Angels’ Erick Aybar says improved hitting is coincidence
The timing was mere coincidence. At least that’s what Erick Aybar said about the hitting tear he has gone on since Angels Manager Mike Scioscia gave him a day off earlier this month and temporarily moved Maicer Izturis into the leadoff spot.
Aybar entered Saturday’s game against the Dodgers hitting .474 since June 2, raising his average from .238 to .274. He had 14 hits in his last six games and had driven in five runs in 10 games this month, one more than in all of May.
So, what’s changed? Not Aybar’s routine. He’s still faithfully watching videos of his at-bats and putting in the same amount of work before games.
“I watched videos at home and on the plane and worked hard,” he said.
Hitting coach Mickey Hatcher sees one big difference: a more controlled swing.
“Earlier in the season, I told him that his lower half [of his body] was really too aggressive and I thought he was swinging at pitches a lot harder than he is right now,” Hatcher said. “It just seems like he’s trusting his hands and his approach really looks good.”
Bulger goes on DL
Reliever Jason Bulger, who lowered his earned-run average from 7.00 on May 2 to 3.74 following his last appearance Thursday against Oakland, has been placed on the disabled list because of a strained right shoulder.
“To have it happen right now obviously is very frustrating,” said Bulger, who started feeling soreness in the back of his shoulder about a week ago. The right-hander tried to pitch through the discomfort, but it only intensified after he played catch Friday.
The Angels recalled reliever Rafael Rodriguez from triple-A Salt Lake to take Bulger’s spot on the roster. Bulger suffered what he considered a more serious injury in the same shoulder in 2006. He said his current injury was “more of a fatigue, ache type thing.”
Welcome back?
Decision time is nearing for the Angels and Brandon Wood. The team has until June 19 to decide what to do about the third baseman, whose struggles have not abated since he started a rehabilitation assignment May 31 with Salt Lake.
Position players on the disabled list can remain with minor league teams for a maximum of 20 days unless they receive a doctor’s evaluation saying they need more time to heal their injury. Wood’s hip flexor isn’t nearly as painful as his swing, which has generated a .179 average with no extra-base hits in 10 games.
“Hopefully, he’s going to be at a level where he’s going to be able to come back and contribute,” Scioscia said. “He’s got a little more time down there to get it together.”
Short hops
Catcher Jeff Mathis, who hurt his right thumb Thursday when he blocked a pitch in the dirt during a minor league rehabilitation assignment, was feeling better Saturday, Scioscia said. Mathis could play again as soon as Sunday and will be reevaluated Monday.... Scioscia held Hideki Matsui out of the lineup on the designated hitter’s 36th birthday even though he had connected for a three-run homer on his birthday in 2009 and a grand slam on the same day in 2008. “We don’t want to kill him,” Scioscia said of Matsui, who had played left field Friday.... The Angels have signed former pitching phenom Daniel Cabrera and assigned him to double-A Arkansas. The hard-throwing right-hander, 29, went 12-8 as a rookie with Baltimore in 2004 but had losing records in each of the next five seasons before being released in March by the Chicago White Sox. “If he can get back close to that,” Scioscia said of Cabrera’s early success, “he’s going to be a terrific asset to have on any major league team.”
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