BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Rose Says Job Belongs to Sojo

Although Manager Buck Rodgers has declared the Angels’ starting second base job a contest between Bobby Rose and Luis Sojo, Rose says it’s no contest at all.

“The way I see it, it’s Luis’ job from the beginning, and I’m on the back seat,� Rose said Saturday, when rain washed out the Angels’ exhibition game against the San Diego Padres at Yuma, Ariz. “Luis is a much better defensive player than I am. He’s probably one of the best I’ve seen at second base. I can make the routine plays, but not plays he can make.�

After reluctantly trading pitcher David Holdridge to Philadelphia in 1988, the Angels were delighted to get him back in last December’s Rule 5 draft. They have made the 24-year-old right-hander a spring reclamation project.

“There’s some pretty big delivery changes he needs to make, but he’s got a very fine arm,� pitching coach Marcel Lachemann said after Holdridge gave up three runs and four hits in two innings of a rain-shortened B game. “It’s going to take time. He’s just got to be patient.�

Holdridge’s goal is to regain his control. He walked 21 in 25 innings last season for Class-A Clearwater, where he was 0-2 with a 7.56 earned-run average. In 1988, his best season in the Angel organization, he was 6-12 with Class-A Quad City with a 3.87 earned-run average and 110 strikeouts in 153 2/3 innings.

Because of the rainout, the Angels and Padres will play what Rodgers called “an upgraded B game� before today’s full-squad game. . . . Catcher Lance Parrish (sore left ankle) is day-to-day.