OC Register: David Fletcher sees fewer at-bats as Angels look for best offense

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM — David Fletcher was once a big enough part of the Angels that his photo was one of the large portraits around the home-plate gate at Angel Stadium. The Angels thought enough of him to sign him to a five-year, $26-million deal.

Now, Fletcher has been in the starting lineup for just four of the Angels’ first 12 games. Two of those were during Anthony Rendon’s suspension and a third came when Rendon was a late scratch because of a sore shoulder.

Asked if he’s been frustrated or disappointed with his current role, Fletcher said: “A little bit, but I play when they tell me and I don’t when they don’t.”

The reason for his declining playing time is simple: The Angels have been trying to put the best offensive lineup on the field, and they believe that means Gio Urshela and Luis Rengifo getting most of the starts in the middle infield.

“I love him and I want to play him more, but right now we have a lot of guys swinging the bat well that are in front of him,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said.

From 2018-20, Fletcher hit .292 with a .732 OPS and played excellent defense, earning that contract. He was good in the first half of 2021, then finished in a slump. He lost most of last season with a core muscle injury that required surgery. When he played, he hit .255 with a .621 OPS.

This season, he’s off to a 1-for-15 start.

Fletcher said he’s not feeling any ill effects of last year’s injury. He’s simply waiting to see his name in the lineup.

“I just do whatever they tell me,” he said.

Nevin said Fletcher will get some more opportunities in the Angels’ stretch of 17 games in a row, beginning Friday, and 26 games in 27 days.

“There are going to be openings,” Nevin said. “Production will put you in lineups. He’s certainly capable of it. He’s done a lot of great things here as an Angel. He’s playing a valuable role right now, going in defensively when we need him. We know what he can do there.”

LINEUP SHUFFLING

Shohei Ohtani was not in the lineup Wednesday, which allowed Mike Trout to get a day at designated hitter.

That gave Nevin the chance to start Brett Phillips for the first time this year. Phillips was in the lineup in center field, which Nevin said gave them their best defense.

Nevin said Trout will get a full day off sometime on the upcoming trip. So far he has started all 12 games this season.

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Nevin said Ohtani was fine with getting a day off. He threw 92 pitches Tuesday night, and could get two straight off days including Thursday’s scheduled off day.

“I thought this would be a good time for him to get two days off his feet and he completely agreed,” Nevin said.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 1-0, 1.64) at Red Sox (TBD), 4:10 p.m. Friday, Fenway Park, Apple TV Plus, 830 AM.

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[T.G.]

Joe Maddon enters the chat...

[HeavenlyHalos]

He has been bad for a long time now with the bat. The fewer at bats the better for the team.

[Taylor]

He's not very good.

[BTH]

4 hours ago, AngelsWin.com said:

Asked if he’s been frustrated or disappointed with his current role, Fletcher said: “A little bit, but I play when they tell me and I don’t when they don’t.”

Then stop swinging at so many pitches out of the zone. This isn't rocket science.

It also doesn't help when you haven't barreled a baseball in nearly three years.

 

Bad plate discipline + bad batted ball quality + poor speed = bad offensive player.

He had good plate discipline before, so it seems to reasonable to ask him to get back to that vs. put on a ton of strength or increase his speed.

[Reveille1984]

2 hours ago, Trendon said:

It also doesn't help when you haven't barreled a baseball in nearly three years.

That is actually a hilarious stat.

The guy just isn't a starting caliber MLB player anymore, simple as that.  Happens all the time, especially to fringe talents like him.

[ten ocho recon scout]

30 minutes ago, Reveille1984 said:

That is actually a hilarious stat.

The guy just isn't a starting caliber MLB player anymore, simple as that.  Happens all the time, especially to fringe talents like him.

Which sucks, because he was a fun guy to cheer for. But it is what it is. 

At this point, he's set financially for life, and gets to spend his career playing with Trout and Ohtani. I'm sure he wishes it was more than that. And I hope it ends up more than that. But in reality he got pretty lucky.

[ukyah]

i like david, but if he feels like he wants to gripe a bit about his playing time, then that would be the time i'd give him some hard truths, which nevin hinted at with his comment, "production will put you in lineups".

hey, bro. why don't you try showing a little plate discipline? your eyes are bigger than your bat.

[Angelsjunky]

Remember when that contract looked like a steal? Anyhow, it isn't the worst thing ever...he's still a useful bench player and a nice guy to have around, even if he hits like David Eckstein with AIDS.

[TroutField]

Feels like a waste of a roster spot, Livan Soto can do the same job and probably a lot better at this point. 
 

 

[Inside Pitch]

18 hours ago, Reveille1984 said:

That is actually a hilarious stat.

The guy just isn't a starting caliber MLB player anymore, simple as that.  Happens all the time, especially to fringe talents like him.

It's actually a pretty meaningless stat in his case.  At his very best, in his best season ever, he had all of ONE barreled ball.  For his entire career he had THREE. 

Hitting the ball hard has just never been his game.

[ukyah]

fletcher's problem isn't frequency of barreled balls (dibs on fantasy team name), it's his plate discipline.  only with discipline can he achieve total enlightenment.