By Michael Bingham
SALT LAKE CITY – Salt Lake got a glimpse of the major leagues this weekend at Franklin Covey Field as Anaheim Angel first basemen Darin Erstad made three rehab starts with the Stingers.
Erstad has been on the disabled list since straining his right hamstring on May 9. Erstad has been placed on the disabled list (DL) five times during his nine-year career; this is his fourth trip because of a hamstring injury.
Fortunately for the Angels, he has recovered faster than many had anticipated. Last year, a similar injury sidelined him for a majority of the season, only playing in 67 games.
“All I can do is prepare to the best of my ability and lay it on the line,” Erstad said. “I”m not going to back down because of what might happen.”
In his first at-bat on Thursday, Erstad reached base on an error by Sacramento center fielder Nick Swisher. Swisher camped under the routine fly ball, only to have it slip off the leather and bounce on the wet turf.
The Stingers tested Erstad”s newly healed hamstring early. After reaching on an error, outfielder Brian Gordon slapped the ball to the wall for a double; Erstad ran all the bases, scoring from first base sliding just under the tag.
“We tested him right out of the gate in the first inning,” Brumley said. “As he was coming around third, he was running good, and there were no outs. And you don”t want to run a guy into an out, but I thought it may be harder to stop him than to send him.”
Yet it was also clear that he was not pushing too hard too early.
“He said he felt good,” Stingers head coach Mike Brumley said. “He didn”t try to overextend. He got a nice hard stride going, so that was encouraging that he didn”t have any problems tonight [Thursday].”
Erstad looked sharp defensively, moving well laterally. During the second inning with a runner on first and second, he snagged a bouncer hit between second and first and made a difficult play look easy by forcing out the runner at second base.
“You can rehab all you want,” Erstad said. “But you”ve got to get into game situations to see what you”re capable of doing.”
Salt Lake anticipated him playing for seven innings and having three at-bats Thursday. But that was cut short after a half-hour rain delay. When play resumed, Erstad decided to call it a night.
“He was scheduled to play seven and get three at-bats,” Brumley said. “So he got his three at-bats but with the field being in the condition that it was, we just decided to start it up again tomorrow.”
The two-time all-star and former gold glover played in three games with the Stingers over the weekend. In three games, Erstad batted .154 with an RBI and a run while not making an error.
He boarded a plane Monday, destination Pittsburgh, where he will be reunited with his Angel teammates as they open a series with the Pirates today.
While the Stingers remain ten games behind first place Tucson, their major league affiliate – the Anaheim Angels – have been battling hard all season for the number one spot in the West. They currently are two and a half games out of first place behind the Oakland Athletics.
