Angels watching Martin Maldonado's workload

ANAHEIM >> Add Martin Maldonado to the list of Angels who are moving, as Mike Scioscia frequently says, “into uncharted waters.”

The Angels catcher was in the lineup Tuesday to play his 79th game of the season behind the plate, the most in the major leagues. Before this season, Maldonado had never caught more than 74 games in a season.

Scioscia, a former catcher, said he and the staff have been watching closely to look for signs that Maldonado is getting worn down, just as they do with starting pitchers approaching career-highs in innings.

“The first thing is the mental strain on the catcher,” Scioscia said. “That gets to you before the physical strain. Some catchers will start to take some shortcuts or get a little lazy in how they present the target. We’ve seen none of that with Martin. He’s been on point every pitch. He never takes a pitch off. From that aspect, he’s holding up very well.”

One of the reasons Maldonado has caught so much is that he’s earned the playing time with his performance, behind the plate and at the plate.

Offensively, though, Maldonado has slumped lately. He had hit .169 over his last 17 games, heading into Tuesday’s game. For the season, his .702 OPS is still playable, for a catcher.

“The schedule is very demanding, but he’s holding up very well,” Scioscia said.

Skaggs update

Tyler Skaggs rejoined the Angels for an evaluation following Monday night’s outing in the Arizona League, which was Skaggs’ first game since he strained his oblique in April.

Skaggs said he felt good a day after the 3 2/3-inning performance. Scioscia said he’ll next move to Triple-A for a four-inning outing on Saturday. He will pitch at least once more after that, and then be re-evaluated, Scioscia said.

If he needs only those two more minor league outings, the soonest he could rejoin the Angels rotation would be the first week of August.

<h4 class=””>MEYER RETURNS</h4>

Alex Meyer will start Wednesday, returning to the rotation after a brief demotion to Triple-A. The Angels sent him down partly because of the All-Star break and partly because they wanted him to work on some things. Meyer pitched once at Triple-A, allowing three earned runs in five innings.

The Angels had gone with just four starters since Meyer was sent down. Scioscia said this looked to be a good time to re-insert Meyer and provide some extra rest for the other starters. All three starters over the weekend against the Boston Red Sox — Ricky Nolasco, JC Ramirez and Parker Bridwell — will be pitching on six days rest.

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