Impressive spring a distant memory for Cron

BOSTON -- C.J. Cron had a stellar Spring Training for the Angels, batting .413 with a 1.165 OPS and consistently driving the ball to the opposite field. More than 40 games into the season, though, the 25-year-old designated hitter/first baseman isn't hitting and is hardly playing.

Is it time to send him to the Minor Leagues? Doesn't sound like it.

"You don't have to get [at-bats] seven days [a week], but if you are getting them one day a week, then there's a discussion of what's best for the team and what's best for the player," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "C.J. has gotten enough at-bats where if he's swinging like he can, he'd be contributing. But he hasn't found that swing yet."

Cron has a .200/.222/.274 slash line through his first 99 plate appearances and has mustered just three hits in his last 29 at-bats. He's managed 10 hits in 34 at-bats against lefties, and that's pretty much the only time the right-handed-hitting Cron gets in the lineup these days.

The young power hitter has been on the bench in eight of the Angels' last 10 games, including Friday's series opener from Fenway Park.

"Obviously he's not as comfortable in the batter's box as he was in the spring," Scioscia said. "Early in the season he hit some balls hard and wasn't able to get them to fall in, but he wasn't able to carry that same production into the regular season."