Kotchman Presents Quandary

Darin Erstad has not begun taking ground balls at first base. The Angels have not dispatched scouts to triple-A Salt Lake for the sole purpose of determining whether Kendry Morales is ready for the big leagues.

There is a limit to the leash the Angels have extended to Casey Kotchman, but they are nowhere near the end of it, despite the first baseman’s .155 average, .210 on-base percentage, zero home runs and five runs batted in through 19 games.

“You have to give a player enough rope to where they can get into their game and know they’re not going to square up the ball every time,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Nothing has been discussed outside of getting him on track, because our confidence in Casey remains high. We know how important a piece he is to our lineup puzzle.”

So far, Kotchman has just been puzzling. The 23-year-old was one of the Angels’ best hitters in spring training, batting .421 with three homers and 15 RBIs, and he had an RBI single in the Angels’ season-opening 5-4 win in Seattle on April 3.

But since then, Kotchman, who hit .278 with seven homers and 22 RBIs in 126 at-bats last season, is eight for 55 and is hitless in his last 14 at-bats. He did not start Sunday, in part because of a sore rib-cage, in part so he could work with batting instructor Mickey Hatcher.

“Right now he’s trying to kill the ball,” Scioscia said. “We have to get him back into his game of using the whole field.”

Hatcher doesn’t want to jump to any conclusions too soon.

“I don’t even want to comment about anyone until we play a month of baseball -- let’s give him a month and see what happens,” Hatcher said. “But right now he’s beating himself up a bit. He knows he’s a better hitter.... He just needs one [good] game and he can take off.”

If Kotchman continues to struggle, he could lose playing time to Robb Quinlan and Edgardo Alfonzo.

“It’s all about performance, but we’re not looking at anything besides Casey getting back on the beam,” Scioscia said. “If he’s not where he needs to be, there could be more at-bats for Quinlan and Fonzie. But Casey did a great job in spring training and last year, and we can project how important he can be for our club.”

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Third baseman Maicer Izturis suffered a strained left hamstring while attempting to steal second in the second inning and will be put on the 15-day disabled list today. Erick Aybar, a slick-fielding shortstop who also can play second, appears to be the leading candidate to be recalled from Salt Lake to replace Izturis.

Izturis, who can play shortstop, second and third, helped fill the void left by injuries to Tim Salmon and Juan Rivera this last week, starting six of the last eight games and going six for 16 during that stretch.

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Doug Eddings was behind the plate for an Angel game Sunday for the first time since his controversial third-strike non-call in Game 2 of the American League championship series.

The umpire was again the subject of scrutiny, but not because of his third-strike mechanic. Several pitches that appeared shoulder height were called strikes, and usually mild-mannered Angel Chone Figgins had to be restrained after barking at Eddings following a seventh-inning strikeout.

“It was a very liberal zone, and it was up, but he was calling it for both teams,” Scioscia said. “If that’s where the zone is, we have to live with it.”