Anderson Is Feeling Closer to Normal

Garret Anderson hit about 50 balls off a tee Tuesday. He ran several times around the bases. He played catch. Even more important, he did not feel sluggish when he got out of bed, and his energy level remained steady throughout the day.

“I feel as close to normal as I can be,” said Anderson, who was diagnosed two weeks ago with an arthritic condition in his upper back. “I feel great.”

These were soothing words for the injury-ravaged Angels on a day when hope seemed to finally replace despair.

The Angels have played long stretches this season without Anderson, their All-Star center fielder, All-Star third baseman Troy Glaus, All-Star reliever Brendan Donnelly, designated hitter Tim Salmon and first baseman Darin Erstad.

But outside of Glaus, who had shoulder surgery in May and probably is out for the season, the news Tuesday on the fallen Angels was encouraging.

Salmon, out since April 30 because of an inflamed left knee, began another rehabilitation assignment with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga (he had an infield hit in four at-bats) and could return next week.

Erstad, out since May 9 because of a strained right hamstring, resumed hitting and fielding drills, ran at 90%, and he could begin a rehab assignment in a week or so.

Donnelly, out all season because of a broken nose and elbow tendinitis, graduated from his flat-ground program, throwing off a bullpen mound for the first time in weeks, and said he felt “better than expected.”

And Anderson, out since April 22, has responded so favorably to the anti-inflammatory medication doctors prescribed a week and a half ago that it would not be a stretch to think he could return by the end of the month.

“I’m not going to put a time frame on it, but you can kind of gauge from what I’m doing,” said Anderson, who has averaged 30 home runs and 120 runs batted in over the last four seasons. “I’m getting in shape, but it shouldn’t take as long to get in shape because I already went through spring training.”

Once Anderson gains more strength in his arms and hands, he will begin taking batting practice. He’ll probably need a longer rehab stint to regain the stamina to play nine innings in the field, but Anderson has never needed more than 25-30 at-bats in spring training to get his timing down.

“I wouldn’t say I’m excited -- I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself and get disappointed,” Anderson said. “But I feel a lot better than I did a week ago. I couldn’t even foresee playing then. I was just staying where I was, not getting better.”

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Said Erstad about his hamstring: “I can’t get it to top speed yet. Hitting feels good. I can move around at first base. I’m getting to a point now where I want to push it, but I want to make sure it’s OK to do that. I’m not totally confident I can get to the next level yet.”

Erstad said he has regained strength in the hamstring, but the leg needs a little more time to heal. The last step in the recovery process is clearing the mental hurdle, when he’s “not thinking about running the bases or coming out of the box.”

Donnelly threw 25 pitches off a mound at about 85% and hopes to throw off a mound every other day until he begins another rehab assignment.

“It was a good day for day one,” Donnelly said. “I just wanted to make sure nothing was going to fall off. That’s the main thing.”

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Catcher Bengie Molina did not start for the second consecutive game Tuesday night. Instead, Manager Mike Scioscia put Molina through a rigorous workout before batting practice “to work on some footwork issues.”

The Chicago White Sox were successful on all five stolen-base attempts against Molina over the weekend.... Vladimir Guerrero is the leading vote getter among American League outfielders with 637,515.