Bobby Wilson

Bobby Wilson has done virtually everything he set out to do with the Angels this spring. "I've shown them I can catch, throw and be a defensive presence behind the plate," the 26-year-old catcher said. "I think I've swung the bat pretty well too." All of which guarantees Wilson nothing. As good as Wilson has looked — he's hitting .320 in 16 games and threw out Adam Stern trying to steal second base in the ninth inning of the Angels' 1-1 exhibition tie with the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, Wilson has no idea whom he will be employed by come Monday.

SAN DIEGO - With the Angels scrapping for the run that might have won Sunday's game, Manager Mike Scioscia essentially took the bat out of the hands of his hottest hitter, Mike Trout . Trout had singled twice and homered as he waited on deck in the 11th inning. The Angels had one out, Bobby Wilson on first and Ryan Langerhans at bat. Scioscia called for a sacrifice. Langerhans delivered the bunt, Wilson took second, and the San Diego Padres took advantage of the open base by walking Trout intentionally.

Bobby Wilson is no stranger to disappointment on the baseball field. In his first at-bat in organized baseball, as a 5-year-old in T-ball, he hit into an unassisted triple play. Really. "There were runners on first and second, and I hit a line drive that hit the pitcher in the chest and bounced into his glove," said Wilson, the Angels reserve catcher. "At 5, once you hit the ball, everyone starts running. "The pitcher got up, ran to second and stepped on the bag. Then he ran to first and stepped on the bag. My uncle was umpiring.

— The Angels suffered a significant loss Thursday, on the eve of a highly anticipated series against the Texas Rangers. Chris Iannetta will need surgery on his right wrist, a procedure that is expected to sideline the catcher for six to eight weeks. Iannetta is hitting .197 with a .312 on-base percentage, three home runs and nine runs batted in. He suffered the injury when he was hit by a pitch on May 2, the night he caught Jered Weaver's no-hitter against Minnesota. Iannetta played one inning in the next three games, as a defensive replacement, but returned to the lineup Sunday and played three straight games before sitting out Wednesday night's game against the Twins, when the wrist worsened.

AT THE PLATE: Bobby Wilson went five for five and drove in the tying run in the ninth inning, raising his spring average to a team-leading .579. Mark Trumbo also continued his hot hitting, going two for three with a double and his team-best fourth home run. Trumbo also tops the team in hits (14), total bases (31), runs (11), RBIs (11) and slugging percentage (.861). ON THE MOUND: Fernando Rodney had his best outing of the spring, pitching a perfect fifth inning and striking out one. Scott Downs also set the side down in order in his lone inning.

An already heated rivalry between the Angels and New York Yankees grew downright testy Friday night, with bodies crashing into each other, a pair of fastballs thrown to the solar plexus of players from both teams, and one Angel winding up in the hospital. It was even on the judges' scorecards until a haymaker by Kendry Morales in the bottom of the eighth, a two-run home run to right field off Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain that gave the Angels an emotion-charged 6-4 victory. Closer Brian Fuentes, booed off the same Angel Stadium mound when he blew a save against the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night, retired the side -- Nick Johnson, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez -- in order in the ninth for his second save.

SAN DIEGO - With the Angels scrapping for the run that might have won Sunday's game, Manager Mike Scioscia essentially took the bat out of the hands of his hottest hitter, Mike Trout . Trout had singled twice and homered as he waited on deck in the 11th inning. The Angels had one out, Bobby Wilson on first and Ryan Langerhans at bat. Scioscia called for a sacrifice. Langerhans delivered the bunt, Wilson took second, and the San Diego Padres took advantage of the open base by walking Trout intentionally.

Rockies 8, Angels 1 AT THE PLATE: Bobby Wilson continued his sensational spring, going two for three to raise his average to .429. He also drove in the Angels' only run, beating out an infield hit to score Mark Trumbo. ON THE MOUND: Scott Kazmir had an eventful 65-pitch outing in which he gave up everything but an earned run, allowed five hits and four walks, committed an error and made a wild pitch. Relievers Kevin Jepsen, Jordan Walden and Jason Bulger followed, combining for three scoreless innings in which they gave up two hits.

The time-share arrangement between catchers Jeff Mathis and Mike Napoli finally ended when Napoli was traded in January, but it's not as if Mathis will simply take over the lease. The position seems as unsettled for the Angels entering Saturday's exhibition opener against the Dodgers as it has been the last five years, with Mathis no closer to claiming ownership of the job than he was when Napoli, his former roommate, was in town. Mathis' career-long offensive slump ? he's a .199 lifetime hitter with far more strikeouts (285)

Reporting from Seattle — As painful as it was at the time, Mike Trout will probably admit now that his demotion to the minor leagues four weeks ago was one of the best things that happened to him this season. "Once I got sent back down," Trout said, "I wanted to get back up here just as quick as I could. " He was so motivated, in fact, it took him only 19 days to make that happen. And much to the Angels' delight, the player they got back was much better than the one they sent down.

