Fast-Starting Bichette Running Into Summer Doldrums

Dante Bichette has spent the early part of this season looking for a piece of outfield grass to call his own.

For awhile, he seemed to be staking a claim to most of it, leaving a little in center for Devon White.

Bichette hit three home runs in the first eight games of the season. He was throwing out runners from the outfield on a pace to set a major-league record. He was playing in left, in right, and even made appearances in center.

By May 11, he was hitting .302 and had driven in 17 runs.

That, coincidence of coincidences, was the day the Angels traded Mike Witt for Dave Winfield--or, rather, the day the trade was announced--preceding the suspense of precisely when or if Winfield would arrive.

Since that day, Bichette had gone 5 for 31 before the Angels’ extra-inning game against the Toronto Blue Jays Thursday, his average falling to .272.

With the acquisition of Winfield and the earlier trade that brought outfielder Luis Polonia to the team, the Angels had six outfielders, and Bichette no longer had a clear role.

By all rights, right was Winfield’s.

“Right field, that’s my terrain,” Winfield said as he sat in the dugout at Anaheim Stadium on Wednesday. It was no jealous claim, simply an assessment. The Angels traded for him with the intention of playing him.

And Bichette was left with Polonia to contend with in left.

Bichette had been rested for two of the past three games before getting the start in left Thursday. He flied out in his first at-bat, but in his second, his fielder’s choice grounder drove in the run that gave the Angels their first lead, 2-1, in the fourth inning.

In the 10th inning, Bichette came up with Joyner on first. Bichette had hit a game-winning, 12th-inning homer against Minnesota April 14, but this time he flied out to center for the second out.

Bichette did make his presence felt in the field, however, making two nice defensive plays in left.

The game was still scoreless with two out in the second inning when the Blue Jays put runners on first and second. Shortstop Tony Fernandez drove a Kirk McCaskill pitch to deep left-center. The ball looked as if it had a chance to go out, but Bichette was there to make the catch, pulling it down near the wall in left-center.

Bichette made another good play in the fifth when the Angels were trying to keep their hold of that 2-1 lead. With Kelly Gruber on first, George Bell sent a ball toward the left-field corner. But Bichette got there, making the catch just short of the low, padded wall.

But Bichette’s days as the powerhouse of the Angel offense seem to be in the past now. While Bichette has slumped, Wally Joyner has spent the month increasing his average from a weak .222 on May 5 to a team-leading .318.

Joyner drove in two runs to Bichette’s one Thursday, moving to within one of Bichette’s team-leading 24 RBIs.

Bichette has made fast starts before. Last year, he hit .388 with four home runs during spring training, but ended up spending 61 games at triple-A Edmonton, where he hit .243. In 48 games with the Angels, he hit .210.

It remains to be seen if this year will be different.