Kendrick isn't done battling in 2013

ANAHEIM -- It would've been pretty easy for Howie Kendrick to shut it down for the year, with the season 3 1/2 weeks from being over, the Angels 15 games out of first place and his sprained left knee still not allowing him to run at full speed.

But there he was early Friday afternoon, doing more agility drills and remaining confident that he'll return to second base before the curtain closes on 2013.

"I want to play," Kendrick said. "I like winning, I like playing. I'm not one of those people that's just going to sit out just because we're losing. We've been playing good baseball. And at the same time, too, I want to play. I'm not a guy who likes to be hurt. Nobody is. That being said, I want to go out there and play. I don't want to go into the offseason injured and have to deal with doing rehab. But I think most importantly it's going back out and trying to play and win ballgames."

Kendrick, with a .301/.341/.437 slash line in 108 games, hurt his knee on a collision with right fielder Collin Cowgill during a game against the Rangers on Aug. 5. Originally, he opted to wait a couple of days to see if he could avoid the disabled list. When he went on the DL, he hoped to be back in 15 days.

But Kendrick has yet to clear the necessary hurdle of running full speed without any soreness. On Friday, though, he felt closer than ever.

"I can turn it up a little more," Kendrick said. "For me, it's progression. We're going to do it for a couple days and go from there."