Salmon confident he’ll be back after getting treatment for knee

SEATTLE – The slim hopes Tim Salmon had of returning from knee and shoulder surgery this season were dashed when the 12-year Los Angeles Angels veteran irritated his left knee while swinging off a tee and was unable to do any lower-body work for most of July.

But Salmon, buoyed by a series of synthetic viscosity injections in his knee last month, says his rehabilitation has “turned a corner” in August, and he is feeling much more confident about returning in 2006.

“I started hitting off a tee again a week ago, and everything feels pretty good,” Salmon, 37, said by phone from his home in Arizona. “I feel excited. Not that I can play this year, but that I might get healthy and be in a position to come back.”

Salmon, who is hitting off a tee three times a week, said his left shoulder, in which four tears were repaired last fall, “feels great.” He hopes to progress to soft toss next week and live batting practice the following week.