With Howie Kendrick out, Sean Rodriguez is in.
Trying to shake up a team that was at .500 when it opened its interleague series with the Padres, the Angels sent down Kendrick on Friday and on Saturday welcomed back Rodriguez, the infielder who was leading the Pacific Coast League with 21 homers and 60 RBIs while batting .277.
"Sean will get a little bit of time at second base, sharing some time with Izzy," said manager Mike Scioscia (a Westlake Village resident, as you darned well ought to know by now), referring to Maicer Izturis. "If Izzy can keep being the presence we know he can, we'll try to keep him in there. He's going to need some time off, and I think Sean can complement him there. He's also giving us coverage at short and in the outfield."
Rodriguez, a 24-year-old from Miami, had five stints totaling 59 games with the Angels last season, batting .204 with three homers and 10 RBIs while striking out 55 times in 167 at-bats.
"Last year definitely helps a lot," Rodriguez said of the transition from triple-A to the majors. The key to carrying over this year's success in Salt Lake City? "Don't change anything."
Rodriguez won't be playing every day with the Angels as he was in Salt Lake, but believes the way to deal with that is to "keep working. That's the one thing you can always do. True character when you're not playing every day, and you see how you go about your business."
Scioscia indicated one reason the Angels tabbed Rodriguez over third baseman Brandon Wood (.299, 14 homers, 43 RBIs in 44 games) is that the team didn't want to mess with the success of Chone Figgins, seventh in the AL with a .322 batting average while starting at third.
"I think Chone is very comfortable at third right now," Scioscia said. "If Izzy can give us the offense like he did (Friday) night -- although he doesn't have to go 4 for 4 every night -- the potential's for him to contribute offensively, and I think our defensive alignment will be very strong as it is right now."
See Howie does: Scioscia stressed that the roster change was primarily to get Kendrick -- batting just .231 with four homers and 22 RBIs in 51 games -- "back on track.
"And if Howie starts to attack the ball like he can, he's going to be an attractive option for us to come up and get back in our lineup. ... This is really twofold. It's as much trying to get Howie on track as it is to insert a player that can maybe bring a little more onto the field than Howie was right now."
Other than rehab assignments the last two seasons, it's the first time Kendrick has been on a minor-league roster since 2006, when he batted .369 in 69 games at Salt Lake. He batted .285 in Anaheim that year, .322 in 2007 and .306 last year. But Scioscia tried to paint the demotion as nothing out of the ordinary.
"This isn't odd at all," he said. "There have been scores of players who have come up to the big leagues, had some touches of success, but when you're trying to make that footprint, sometimes it takes more than the first go-round.
"We all anticipate Howie getting his stroke, coming back up here and being the player that we envisioned. But right now, we had to take a little detour than just grinding it out here, which wasn't moving him far enough along at the pace that we feel he can."
Pitching notes: Kelvim Escobar's balky shoulder "feels much better," Scioscia said, and Escobar could begin throwing today or tomorrow. It's still possible he could end up on the disabled list, but Scioscia said the team wants to "him throw first and see where he is, and if he's not far enough along, the DL would only take him to next weekend. But if he's available, we would love to see him in the bullpen some point earlier."
Scioscia was also not yet ready to discuss his pitching-rotation plans for this week, in light of the Angels off-day Thursday. "I kinda have an idea," he said, " but I'm not going to say right now. We're still digesting it."
This is of potential interest to Ventura County fans because of the outside possibility of an intriguing pitching matchup.
If the Angels don't use the opportunity to skip a spot in the rotation, Jered Weaver -- Sunday's starter -- would have his next start on Saturday the 20th against the Dodgers. That's also the next time the Dodgers will need a fifth starter, and with Eric Milton on the disabled list, one of the candidates for that start would appear to be Jeff Weaver. The brothers from Simi Valley have yet to face each other.
Scheduling: If you're planning to attend that Saturday Dodgers-Angels game, please note: Listed as a 1:10 p.m. start for a Fox network telecast, it is now a 6:05 p.m. start and will broadcast locally. The Sunday game in that series will start at 5 p.m. and be telecast by ESPN.