Kendrick bats ninth yet again

SEATTLE — Maicer Izturis has started at second base over Howie Kendrick in three of the Angels’ last 10 games. Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners, Manager Mike Scioscia dropped Kendrick, who opened the season batting second, to the ninth spot for the second game in a row.

If Kendrick, who began Tuesday’s game with a .236 average, continues to struggle, could it be long before the Angels consider benching him in favor of Izturis? Or moving Chone Figgins from third base to second to clear a spot for hot-hitting prospect Brandon Wood?

Fans who are growing impatient with Kendrick and the team’s reluctance to give Wood a chance are ready to pull the trigger on such a move, but the Angels are not at that point yet.

“Our goal is to get Howie as productive as we know he can be,” Scioscia said. “He hasn’t gotten comfortable. He’s been pressing a bit, and that’s why he’s gotten some days off. But we see his talent, his potential, and he needs to be playing to fulfill it.”

Kendrick was a career .306 hitter in his first 2 1/2 big league seasons, which were often marked by injuries, and when he hit .339 this spring, he seemed poised for a breakout year.

Several teammates have said they expect Kendrick, a pure line-drive hitter, to challenge for a batting title some day.

But Kendrick drifted away from his usual stance early in the season, got into bad habits and began chasing too many pitches out of the strike zone.

He has 26 strikeouts and six walks in 127 at-bats, a .287 on-base percentage, and has been unable to generate or sustain much offensive momentum.

“He was killing the ball in spring training but got out of sync with his stance, he closed off a bit,” Scioscia said. “He’s making adjustments, not to the point where he’s killing the ball, but his at-bats have been better in the last week.”

Kendrick has seemed more selective. Going into a May 12 game against Boston, he had two walks. He walked four times in his next five games.

“It’s definitely something I would love to have in my game,” Kendrick said. “To be able to lay off those pitches will help me get on base more and give me the opportunity to steal more bases and score more runs. I like to hit more than I like to walk, but at the same time, I have to take what they’re giving me.”

Setback for Moseley

Pitcher Dustin Moseley, on the disabled list since April 18 because of tightness in his right forearm, has returned to Southern California to undergo tests on his arm and neck.

The right-hander, who had surgery to alleviate pressure on his ulna nerve after the 2007 season, was throwing at the team’s extended spring-training camp in Arizona but was shut down last week when he failed to bounce back adequately from a session.

Moseley opened the season in the rotation and had a 1-0 record with a 4.30 earned-run average in three starts, but he has extensive relief experience, and the Angels hoped he could bolster their struggling bullpen when he returned.

“It’s been a slow recovery,” Scioscia said. “Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer.”

Short hops

The Angels rank second in the American League in batting with a .283 average, but before Tuesday, 258 of their 361 hits (71%) were singles. Their .417 slugging percentage ranked 10th in the league, and their 30 home runs ranked 13th.

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