Kendrick had been sidelined for 42 games after straining his left hamstring on April 13. He had 18 hits in his first 36 at-bats before the injury.
"Just being hurt is frustrating because you want to be playing," Kendrick said. "Having to miss this much time and not be out there for this long, it's just been rough. Hopefully I can stay together and stay out on the field and help us win ballgames. That's the biggest thing."
Manager Mike Scioscia insisted that Kendrick's return to the lineup wasn't accelerated as a desperation attempt to jump-start a slumping offense that was batting .179 over the previous nine games and had produced fewer than four runs in 14 of the previous 19 contests.
"If he wasn't 100 percent, we wouldn't even consider it," Scioscia said. "We're very comfortable and he's very comfortable regarding where the hamstring is and that it's 100 percent -- and I think his actions on the field demonstrated that. So it makes more sense for us to fold him in here slowly instead of letting him keep playing in Triple-A so that he'll get acclimated quickly to major league pitching again."
The switch-hitting Figgins is batting .306 with seven RBIs in 33 games. He missed 15 games earlier this month because of a strained right hamstring and reinjured himself in his first game back from the DL on May 21 at Toronto. He sat out the next seven games before Friday's move.
"He's feeling much better, but he's not ready to run yet," Scioscia said. "Hopefully during the weekend, we'll get to the point where he can get out there and run, and that will be the first step toward getting him back into baseball activities."
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