ANAHEIM >> While Matt Shoemaker has been dealing with the physical impact of begin hit in the head by a line drive, the man who hit the ball has been coping emotionally.

“It’s something I haven’t stopped thinking about,” Kyle Seager said Monday, before his Seattle Mariners played the Angels for the first time since the Sept. 4 incident. “It crosses my mind all the time. It’s something you don’t want to happen. That was extremely scary and dangerous.”

Seager said he and Shoemaker have texted several times in the past week.

“I wanted him to know how badly I felt about everything and cared,” Seager said.

Word in the Mariners clubhouse is that Seager was distraught after the incident, although obviously no one on either team would suggest he did anything wrong.

Seager said he’s been getting updates on Shoemaker’s condition from the Mariners trainers, who have been in touch with Angels trainers.

Shoemaker was hospitalized twice, first for surgery to stop bleeding in his skull and then for tests to check for swelling in his brain. He is currently resting at home in Southern California, still expected to make a full recovery.

“I’m just glad hopefully it wasn’t too too bad,” Seager said.

Meyer’s next turn

Alex Meyer will start his second game in an Angels uniform on Tuesday, looking to improve on his debut last week.

Meyer showed the stuff that made him a top prospect – a fastball in the mid-90s and a sharp curveball – but he was also wild. He walked four and struck out five in 3-1/3 innings.

“I think what he’s going to work on is trying to be more pitch efficient, which will lead to more effectiveness and a better pitch count for him,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

Meyer, who missed much of the season with a sore shoulder, was on a pitch count of about 60 last time, but this time the Angels are hoping to get him up to 75.

Also

Garrett Richards said he’s expecting to throw off a mound for the first time in his rehab on Saturday or Monday. Richards has been throwing for about a month. The goal is to get him into a couple games, most likely in the instructional league, sometime in October. Richards is trying to avoid Tommy John surgery. … Andrelton Simmons was scratched from the Angels lineup on Monday. Simmons has a right hand contusion after making a tag late in Sunday’s game. He said he expected to be OK after Sunday’s game, and he was in the initial lineup on Monday. He went through pregame drills before he was scratched. … Cory Rasmus, who is rehabbing from abdominal surgery, is expected to pitch two more games for rookie-level Orem in the Pioneer League finals, which start on Wednesday. After that, he’s likely to be activated, since there won’t be any more minor league games. … Geovany Soto went through a full workout, hitting and catching in the bullpen. Soto has been out with a sore right knee for about a month. His hitting is apparently no longer an issue. “He’s really looking good in batting practice,” Scioscia said.