TEMPE, Ariz. – Josh Hamilton’s comeback attempt hit what he hopes is a minor speed bump when he strained his left calf during baserunning drills Tuesday morning.
Hamilton said he expects to miss at least four or five days before being re-evaluated.
“I’m not concerned about it,” he said. “It (stinks) because I felt really good swinging the bat in live BP and stuff.”
Hamilton said he felt his calf “grab me good” during early-morning drills. He went for an MRI that showed the strain.
Hamilton was on crutches later in the day because the muscle had tightened up, and he expected to remain on crutches for at least a couple days.
Hamilton, who came to camp about 30 pounds heavier than he was last year, said he didn’t think that was an issue.
“It has nothing to do with it,” he said. “I played from 2008 to 2012 at 250 pounds sometimes.”
He also said he remains optimistic he can rebound from his disappointing first season with the Angels.
“It is going to be a great year,” he said. “I know it is. I believe it is. There have been times in the past where I tweaked something in spring training and missed a week and had a great year. I have a good attitude about what’s ahead.”
COLLISION-RULE CONFUSION
A day after Major League Baseball released the wording of the new rule regulating collisions at the plate, the Angels were still trying to figure it out.
“It’s kind of different from what I was expecting,” catcher Hank Conger said. “I thought I was just going to have to stay (in front of the plate) and not take it away, especially if a guy is going to slide. … I’m really curious to see how it’s going to play out.”
The rule essentially says the runner must slide and he can’t deviate from his path to initiate contact with the catcher, and the catcher must give the runner a clear lane to part of the plate.
However, the catcher can still block the plate if he has the ball, which is slightly different than what Angels catchers had been expecting.
Conger said when the Angels worked on the play last week, they practiced as if they couldn’t block the plate at all.
Manager Mike Scioscia, a former catcher who was known as one of the best in the game at blocking the plate, said the new rule basically forces the catcher to wait before cutting off the lane.
“There was always a lot of give to the catcher to have some rope to be able to block the plate if you were in the act of catching the ball,” Scioscia said. “If it was simultaneous, (the right of way) was given to the catcher. Now you have to have the ball in your possession before you can even move into that area.”
Speaking from the other side of the equation, David Freese said he still expects runners to go hard into the plate.
“You can slide and go in hard,” Freese said. “It’s just like breaking up a double play. You can still get after it. Take out the feet. I think that’s perfectly fine.”
All parties agree the true impact of the rule change won’t be clear until they see a few instances in games to get an idea of how the umpires interpret it. That might take a while, though, because the plays in question are rare. Chris Iannetta said he had just two plays at the plate with contact in 113 games last year.
SCARE FOR WILSON
C.J. Wilson was hit in the side the head by a line drive when he was throwing live batting practice, but Wilson underwent tests and said, via Twitter, that he is OK.
“Everything is fine, except the pitch I threw. Shoulda caught it,” Wilson tweeted.
NOTES
Jered Weaver is scheduled to start the Angels’ exhibition opener Friday against the Chicago Cubs. Weaver is also expected to be the opening day starter for the sixth time in seven years, but Scioscia doesn’t typically announce that until later in the spring. …
Scioscia said certain spring training games will be designated as “challenge games,” which means managers will be allowed to use their replay challenges as they would in the regular season. Not all spring training games are covered with sufficient TV cameras to use replay in all the games.
Contact the writer: jlfletcher@ocregister.com
