Erstad's lineup move helps Angels win

ANAHEIM -- Darin Erstad doesn't care where he hits in the lineup, he just simply cares that he does.
Put him first, second, sixth, wherever. Shoot, drop him into the nine-hole and he'll go to the plate with the same mind-set -- get a pitch and put a swing on it.

So it is that Erstad finds himself currently batting second in the order for the Angels, and shrugging his shoulders as if he were hitting .500 or .005.

"It doesn't matter," Erstad said.

What does matter is that Erstad is productive in an offense that doesn't rely on one man. Sure, Vladimir Guerrero bats third and is fully capable of carrying the ballclub like he did last September when he put the final stranglehold on the American League MVP. But the Angels expect performance throughout the lineup and Erstad's role is critical to its execution.

Lately, the offense has played like the one that was advertised in Spring Training: a group that won't necessarily stand toe-to-toe and slug with opponents, but will jab and dance and remain in motion. The Angels see constant pressure as the way to break down the opposition.

Through the first two months, the only pressure the club was applying was to their own pitchers as they huddled near the bottom of the AL in most offensive categories. But over the past few weeks, the club has found its stroke. Over the last 30 days, the Angels are tops in the AL with a .294 team batting average, the third best in baseball, while their 146 runs scored is fourth in the Majors and second in the AL.

They are also reaching base at a 35 percent clip, third highest in the AL and fifth overall in baseball over that same 30-day span. Coincidence or not, this period also aligns roughly with Erstad's move from batting leadoff to second in the order.

Erstad will contend there is no correlation to his spot in the lineup and the performance of the rest of the club, but interested observers might beg to differ.

"I like the two-spot for him," hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said. "For him, one thing is he is a good situational hitter and he knows how to play the game as a whole."

Hatcher is not a big fan of stats; he assesses his hitters by how they're swinging the bat and the confidence they project at the plate. Early in the season, he had no issues with the way his charges were taking cuts, but their confidence flagged, and they couldn't help but be affected by it.

But the numbers are too attractive to dismiss. Since Erstad has moved to the second spot in the order, the team is 19-11. Erstad is currently in the midst of a 16-game hitting streak, the longest of his career. He is hitting .600 over the last four games, .397 during the streak and .341 since dropping in the order.

And as an on-the-field response to those critics who have claimed that Erstad is a bad on-base man, the 31-year-old has posted a .353 on-base percentage for the season and has been getting on base 45 percent of the time in the month of June. But Erstad doesn't wade into the current of criticism and he isn't much for analysis. He prefers to attribute it to the variations of the game.

Darin Erstad / CF
Born: 06/04/74
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 210 lbs
Bats: L / Throws: L

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"I just didn't feel good earlier in the year; I scuffled," Erstad said of posting a .286 batting average in April, and then a .258 mark in May. "But I started to feel better. I couldn't tell you, to be honest, any one time when it started to click."

His manager agrees.

"I don't think it is as much a function of him [moving in the lineup] as it is that he's feeling more confident. I haven't noticed that he's changed his game dramatically from hitting in the one-spot."

Erstad hit a season-low .235 when he went 0-for-3 in a 9-3 win at Detroit, five games after flipping spots in the batting order with Chone Figgins. He went on an eight-game hitting streak the next day, going 10-for-23. After getting two hits in his next three games, Erstad started a new streak which he will take to the plate with him Friday when the Angels host the Marlins.

For him, it is reflective more of the performance by the entire team.

"It's just guys finding their swings," Erstad said. "It is contagious both ways. Guys are feeding off each other."

A month ago, Hatcher was on the wrong end of questions regarding his hitters. With the Angels offense recently playing up to its potential, Hatcher can feel better about his own job performance, but he is keenly aware he must keep it positive no matter what the numbers say.

"You want to get them feeling good about themselves, not looking at film and banging their heads against the wall," Hatcher said. "I always look to put a guy in a position where he feels comfortable to swing a bat."

With Erstad, Hatcher believes the switch in the batting order is more than just coincidental.

"I believe this guy has the ability to be a great hitter," Hatcher said. "I think we're seeing that come around."

Source: http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/