Don't pay attention to that ugly .115, Bobby Abreu said before batting second for the Angels on Tuesday night against the Dodgers in a Freeway Series game. "It doesn't matter to me," Abreu said. The Angels have to decide by Wednesday afternoon to keep two of the following players on their roster for Friday's opening-night game against the Kansas City Royals: Abreu, corner infielder Jorge Cantu or versatile and fast Alexi Amarista . Abreu, 38, said Tuesday that it was a "difficult spring training," a "struggle" when "you don't know what's going to happen to you" and are "fighting for a spot.

Mark Trumbo didn't have long to think about the first ball hit to him at third base this spring, and that was probably a good thing. Trumbo, forced off first base by the signing of Albert Pujols, made a diving grab of Joaquin Arias' line drive to his left for the final out of the second inning, one of the highlights of the Angels' 9-5 exhibition victory over the San Francisco Giants in Tempe Diablo Stadium. "They don't call it the hot corner for nothing," Trumbo said.

The Angels' two marquee -- and expensive -- free-agent additions got off to strong starts with their new club Monday, Albert Pujols collecting two hits in three at-bats and C.J. Wilson throwing two scoreless innings in a 9-1 exhibition victory over the Oakland Athletics. Pujols, who signed a 10-year, $240-million deal, hit a run-scoring double in the first inning and singled to left in the second. The first baseman flied to right with the bases loaded to end the third inning and played four innings in the field.

Reporting from Seattle — As painful as it was at the time, Mike Trout will probably admit now that his demotion to the minor leagues four weeks ago was one of the best things that happened to him this season. "Once I got sent back down," Trout said, "I wanted to get back up here just as quick as I could. " He was so motivated, in fact, it took him only 19 days to make that happen. And much to the Angels' delight, the player they got back was much better than the one they sent down.

The Angels entered Tuesday hitting a major league-low .220 since the All-Star break, and their catchers combined for a major league-worst .198 average and .569 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), which ranked 28th out of 30 teams. Jeff Mathis is a solid defensive catcher who draws rave reviews from pitchers Jered Weaver and Dan Haren , but he's almost the equivalent of a pitcher in a National League lineup; he entered Tuesday with a .180 average, two homers and 17 runs batted in. Bobby Wilson has played in only 36 games, and while adequate behind the plate, he's not a huge threat at the plate; he's hitting .185 with four RBIs.

The Angels entered Tuesday hitting a major league-low .220 since the All-Star break, and their catchers combined for a major league-worst .198 average and .569 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), which ranked 28th out of 30 teams. Jeff Mathis is a solid defensive catcher who draws rave reviews from pitchers Jered Weaver and Dan Haren , but he's almost the equivalent of a pitcher in a National League lineup; he entered Tuesday with a .180 average, two homers and 17 runs batted in. Bobby Wilson has played in only 36 games, and while adequate behind the plate, he's not a huge threat at the plate; he's hitting .185 with four RBIs.

The Angels' two marquee -- and expensive -- free-agent additions got off to strong starts with their new club Monday, Albert Pujols collecting two hits in three at-bats and C.J. Wilson throwing two scoreless innings in a 9-1 exhibition victory over the Oakland Athletics. Pujols, who signed a 10-year, $240-million deal, hit a run-scoring double in the first inning and singled to left in the second. The first baseman flied to right with the bases loaded to end the third inning and played four innings in the field.

Reporting from Cleveland — Bobby Wilson caught the first pitch of Ervin Santana's no-hitter shortly after noon Wednesday, local time. But he started working on it almost seven months ago in Arizona. "Those long days of spring training, when we're sitting back behind the plate going over where they want to throw the pitch, where they want you to set up. This is what we work for," Wilson said. "This is our ultimate goal [in the] the pitcher-catcher relationship. That's something that we talk about every single day. "And today it worked out. It's amazing.

Bobby Wilson is no stranger to disappointment on the baseball field. In his first at-bat in organized baseball, as a 5-year-old in T-ball, he hit into an unassisted triple play. Really. "There were runners on first and second, and I hit a line drive that hit the pitcher in the chest and bounced into his glove," said Wilson, the Angels reserve catcher. "At 5, once you hit the ball, everyone starts running. "The pitcher got up, ran to second and stepped on the bag. Then he ran to first and stepped on the bag. My uncle was umpiring.