Angels recall Stingers' McPherson

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels placed starting catcher Bengie Molina on the 15-day disabled list Monday and recalled rookie third baseman Dallas McPherson from Triple-A Salt Lake.

Molina, hitting .323 with two homers and eight RBIs in 11 games, strained his right quadriceps while running from second to third base in the second inning of Sunday's 7-6 loss at Oakland.

The two-time Gold Glove winner lost more than 20 pounds over the winter in an attempt to reduce the number of nagging injuries that limited him to 97 games last season and 119 two years ago, but it didn't help avoid this injury.

"For catching purposes, you'd much rather have a hamstring strain than a quad strain," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who caught 1,395 games during his 13 big league seasons. "I mean, you can go back behind the plate with a hamstring that's tight and sore and still function and play at the level you need to play back there.

"A quad strain is a different story altogether, so that's why we need to take more time with this. Hopefully it's something mild and he'll get back in there in a couple of weeks, but we're not going to know until three or four days and see how Bengie's feeling."

Jose Molina, Bengie's brother, and Josh Paul will share the catching duties for the Angels according to Scioscia, who feels that Paul is as adept to handle the pitchers as the younger Molina.

McPherson, who was 9-for-40 with three homers and six RBIs in 16 games for the Angels last September, was set to open the season as their starting third baseman after the departure of free agent Troy Glaus. But he missed most of spring training due to back spasms and was optioned to Salt Lake on March 30. He hit .308 with three homers and 14 RBIs for the Stingers.

"My back's 100 percent healthy and everything's looking good right now," McPherson said. "It feels great to be back up here, but there's no guarantee I'm going to stay in the lineup no matter how things go, because you've got to produce. Hopefully, I can have good at-bats, be patient and not get myself out."

Had Molina not been injured, McPherson probably would have spent an extra week in the minors to sharpen his swing.

"Another week down there wasn't going to hurt him, but he was ready and there's an opportunity for him," Scioscia said. "I think he was ready. He was probably approaching the minimum number of at-bats you would have been looking for from him. Mac was doing all the things you needed to do to play ball. He was running the bases well, moving well in the field, making the plays and swinging the bat."