Ward says he believes his hitting woes due to injury

ANAHEIM >> Taylor Ward believed he had gotten all of a changeup from Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara earlier this month in Miami.

The ball died at the warning track.

It happened again Monday night in Kansas City, when a would-be grand slam against Zack Greinke ended up as a routine fly ball.

The Angels right fielder says those are among the most plain demonstrations of what's happened to him at the plate ever since he crashed into the fence making a catch May 20. He suffered a stinger, which is an irritation of the nerve as it passes from the neck to the shoulder.

Although Ward insisted at the time that it affected only his throwing, and not his hitting, he has since come to believe something else.

“Honestly, I think that changed who I was as a hitter,” Ward said. “Since then, some bat speed things have been down, and I wasn't necessarily aware of it until recently.”

Ward said the Angels' analytics team recently let him know that his bat speed had declined about 4 mph from where it was before the injury.

“A little bit of that bat speed makes a big difference,” Ward said. “Balls at the warning track are caught. They were doubles or homers. I think the production has definitely fallen because of that.”

Ward was hitting .370 with a 1.194 OPS when he crashed into the fence. Although it certainly wasn't sustainable at that level, since then he's crashed to .215 with a .598 OPS. He has nine extra-base hits in his last 190 plate appearances, after having 17 extra-base hits in the 131 plate appearances before the injury.

His average exit velocity declined slightly. It was 89.7 mph before, and since then it's been 89.5 mph.

Ward said he's trying to account for the reduced bat speed by using a lighter bat. He's also trying to tweak his swing to lower the launch angle, because the balls in the air aren't getting out now.

Otherwise, it may just take more time to totally get beyond the injury.

“It's getting a lot better,” Ward said. “I'm not fully back to where it was, but it is a lot better.”

He also was quick to point out that the injury doesn't account for all the decline. He said he also needs to be better at pitch selection.

“From where I was to where I am now, there's got to be some type of middle ground,” Ward said. “There's no excuse for that. There should be more production.”

Toussaint up

Touki Toussaint was recalled for the first time with the Angels. Toussaint was a former top pitching prospect with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves.

The Angels acquired him earlier this month after the Braves designated him for assignment. Toussaint, 26, was called up to provide some bullpen coverage. The right-hander had allowed three earned runs in eight innings at Salt Lake after posting a 6.26 ERA with the Braves' Triple-A team.

“I definitely think it's the consistency of my delivery,” Toussaint said when asked about his struggles since he was a top prospect. “I always had the stuff. I need to be able to throw it in the strike zone. That's the missing piece, being able to attack the strike zone and go after hitters.”

Notes

The Angels optioned relievers Elvis Peguero and José Marte, creating spots for Toussaint and Chase Silseth, who was called up to start Saturday. … Jimmy Herget (shoulder impingement) returned to the Angels after pitching three times at Double-A in his rehab assignment. He said he's ready to be activated as soon as the Angels make the move. …

David Fletcher was not in the lineup Saturday. Manager Phil Nevin wanted him to have a day off after playing Thursday and Friday. They don't want to overwork Fletcher in his first days back from two months of rehabilitation following hip surgery.