Patience Is Paying Off for Cabrera

Players rarely lack for motivation, whether it’s a championship ring, a batting title, a Gold Glove, or a perceived slight from the media that drives them, but sometimes they find it when they’re not even looking, from a source they least expected.

The impetus for Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera’s recent transformation from solid hitter to more of an offensive force may have been a conversation with Ivan Lara, one of the team’s Spanish-language radio broadcasters.

The pair were chatting in early May when Lara informed Cabrera that he ranked among the bottom five in the American League, along with three other Angels, in pitches per plate appearance, with an average of 3.40.

“I was like, ‘What?’ ” Cabrera said. “Get me out of there. What the heck am I doing on that list, being a No. 2 hitter? I was in the wrong place.”

Lara also mentioned another obscure statistic, that Cabrera was batting .170 with runners in scoring position and fewer than two strikes and .400 with runners in scoring position and two strikes.

“Are you kidding me?” Cabrera said. “So, do I have to let them throw me two strikes then? For some reason, my approach changed in those situations. I don’t really care about numbers, but sometimes stats can tell you how you’re doing.”

Cabrera, inspired in part by Lara’s statistical revelations, vowed to tweak his approach, and he has since emerged as the Angels’ second-best hitter behind Vladimir Guerrero, a far cry from the first half of 2005, when Cabrera struggled with the transition to a new league, the pressure of living up to a four-year, $32-million contract and the burden of replacing fan favorite David Eckstein.

Entering tonight’s game against Seattle, Cabrera is batting .296 with a team-leading 47 runs and 18 doubles. He ranks second on the team with 67 hits and third with 36 runs batted in. He is the only Angel with more walks (22) than strikeouts (20). He’s batting .291 with runners in scoring position and .368 with runners in scoring position and two out.

Known more for his defense, which has been superb of late after a rocky start, Cabrera has helped key an Angels offensive surge, batting .441 with five doubles, five RBIs and seven walks in his last nine games. He has reached base in 38 straight games via a hit, walk or hit batter, a club record.

“He’s been huge,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Reflecting on some of Vlad’s numbers, they’re contingent on Chone Figgins and Orlando doing a good job at the top of the lineup. O.C. is getting on, moving runners, scoring runs and hitting in the clutch. He’s very comfortable in that spot, where he can be a situational hitter.”

Cabrera also has been at the forefront of what, for the Angels, is an offensive renaissance, a dramatic shift away from their free-swinging ways toward a more patient approach.

Ever notice how, early in the count, Cabrera will often crouch and lean forward as a pitch comes in and then let it go by? He’s not trying to shrink his strike zone, looking for a walk. He’s tracking the pitch.

“My strike zone is sometimes too far in front of me, and on low pitches, I get fooled a lot,” Cabrera said. “When I look the pitch in the whole way, I can see how the ball is moving through the zone and that it’s low. It helps me see pitches better.”

Seeing more pitches has helped Cabrera be more selective, laying off the balls he can’t hit and driving the ones he can. It has also led to more walks -- 16 of his 20 walks have come since May 10. As a team, the Angels have averaged 3.76 walks in their last 25 games after averaging 2.0 walks in their first 34 games.

With Figgins being more patient in the leadoff spot, and the addition of more selective hitters such as Tim Salmon and Mike Napoli, the Angels are driving up opposing pitch counts, which sometimes leads to a starter tiring early and more fat pitches in the middle innings.

And Cabrera is doing his part -- he’s now averaging 3.60 pitches a plate appearance, ahead of 26 other AL hitters.

“I’m in so many full counts now, it’s ridiculous,” Cabrera said. “If you’re a big power hitter who’s had success swinging at the first pitch, people don’t care. But I can’t be doing that as a No. 2 hitter.”