ANGELS NOTEBOOK: PERCIVAL TAKES THE FIRST STEP.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Troy Percival will earn $8 million this season, but the Angels are hoping he can make like the Six Million Dollar Man and rebuild himself.

That process began Saturday, when Percival threw off the mound for the first time since going on the disabled list with a degenerative right hip. Percival is reverting to a delivery with a less exaggerated leg kick, and while such a delivery might not make him better, stronger, faster than before, it should improve his command without robbing him of velocity. More importantly, it will relieve the strain on his hip and his arm.

Percival threw about 50 pitches in a 10-minute session with pitching coach Bud Black, and he will throw again today. He'll pitch in a simulated game Wednesday, and barring complications, he expects to be activated from the disabled list when eligible June 7.

``My curve was better, my changeup was way better, the fastball was better-located,'' Percival said. ``The hip's not going to completely go away unless I get it fixed. So it will be this delivery until I feel I have to make an adjustment.''

In the modified delivery, Percival's leg kick goes only belt-high, as opposed to his more exaggerated kick. He utilized it several years ago to relieve the strain on his arm when he had elbow and shoulder problems. Saturday, he said his velocity was where it usually is, in the mid-90s. The only downside is that his delivery creates less deception for hitters.

``He might have less deception, but a little more command,'' manager Mike Scioscia said. ``There's always tradeoffs. We're not worried about loss of deception. We're worried about a safe delivery without his arm taking the brunt of the force.''

--Perspective pitch: With at least half the regular lineup in varying degrees of a slump, Scioscia and hitting coach Mickey Hatcher held a pregame meeting with the hitters to impart several messages. One of them was to stress that the hitting woes might be exacerbated by the starting pitchers' recent tendency to create large deficits early in games.

``When you feel you're swimming upstream, you have to let them know there's a lot of baseball left,'' Scioscia said. ``Mickey wanted to give them a little pep talk and a reminder that they've had to come back against some good pitching.

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ANGELS vs. TAMPA BAY 

- Gabe Lacques