Angels’ offense is producing only frustration

No team in baseball, with the possible exception of the underachieving New York Mets and their $143-million payroll, is getting less bang for its buck than the Angels, who have a record-high $142-million payroll yet can’t seem to buy a clutch hit.

The Angels (30-34) have lost seven of eight and 19 of their last 29 games entering Friday night’s game against Kansas City and, as Manager Mike Scioscia said the other night, their struggles “rest squarely on the shoulders of the offense.”

Of the three hitters the Angels are paying the most, Vernon Wells ($23 million) has been a total bust, Torii Hunter ($18.5 million) has crumpled under the weight of carrying the team, and Bobby Abreu ($9 million) is having only a decent season.

By no means are the Angels out of contention, but the season is more than two months old and there are these questions:

Are the Angels an underachieving offensive club that will soon find its stride and challenge for the division title? Or, is their lineup fundamentally flawed, filled with too many faltering veterans and too many youngsters who show potential but are prone to extreme swings in performance?

“It’s tough to evaluate when guys you know are good players and can produce are having such woeful seasons,” Scioscia said. “I don’t think we’re asking guys to go back five years and reclaim something from the fountain of youth. If you go back six to eight months these guys were all highly productive players.”

Wells, 32, acquired from Toronto in January with four years and $81 million left on his contract, hit .273 with 31 home runs and 88 runs batted in last season. He is batting .176 with four homers, 13 RBIs and 33 strikeouts in 148 at-bats this season — and missed almost a month after suffering a strained right groin on May 9.

Hunter, 35, hit .281 with 23 homers and 90 RBIs last season. Miscast as a cleanup hitter and feeling pressure to make up for the loss of Wells and slugger Kendrys Morales, who is out for the season, Hunter is batting .238 with eight homers, 32 RBIs and has grounded into an American League-high 17 double plays.

Abreu, 37, recovered from a slow start and is batting .289 with a .402 on-base percentage, but after his 20-homer, 78-RBI season in 2010, he has only two homers and 28 RBIs.

As a team, the Angels hit .230 with just one home run and .184 (14 for 76) with runners in scoring position in the last eight games. They rank 13th in the American League with a .226 mark in those situations on the season.

Since pushing their record to 20-15 and their AL West lead to two games on May 8, the Angels have averaged 3.1 runs and were shut out five times in 29 games to fall five games behind the Texas Rangers.

The Angels rank 11th among 14 teams in the AL in runs (239), 10th in homers (48), 10th in slugging percentage (.384), ninth in on-base percentage (.319) and first in strikeouts (459). Their .254 batting average was tied for 7th before games on Thursday.

Scioscia acknowledges that in putting this team together, “Kendrys was in the template,” and the Angels have scrambled to compensate for the loss of Morales’ 34 homers and 108 RBIs in 2009.

But Scioscia doesn’t think he and General Manager Tony Reagins were unrealistic to think the middle of this lineup would still have enough punch to contend.

Winter projections were made “with that depreciation” in mind, Scioscia said. “If a guy hit 25 homers, you look at how he looks, how he’s running, and you might shave off some of those numbers so you’re not giving yourself a false read on what the team can do.

“Vernon is six months removed from 31 homers. His bat speed is still there; he’s running well. He’s going to be much more productive. Torii didn’t have a career year last year, so the projections are that he’s going to be more productive.

“We’re not shooting rainbows to try to fluff this. We see the potential of this team, and it’s a realistic potential, but we need to start moving in that direction soon.”

The Angels have four players ages 27-30 who are producing at or above expectations — Howie Kendrick (.301, seven homers, 14 doubles), Erick Aybar (.296), Maicer Izturis (.292) and Alberto Callaspo (.290, 28 RBIs).

But they are complementary players, not middle-of-the-order hitters, and they have combined for just 16 homers.

“They’re doing what they can do, but one thing they don’t bring is power,” Scioscia said. “Right now, we need to accentuate the base-running and situational aspects because we don’t have the batter’s box offense we anticipated.”

Further complicating matters are the younger players — Peter Bourjos, who is in his first full season, and rookies Mark Trumbo and Hank Conger.

All three have shown promise. The speedy Bourjos has nine doubles, six triples and has made several spectacular defensive plays; Trumbo is hitting .260 with a team-leading 11 homers; and Conger was hitting .300 with three homers in early May and looking like an attractive alternative to weak-hitting catcher Jeff Mathis.

But Bourjos is hitting .245 and has looked overmatched more often than not; he leads the team with 63 strikeouts. Trumbo has struggled to maintain a consistent approach in the clutch; twice he failed to score a runner from third with less than two outs Wednesday night; and Conger’s average has slipped to .228.

Realistically, there is not one player in the Angels’ lineup who would bat any higher than sixth for a good major league team.

“There are a lot of reasons why guys don’t produce what you anticipate,” Scioscia said. “Sometimes it’s youth and they’re not making adjustments, and sometimes guys’ bat speed starts to [slow], though I don’t think we’re seeing that from some of our veterans who are struggling.

“There’s a lot of baseball left … but we need to get our act together on the offensive side.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com