Napoli Is Hatcher’s Project

Some coaching situations call for a pat on the back and a few words of encouragement. Others, like batting instructor Mickey Hatcher’s work with struggling Angels catcher Mike Napoli, call for something a little more extreme.

“When we go into the cage,” Hatcher said, “I tell him he can’t hit a ball into the top of the net, or I’m going to kick him in the ...”

If that’s what it takes to stop Napoli from pulling his front shoulder too soon, a habit that has resulted in an uppercut swing that has produced a seemingly endless stream of sky-high popups, Hatcher will stick with such negative reinforcement.

Napoli, who hit .288 with 12 home runs and 29 runs batted in during his first 50 games, is hardly out of his deep funk -- he’s batting .118 (nine for 76) with one homer and seven RBIs in his last 30 games -- but Hatcher’s extensive work with the rookie has begun to pay off in the last week or so.

Napoli hit his first home run in more than a month Aug. 18 and has seven RBIs in his last seven games. He hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in Friday night’s win over the New York Yankees and a two-run double in Saturday’s win over New York.

“I don’t want him thinking about mechanics up there, I just want him thinking about hitting line drives,” Hatcher said. “He’s got some holes in his swing, but he’s a power hitter, and he’s making adjustments. We’ve got to keep working on him going to right-center field and hitting low line drives, not home runs. It’s a slow process, and it takes a lot of repetition.”

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Whether Chuck Meriwether missed a key first-inning call Monday night or not is open to debate, but the plate umpire did not appear to give himself the best chance to make the correct call.

With two outs and the Angels’ Maicer Izturis on second base, Vladimir Guerrero hit a chopper to shortstop Willie Bloomquist, whose off-balance throw pulled first baseman Richie Sexson off the bag.

Guerrero was ruled safe, and Izturis never slowed around third. Sexson fired home, but Meriwether was caught so off guard by the play he did not remove his mask to make the call.

Catcher Kenji Johjima swiped a tag on the sliding Izturis, who was called out. Replays showed Izturis was safe. Surprisingly, Manager Mike Scioscia did not come out to argue.

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Darin Erstad had only four at-bats in his first three games for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga over the weekend, but Scioscia said the first baseman “is really moving well defensively, and his confidence there is good.”

Erstad, who has missed all but five weeks of the season because of a bone spur and torn ligament in his right ankle, is expected to be activated Friday and used as a late-game defensive replacement.

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Reliever Brendan Donnelly still hasn’t heard from the commissioner’s office regarding his appeal of his four-game suspension stemming from the brawl-filled Aug. 16 game against Texas.

If an appeal isn’t heard by Friday, the day teams can expand rosters, the Angels would not suffer as much of a bullpen hardship during Donnelly’s absence because they can add several pitchers from triple-A Salt Lake.