Hatcher looks for offensive strings

The Angels’ offensive drought has reached such proportions that Mickey Hatcher said one solution might be going “back-to-back-to-back-to-back.”

Don’t worry, the hitting coach wasn’t suggesting that his power-starved team needed to string together four consecutive home runs; he meant that it needed to get on base more regularly to pressure other teams.

“That’s what we strive for, back-to-back-to-back-to-back, and hopefully that will happen,” Hatcher said. “The biggest factor for us right now is getting them all on base maybe one inning at a time.”

It has been a rare occurrence for a team that ranked third-to-last in the American League with a .318 on-base percentage before a 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday evening at Angel Stadium. The Angels have had trouble reaching base via hit or walk, their .256 batting average and 200 walks before Sunday each ranking 11th in the league.

Nevertheless, General Manager Tony Reagins expressed confidence that the current roster was adequately equipped to break out of a funk in which the team has scored more than five runs only once in its last 24 games.

“I’m real confident in these guys that we have out here,” Reagins said. “We’re still in first place, 3 1/2 games up [in the AL West], and I think a lot of teams would like to be in that position. Even through all of this and through the ups and downs, we’re still where we want to be.”

--

Situationally speaking

The Angels’ inability to generate baserunners has been compounded by its woeful situational hitting. The team is hitting .211 with runners in scoring position over its last 24 games, though Casey Kotchman drove in Vladimir Guerrero from second base in the fifth inning Sunday with his two-run home run.

“Our situational hitting has really struggled through the last 30 games or so [with] hitting with runners in scoring position, working counts, hitting behind some runners,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

Part of the problem has been attributable to injuries, and the Angels hope that the return of Chone Figgins from a strained right hamstring can help revive the team’s small-ball approach. In his first three games since coming off the disabled list, Figgins hit .300 and reached base six times.

“He sets the table for a lot of what we’re trying to do, creating havoc on the bases and giving us tough at-bats leading off the game,” Reagins said.

--

Catching, not hitting

Hatcher said the struggles of catchers Mike Napoli (.202 batting average) and Jeff Mathis (.223) have “become very mental with them,” to the point where they are taking strikes and swinging at balls.

Hatcher said he made a mechanical adjustment with Mathis before Saturday’s game against the Braves, in which he logged a run-scoring hit in his only plate appearance before going two for three Sunday, and was also working to restore Napoli’s confidence.

“Walking up to the plate, you don’t see that look in his face anymore,” Hatcher said. “So I’ve just got to get him going.”

--

Short hops

In the first game of a minor league rehabilitation assignment, shortstop Erick Aybar played five innings and was one for three with a run scored and stolen base for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. Scioscia said Aybar, on the disabled list because of a dislocated right pinkie finger, could rejoin the team this weekend in Philadelphia. . . . Reliever Chris Bootcheck, recovering from a strained right forearm, could begin playing catch in the next few days, Scioscia said.

--

ben.bolch@latimes.com