HOME-SCHOOLED

Some people take their work home with them. Reggie Willits takes his home to work with him.

In an effort to conserve costs while building a 3,000-square-foot house on a five-acre lot in Fort Cobb, Okla., the Angels’ rookie outfielder, his wife, Amber, and their young son, Jaxon, have been spending off-seasons in a small, rectangular building that, when construction began in 2003, was supposed to be just a batting cage.

“Then we insulated it, sheet-rocked it and put some Berber carpet in there,” said Willits, who built the structure with his father, Gene. “We added a little weight area, a bed, a couch, a television, a little kitchen area, a bathroom ... we weren’t going to live there, but it allowed us to save up money for the house.”

Willits’ home office, which is 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and from the outside looks like a metal utility building, includes a batting cage and pitching machine, so if it is ever said of Willits that he could roll out of bed and get a hit, well, it’s true.

The 25-year-old spends about two hours a day in the cage over the winter, with his wife often feeding balls to the machine and Jaxon nearby, hitting off a tee.

“She’s as supportive as a wife could be,” said Willits, whose older sister, Wendi, played briefly with the WNBA’s Sparks. “Not many wives would let their husbands build a batting cage and a weight room and allow them to live in it. I looked at it as an investment in my career.”

One that is paying off. Willits opened this season as a reserve and had 20 at-bats through 24 games, but when Garret Anderson suffered a hip injury April 27, Willits took over in left field and has emerged as a force in the leadoff spot.

Entering tonight’s game at Detroit, Willits is batting .352 with a .433 on-base percentage and a team-leading 10 stolen bases in 10 tries. Though he didn’t start regularly until April 28, Willits ranks second on the team with 15 walks and fourth with 20 runs.

The scrappy Willits, 5 feet 10 and 185 pounds, has added patience to a lineup filled with hackers, an important element missing from the leadoff spot since David Eckstein left after 2004. Among American League players with at least 100 plate appearances, Willits ranks sixth with an average of 4.30 pitches a plate appearance.

Only one other Angel, Mike Napoli (4.11), averages more than four pitches a plate appearance. Against Texas on May 14, Willits saw 28 pitches in one game. That’s a good week for Vladimir Guerrero.

“A pitcher’s pitch count is important -- the quicker you can get a starter out of the game, the better,” Willits said. “If I see a lot of pitches, it allows the guys behind me to see a lot of pitches. And if I’m on base, they’re going to get better pitches.”

Willits, a seventh-round draft pick from the University of Oklahoma in 2003, wasn’t always known for his plate discipline. At Class-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2004, he struck out 112 times in 526 at-bats.

But as Willits rose through the farm system, his strikeouts fell, to 78 in 487 at-bats at double-A Arkansas in 2005 and 50 in 353 at-bats at triple-A Salt Lake in 2006. He has 18 strikeouts in 105 at-bats this season.

“I’ve always gone deep in counts, but the more at-bats you get, the better you know your strike zone and what pitches you can handle,” Willits said. “I’m not afraid to hit with two strikes. I’m just as confident with an 0-2 count as a 2-2 count.”

Willits has six multi-hit games in the last 12 games and has been an integral part of the Angels’ 10-2 run. He has been so productive that when Anderson returns, Manager Mike Scioscia will probably keep Willits in the leadoff spot, either rotating him through the outfield spots or using him as a designated hitter.

But even if Willits returns to the bench, “I won’t focus on anything but staying ready to pinch-hit or pinch-run late in the game,” he said. “If I get one start a week, there will be no sulking. Whatever I’m asked to do, I will do it.”

Willits has had an exceptional month, but he doesn’t think of himself as the Angels’ starting left fielder. “I’m just holding the spot until Garret is ready,” he says.

A picture of humility, Willits wouldn’t even say he has established himself as a big leaguer. He put the cage before the house, but he won’t put the cart before the horse.

“That’s something that comes with time,” Willits said. “I think I’ve shown I can compete at this level. The true test is what you can do for an entire season.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com