Mike Scioscia and struggling Scott Kazmir talk things over
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There isn’t enough couch space in Mike Scioscia’s office to accommodate all the struggling players the Angels manager could have summoned for closed-door meetings, but it was pitcher Scott Kazmir who got the invite Wednesday.
The left-hander emerged from an hourlong meeting with Scioscia and pitching coach Mike Butcher with some drills designed to help him find his proper arm slot and assurances he will not be skipped in the rotation.
“We wanted to get an understanding of where he felt he was, some adjustments that needed to be made and whether he needed some time to make them,” Scioscia said. “He doesn’t think so, and Butch doesn’t think so. He’s going to start Monday in Texas.”
Kazmir is 2-3 with a 6.82 earned-run average in six starts, and he’s allowed 35 hits and 19 walks in 30 1/3 innings. He’s averaging five innings and about 100 pitches a start, his command problems and inability to put hitters away leading to his pitch inefficiency.
Kazmir has struggled to find the sharply breaking slider that was an effective weapon in 2006 and 2007, and the velocity of his fastball is down a few ticks from its usual 94-mph range.
One possible reason: Since he suffered an elbow injury in 2007, Kazmir’s arm slot has drifted from an over-the-top delivery to an almost three-quarters delivery.
“I dropped my arm angle so I wouldn’t feel the elbow,” Kazmir said. “When I started to feel better, I tried to get back to where I was, but it’s been tough. It’s a bad habit. Hopefully, some of the drills will help.”
Designated sitter
Hideki Matsui, mired in a 6-for-52 slump that has dropped the designated hitter’s average from .310 on April 24 to .228, was not in the lineup Wednesday.
“He’s been grinding a little bit,” Scioscia said of Matsui, 35. “Maybe by taking a day here and combining it with the off day [Thursday] he’ll come back and find his stroke on Friday.”
Matsui, slowed by a pair of arthritic knees, said he has endured similar rough patches, but he couldn’t say for sure whether he’s in the midst of a prolonged slump or if his career, like those of many players in their mid-30s, is in decline.
“It’s probably something that, after a couple of years, you look back and say that age was part of the reason,” Matsui said through an interpreter. “It’s something that I can’t 100% deny. Personally, I feel good. I don’t think that’s the reason. That’s my perspective.”
Wood on the pine
Third baseman Brandon Wood, in a 3-for-30 slump that dropped his average from .197 on May 1 to .168, didn’t start Wednesday, and he may not return on Friday.
“Yeah,” Scioscia said, when asked whether Wood could get more than one game off. “With a young player, at times, you might have to peel him back and let him not pick up a bat for a day. Try to get rid of some of the pressing and the anxiety.”
Wood said he has made strides in the cage, “but I need to get it to where those things that are happening in the cage are happening at 7 p.m.,” he said. “It’s definitely been frustrating. I’m still hitting a buck seventy. All I can do is work to get through it.”
Short hops
Catcher Jeff Mathis, out since April 20 because of a broken bone in his right wrist, had the cast removed Wednesday. He expects to begin strength-building exercises next week and hopes to return by June.
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