Knock on Wood: Third baseman remains in Angels’ lineup vs. Twins

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In what may have come as a surprise to some, third baseman Brandon Wood, the highly touted power prospect, was in the starting lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Minnesota Twins after striking out three times and popping out in the Angels’ season-opening 6-3 win Monday night.

The first question to Manager Mike Scioscia in Tuesday’s pregame press briefing, from a television reporter, was whether it was too early for the Angels to be concerned about Wood, who is replacing All-Star third baseman Chone Figgins.

The season, at the time, was 1 day old.

‘Yeah,’ Scioscia said. ‘We have a lot of confidence in Brandon’s ability. It’s going to take some time for him to get comfortable.’

How much time will Wood get to get comfortable?

‘We’ll give him five at-bats,’ Scioscia said. ‘He’ll have one more at-bat tonight, and that’s it.’

The manager was joking.

‘It’s going to take more than four at-bats for us to get a read on that,’ Scioscia said. ‘We have some options to take some pressure off him if he starts to grind it out. Maicer Izturis will see some time there. But we think Brandon is going to be productive.’

Torii Hunter was a mentor to young second baseman Howie Kendrick last season, and it appears he will take on a similar role with Wood. The veteran center fielder spent a considerable amount of time talking to Wood in the clubhouse Tuesday afternoon, reminding the youngster not to put too much pressure on himself.

‘The pressure is on me and Bobby [Abreu] and Kendry [Morales] and Hideki [Matsui], not on him,’ Hunter said. ‘You can think, ‘I’m starting at third base in the big leagues, I’m replacing Figgy,’ but once he gets over all of that, he’ll be fine, he’ll settle in.

‘It was his first game. He was anxious. Give him a couple weeks to make adjustments, to get used to the hype. He had a great spring training. He’ll be Woody again.’

--Mike DiGiovanna