Angel Notebook : It’s Good News, Bad News So Far

PALM SPRINGS — Once you get past the name printed across the chest of their uniforms, the new names in the Angel lineup--first baseman Wally Joyner and right fielder George Hendrick--have scarcely a thing in common.

One is young, the other is old.

One is outgoing and quotable, the other shuns the media.

One is trying to make an impression, the other is trying to forget last year’s depression.

One is hitting.

And the other isn’t.

With three singles and a double in five plate appearances Monday, Joyner improved his spring batting average to .396. He leads the Angels in hits (23 in 17 games) and doubles (5) and is third in runs batted in (8).

Meanwhile, back in a slump is Hendrick, the man the Angels are falling over themselves to sell as their right fielder. So far, Hendrick’s 1986 spring hasn’t been much different than his 1985 log with the Angels, when he batted .122 after his trade from Pittsburgh.

After his 0-for-4 performance in the Angels’ 8-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants, Hendrick is at .139 (6 for 43) for the spring. He is 0 for Palm Springs--hitless in his last 14 at bats--and has already struck out 10 times. He owns one RBI and one extra-base hit.

Monday, Hendrick failed to hit the ball out of the infield, fouling out to the first baseman once and tapping back to the pitcher another time.

Occasionally, he runs out ground balls all the way to first.

All this has begun to get the attention of General Manager Mike Port, who to this point has been the chairman of the George Hendrick Fan Club, with Gene Mauch as vice president.

“I was not happy with the way he swung today,” Port said. “He was really struggling just to get the bat on the ball. He’s not taking good swings, but no one is more aware of that than he is.

“I continue to have a certain feeling about George Hendrick. But I have been wrong before. Right now, there’s a tendency to look at what George has done since Friday and disregard what has happened before and what might happen afterward.

“The right field situation is still to be decided over the next 13 games. You can’t project what’s going to happen.”

Hendrick is signed through 1988, guaranteed an annual salary of $737,000. Some of it is deferred. Most of it is the Angels’ responsibility.

Without that responsibility, the Angels might be treating the right field situation a bit differently this spring.

“That is one of the elements you have to live with,” Port admitted. “I think you probably could’ve asked the same question a week ago about Frank LaCorte.”

The Angels released LaCorte, eating the final year of his guaranteed contract.

“I’m trying to think of another club in baseball that does not have that problem. We’re just trying to make the best of it.”

The Angels gambled when they opened the first base and right field positions and tentatively handed them to Joyner and Hendrick. So far, the Angels are batting .500 with those decisions.

That’s nearly .400 better than Hendrick at the moment.

Angel Notes

While the Angels are waiting for Dr. Lewis Yocum to compare old X-rays of John Candelaria’s left elbow with the CAT-scan he underwent Sunday, Candelaria received an anti-inflammatory injection Monday and threw on the sidelines for 15 minutes. For one day at least, Candelaria said the injection worked. “I didn’t feel anything,” he said. Candelaria has had elbow problems in the past--he underwent surgery to repair nerve damage in 1981--but says the new soreness is unrelated. Unusual, too. “I’m confused by it,” he said. “One day it feels fine and one day it doesn’t.” Candelaria plans to try it again, as scheduled, on his next start. “I assume I’ll throw Wednesday,” he said. . . .Darrell Miller sat out Monday’s game with a badly bruised right knee, suffered in his home plate collision with Chicago Cubs catcher Steve Christmas Sunday. X-rays proved negative, although Miller was still in pain a day later. “He took part in some run-down plays,” Gene Mauch said. “They were almost walk-down plays with him.”. . .Gary Lucas also had X-rays taken of his lower back and no structural damage was located. He will attempt to throw off the mound today. . . .Don Sutton pitched six perfect innings in the Angels’ victory over the Giants, striking out four as he improved his spring record to 2-1.