Angels Aggressive to a Fault?

The Angels are nearing the end of a second consecutive season in which they’ll finish near the bottom of the American League in runs, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and walks, so naturally, fingers are being pointed at Mickey Hatcher.

The batting instructor attracts criticism like a floodlight does moths -- whenever the Angels slump, which is often, fans inundate call-in shows and message boards with pleas for Hatcher to be fired.

Hatcher can stand the heat. “I’d rather they blame me than the players,” he said. But he’s tired of a common theme to the complaints -- that he is somehow encouraging the Angels to be overly aggressive, to disregard working counts, to slap the ball instead of drive it.

“People who say we teach our guys to slap -- that’s a farce,” Hatcher said. “Our philosophy is simple: see a ball, center it up and hit it. Whatever the situation or count, whether it’s a hit-and-run or if a guy is in scoring position, stay to center field and hit a line drive.

“I can’t guide the ball for these guys. I can’t go up there and make a guy walk. Our philosophy must be all right, because we won a World Series in 2002 and went to the playoffs the last two years.”

These are not your 2002 Angels, though. That lineup had a better blend of power and patience and players such as David Eckstein, Troy Glaus, Tim Salmon and Scott Spiezio, who didn’t mind walking.

The middle of today’s lineup features ultra-aggressive Vladimir Guerrero, who never met a pitch he didn’t like, the nearly-as-aggressive Juan Rivera, who has 32 walks in 409 at-bats, and the always-aggressive Garret Anderson, who has a career-high 35 walks in 506 at-bats.

Of this set-in-their-ways trio, Guerrero, who has 29 home runs, is the only serious power threat every time he is at the plate. Rivera’s homers (22 this year) come in bunches, and Anderson’s power (16 homers) has been sapped by injuries.

“Mickey doesn’t have a philosophy of aggressiveness,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “We have aggressive hitters.”

The balance of the lineup -- Orlando Cabrera, Adam Kennedy, Maicer Izturis, Howie Kendrick, Chone Figgins and catchers Mike Napoli and Jose Molina -- has little power, shows occasional patience and includes several rookies.

“Do you see any power in the infield, in center field? We’re not a power team, so this is how we have to play,” Hatcher said. “We’re not any more aggressive than we have been; the difference is, we don’t get the three-run home runs.”

The Angels see an average of 3.72 pitches per plate appearance, ranking 22nd among 30 teams. Of the eight teams who see fewer pitches per plate appearance, only St. Louis appears headed to the playoffs.

To compensate for their lack of power and patience, the Angels must hit for average, run the bases aggressively and hit in the clutch.

“We can’t change our approach,” Hatcher said. “We need to stay focused on what we do. Would I like another bat in the lineup? Sure. But we’re still only 10 games behind the Mets in the win column. We’re having a good season.”

The Angels’ statistics are skewed by their horrendous first two months, when, without injured Rivera and Izturis and ailing Casey Kotchman, they hit .252 with a league-worst .309 on-base percentage and averaged 4.38 runs a game.

The team got hot in July, hitting .309 and leading the league in on-base percentage (.366) and runs (162). The Angels averaged 5.45 runs in July and August before slumping to a league-low 3.1 runs this month.

“Sometimes our aggressiveness hurts us because we don’t have that one extra big bat, and guys take too much on themselves,” Kennedy said. “Some of that might be fixed with a little thunder. It’s odd. We’re all aggressive, and that’s what made us succeed, but at the same time, it makes us vulnerable.”

What the Angels don’t need, Kennedy said, is a new offensive coordinator. “You see so much turnover in hitting coaches, but at this level, a lot of it’s on us,” Kennedy said. “The one thing you can’t complain about is Mickey’s work ethic and enthusiasm. I’ve talked to guys about other hitting coaches, and it’s just not there.”

Scioscia, who hired Hatcher in 2000, has no plans to change.

“I think Mickey has done a heck of a job preparing these guys,” Scioscia said. “Our philosophy, whether it’s a pitcher or hitter, is to take the strengths of a player and work to accentuate them. Some guys like Izturis, Rivera and Cabrera are having terrific years. Some young hitters have hit some bumps in the road, but there’s also been some growth.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com