As the Angels reached the halfway point of the season Monday, the club had five .300 hitters in its starting lineup and led the major leagues with a team batting average of .280.
The explanation? Mainly a renewed emphasis on having the hitters show more discipline at the plate.
"It's something we started in spring training," hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said before Monday's game against Texas. "We really emphasized having better at-bats. All these guys took it from spring training into the season."
To be sure, the Angels still have free swingers such as Vladimir Guerrero.
But many of the younger players have learned better discipline from the likes of Bobby Abreu, who came to the Angels this year from the New York Yankees, and Mark Teixeira, who moved to the Yankees from the Angels, Hatcher said.
"They are good hitters, they're willing to see strikes, take pitches, make a pitcher work, get deep in counts," he said.
Abreu was one of the five .300 hitters entering Monday's game. The others were Chone Figgins, Torii Hunter, Juan Rivera and Maicer Izturis.
"Abreu, he's fun to watch," Hatcher said. "He makes that pitcher throw five, six, seven pitches so he sees every pitch."
Hatcher, the former big league player now in his 10th season as the Angels' hitting coach, said the team's improved batting isn't simply a matter of laying off the first pitch or first strike.
"We're not saying don't swing at the first pitch" every time, he said. "All we want them to do is get the pitch they can hit and focus on that."
Hatcher also enlists his veterans' help.
"Abreu and Torii Hunter, I always told them, I want you talking to the young guys" about being disciplined hitters, Hatcher said. "It's important it comes from players too."
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Saunders' slump
It's been rough sledding for starting pitcher Joe Saunders in his last two outings.
The left-hander gave up six runs and seven hits Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles, and in his previous start against the Rangers in Texas, he was rocked for eight runs and six hits with five walks in 3 2/3 innings.
He has now surrendered 20 home runs, tops in the American League, after giving up 21 in 2008. He's 8-5 this season with an earned-run average of 4.44.
Saunders, 28, said his main problems have been falling behind in counts and getting pitches up.
