Angels looking to Abreu to help ease loss of Teixeira

It’s not only Bobby Abreu’s ability to take borderline pitches for balls that impresses pitcher Joe Saunders about the Angels’ new left fielder. It’s also the disdain Abreu shows for a pitcher’s best offerings.

“Usually, the guys who foul off a lot of pitches are the guys who are chasing our pitch, but Abreu just spits at it, he doesn’t even offer at it,” said Saunders, the Angels left-hander who has faced Abreu eight times in his career, giving up three hits and a walk.

“That’s the problem. You’re thinking, ‘I just threw a pretty good pitch,’ and he didn’t even sniff it. He has a great eye, he hits it where it’s pitched, he hits for power, and he’s fast. Put all those things together, and it makes for a tough out.”

Losing first baseman Mark Teixeira’s power and patience to the New York Yankees was a huge blow to the offense, but the Angels believe Abreu, signed to a cut-rate, one-year, $5-million deal in February, will ease that loss.

Abreu, 35, has driven in at least 100 runs in each of the last six years, a streak only two other active players, Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez, have matched. He has scored 100 runs or more in eight of the last 10 seasons.

And he will bring much-needed plate discipline to what traditionally has been one of baseball’s most free-swinging lineups.

According to fangraphs.com, Abreu saw more pitches than anyone in the major leagues from 2004 to 2006, and last season, swung at only 16.6% of the pitches thrown to him out of the strike zone, eighth-lowest among major league hitters.

Abreu’s 4.29 pitches per plate appearance with the Yankees in 2008 ranked as the fourth-most in the major leagues, and he did not swing at 630 of 684 first pitches. His 87 hits with two strikes were most in the majors.

“I just know the strike zone better,” Abreu said. “I have an idea of where the pitch is going to land, and I don’t get panicked with two strikes. I’ve always been that way, since the minor leagues. I don’t know why. It’s something you can’t teach.”

The Angels, who open the regular season at home Monday night against the Oakland Athletics, have put a heavy emphasis on plate discipline this spring, and young players such as Howie Kendrick, Erick Aybar and Jeff Mathis have made great strides.

Abreu will accentuate that approach.

“Every hitter is not going to have the same approach at the plate,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “But certainly, if young hitters are looking for a way to improve plate discipline, Bobby Abreu is a great role model.”

The left-handed-hitting Abreu, who will bat third, can’t match Teixeira’s power. Abreu has averaged 22 homers for 10 years, and Teixeira has averaged 34 homers in six big league seasons.

But Abreu’s .405 career on-base percentage in 12 seasons is better than Teixeira’s .378 mark, and Abreu is more of a threat on the bases.

Abreu has averaged 29 stolen bases for 10 years and will fit in well with the Angels’ aggressive base-unning approach, which emphasizes going first to third on singles.

“Without Teixeira, you’re going to lose an extra 10 to 15 homers and 30 RBIs, but Abreu will give you a .380 on-base percentage and stolen bases,” center fielder Torii Hunter said.

“He’ll help the lineup a lot by working pitchers. That happened last year with Teixeira; he worked pitchers, and that trickled down to the other guys. Abreu is a big pickup.”

He probably won’t have as big an impact on defense. A right fielder by trade, Abreu is moving to left field; he has played only 16 big league games at that position.

Though he has a strong arm and won a Gold Glove Award with Philadelphia in 2005, Abreu has never been considered a superb defender. In John Dewan’s “The Fielding Bible,” Abreu was ranked 27th among 30 right fielders last season.

Now he must transition to the other corner, where the angles and the way balls come off the bat are different.

“I’m OK on defense,” said Abreu, who missed three weeks of spring training to play for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. “I have a good arm. I make mistakes, like everyone else, but I consider myself all right.”

The Angels will be happy if he makes the plays he should make and controls the running game. Abreu, like the player he is replacing, Garret Anderson, is not known for running into walls to make spectacular catches.

“That’s what people say, but you will see,” Abreu said. “There might have been one or two times when I didn’t run into a wall, and you get that reputation, but it’s not that way.”

Unlike Anderson, who took offense to those who questioned his defense or desire, Abreu did not bristle when the topic came up.

He has an easygoing manner, an upbeat and outgoing personality that, with his ability to speak English and Spanish, has made for a seamless transition to a new clubhouse.

And he hasn’t shown one hint of bitterness about taking a pay cut from $16 million in 2008 to $5 million this season.

Abreu, who hit .296 with 20 homers, 100 RBIs, 100 runs and 73 walks in 2008, entered free agency hoping for a deal in the three-year, $48-million range, but with a sagging economy and surplus of left-handed bats, he found himself scrambling for a job in February.

“I just love this game,” he said. “I want to play, to show and prove I can still do my thing, to keep putting my numbers up there. I just enjoy all of this . . . and I think fans in Anaheim are going to enjoy seeing me play every day.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

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Bobby Abreu at a glance

Full name: Bob Kelly Abreu

Born: March 11, 1974

Birthplace: Aragua, Venezuela

Height: 6 feet

Weight: 210

Bats: Left

Throws: Right

MLB Debut: Sept. 1, 1996

Last three seasons:

*--* Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG 2006 PHI 98 339 61 94 25 2 8 65 147 91 86 20 4 427 434 277 NYY 58 209 37 69 16 0 7 42 106 33 52 10 2 419 507 330 2007 NYY 158 605 123 171 40 5 16 101 269 84 115 25 8 369 445 283 2008 NYY 156 609 100 180 39 4 20 100 287 73 109 22 11 371 471 296 *--*

Source: MLB.com