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Angels’ Erick Aybar gets brotherly advice

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Brother knows best.

Shortstop Erick Aybar has resembled the leadoff hitter the Angels envisioned the last month and a half after receiving some advice from Tampa Bay infielder Willy Aybar.

You’re taking too many pitches over the middle of the plate, Erick Aybar’s older brother told him. Take the pitches you need to take, but when you get something to hit, swing away.

“Now I feel more comfortable,” Aybar said.

The Angels are also more at ease with the production of their top-of-the-order hitter, who was batting .374 since June 3 to raise his average from .243 to .288 before Saturday’s game against Seattle at Angel Stadium. His .345 on-base percentage was the highest it had been in more than two months.

“He started a little slow and I think part of the reason for the slow start was trying to be a little too selective,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. “It did force some base on balls, but it got him into a lot of poor hitting counts.”

Aybar said he’s spent time watching videos of himself from earlier in his career, when he was more aggressive. The result is that he has started to feel more like himself at the plate; his batting average since June 3 trails only the .421 of Texas’ Josh Hamilton for best in the major leagues.

“That’s me,” he said.

More help coming?

General Manager Tony Reagins bolstered the Angels after the All-Star break in each of his first two seasons on the job.

Mark Teixeira hit .358 with 13 home runs and 43 runs batted in after being acquired from Atlanta in July 2008 and Scott Kazmir was 2-2 with a 1.73 earned-run average in six starts after arriving from Tampa Bay last August in atrade.

Does Reagins’ track record of activity this time of year mean he’s likely to make another move?

“The past is the past,” Reagins said. “We have to look forward, and if there’s something out there that makes us better, we have to try to explore it and see how it could strengthen us. And there’s players out there who can. So we’re going to try to pursue that.”

On the brink

Infielder Maicer Izturis, on the disabled list since June 16 because of a strained left forearm, could rejoin the Angels as soon as Tuesday in New York because he has been engaged in what Scioscia called “high-intensity baseball activities” for nearly a week.

Short hops

Jered Weaver reached the 60-victory plateau Friday with 32 losses. Only six other active major league pitchers have collected that many victories with so few losses: Tim Hudson and Roy Oswalt were 60-26, Johan Santana was 60-28 and Andy Pettitte, Barry Zito and Freddy Garcia were 60-29. … Torii Hunter was the designated hitter and Hideki Matsui had the day off in moves that Scioscia said were designed to keep the sluggers fresh. Matsui will probably play left field Sunday, Scioscia said. … Scioscia, on the notoriously plodding Bengie Molina of the Texas Rangers hitting for the cycle Friday night: “The over-under on him hitting a cycle might have been three generations, but he did it.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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