SURPRISE, Ariz. – In a spring training spent mostly marveling at Mike Trout or watching hopefully as Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton try to regain their form, it would be easy to overlook Erick Aybar.
Aybar has drawn eight walks in 43 plate appearances this spring, a walk rate that is more than three times his rate throughout his career. He walked just 23 times in 589 plate appearances last season.
Is this just a small-sample-size fluke, or a sign of a real change in approach?
In Jerry Dipoto’s opinion … both.
“I don’t think Erick is going to walk 100 times, but the fact is he’s focusing on putting together better at-bats, focusing on getting into better counts,” the Angels’ general manager said. “It’s a lot easier to hit in this league when you are getting into positive counts.”
Aybar is 30 and has been an everyday player for the past five seasons, so it would be unusual for a player at that stage in his career to make such a dramatic change.
However, Dipoto said he believes Aybar has consciously tried something new, and Aybar said as much earlier in the spring.
“Time, maturity and Don Baylor,” Dipoto said, referring to the Angels’ new hitting coach. “Erick is a good player. He’s been in the league a while now. He understands the things he does well. He understands the things he needs to improve on. This spring in particular he’s focused on some of the things he can do better.”
Manager Mike Scioscia had Aybar in the leadoff spot for Thursday’s game against the Royals. Scioscia said it was because he wanted Aybar to get as many right-handed swings as possible against left-hander Bruce Chen, not because he considers Aybar a candidate to lead off regularly.
DE LA ROSA UPDATE
Dane De La Rosa said he’s scheduled to throw a bullpen session Friday, which will mark his first time on the mound after missing nine days with a strained forearm.
De La Rosa said he thinks he only needs one outing in a game to be ready for the season, so it’s still possiblehe could be ready by the March 31 opener.
“It should be pretty quick,” De La Rosa said.
NOTES
Hamilton hit fifth against Chen, which is how Scioscia plans to pencil in his lineup against lefties during the season. David Freese moved up to the cleanup spot. Hamilton hit .201 against lefties and .272 against righties in 2013. For his career, though, the split isn’t as dramatic: .307 and .267. …
Hector Santiago was sporting a Ducks jersey with his name and No. 53 on it. The Ducks sent the jersey to Santiago. He’s not sure why they picked him, but he said he is a hockey fan. Santiago grew up going to New Jersey Devils games, and he attended several Chicago Blackhawks games last year while he pitched for the White Sox.
Contact the writer: jlfletcher@ocregister.com
