knee, sapping the Angels’ depth.

Injuries in the groin often require more than a week to fully heal. If Eckstein, who will be reevaluated by a doctor today, goes on the disabled list, shortstop Alfredo Amezaga, who is batting .213 at triple-A Salt Lake, probably would be recalled.

“For Eck to come out of a game, it has to be something significant,� Manager Mike Scioscia said. “ ... Right now, a lot of guys are banged up, and we don’t have a lot of depth. It might be a real guess to put him on the DL, but that’s what we might have to do.�

Anderson sat out for the fifth consecutive game, and he didn’t seem much closer to returning. Anderson played catch and ran before the game but did not swing a bat.

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Reliever Brendan Donnelly took another significant step in his return from complications stemming from a broken nose, throwing 35 pitches of live batting practice at the Angels’ minor league complex in Mesa, Ariz.

Donnelly is scheduled to throw in exhibition games Thursday and Saturday, and if the All-Star right-hander doesn’t experience any setbacks, he probably will begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga next week.

The Angels would like Donnelly to pitch in three or four Class-A games before promoting him to triple-A Salt Lake. He could return to Anaheim in mid-May.

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Scioscia said he would not be opposed to his players leaving spring training next March to participate in a World Cup tournament. Guerrero and pitcher Bartolo Colon would be strong candidates to play for the Dominican Republic, reliever Francisco Rodriguez could represent Venezuela, and Anderson, Glaus and closer Troy Percival would be candidates for the U.S. team.

“Any time guys play outside the organization, you’re concerned about the risk of injury, but a World Cup -- especially if you get enough participation where you’d have dream teams for each country -- would be real special for baseball,� Scioscia said.

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Erstad was the victim of a questionable scoring call in the first inning. The first baseman raced about 90 feet in foul territory for Ivan Rodriguez’s pop-up, failed to make an over-the-shoulder catch and was charged with his first error of the season.