ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Victor Martinez is in the lineup tonight, catching and batting sixth, though manager Terry Francona said that it will be just a matter of time before Martinez is back in the heart of the order.

Martinez has been on the disabled list since June 28 with a fractured left thumb. At the time he was hurt, the Red Sox were in second place, two games out of first in the AL East. The Sox went 9-13 in the 22 games he missed to drop to third place, eight games out.

The dropoff can’t all be attributed to Martinez’s absence, of course. On the same weekend in San Francisco in which Martinez was hurt, Dustin Pedroia fractured a bone in his left foot and Clay Buchholz strained his left hamstring, and three nights later Jason Varitek also fractured his foot, leaving the Sox without both of their big-league catchers.

The four catchers who played in Martinez’s absence -- Varitek (2-plus games), Kevin Cash, Gustavo Molina and Dusty Brown -- have combined to bat .162 (12-for-74) with two RBIs, both belonging to Varitek.

Brown was optioned to Pawtucket to make room for Martinez.

“He certainly won’t be hitting sixth very long,’’ Francona said. “It wasn’t fair to stick him in third or fourth until he gets some games under his belt.’’

Martinez said his glove has been fitted with some special padding to prevent him from aggravating the injury. The thumb had been bothering him more swinging from the right side, but Martinez said that’s no longer the case, and it won’t be a big factor here as the Angels are starting three right-handers in succession: Dan Haren, Jered Weaver and Joel Pineiro.

The Angels did have a left-hander, Joe Saunders, slotted for the series, but he was traded to the Diamondbacks. Francona said whether Martinez plays all three games will depend on how he responds physically, but with Wednesday being a day game, Francona said the Sox are preparing to have Cash catch.

“I’m just excited,’’ Martinez said. “It’s not fun to watch the game from the bench.’’