ANAHEIM — The final two months of the season could go a long way toward revealing just how much surgery restored the version of David Fletcher that the Angels and so many fans came to love.

In his first eight games since returning from the injured list, the Angels infielder has hit .308 with an .863 OPS, including two home runs.

Fletcher freely acknowledges that the core muscle tear that he began to feel late in spring training hindered him even when it didn’t hurt. He said it was mostly fine, but it would grab whenever he’d try to make a quick movement.

Fletcher tried to play through it early in the season, and finally opted for surgery when he had a .158 batting average and .483 OPS in early May.

“I think I had some stuff going on in there that was causing core weakness, and that might have played into it a little bit,” Fletcher said of his trouble at the plate.

Now, since he’s come back, he feels stronger when he swings and even when he throws.

Still, that’s only part of the question.

Fletcher, 28, has insisted repeatedly that he had no physical issues in 2021, which was also not the kind of season the Angels had come to expect.

A product of Cypress High and Loyola Marymount, Fletcher debuted in the big leagues in 2018 and immediately became a fan favorite because of his defense, his scrappy approach at the plate and his base running.

He lifted his average and on-base percentage each of his first three seasons, improving his OPS from .678 to .734 to .801. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he hit .319 with a .376 on-base percentage. That earned him a five-year, $26 million contract going into the 2021 season.

Last season, he hit .262, including a 26-game hitting streak. His on-base percentage, though, dropped to .297, so the Angels moved him out of the leadoff spot and to the bottom of the order. He slugged just .324. His OPS dropped to .622. Over the last 51 games, he hit .161 with a .400 OPS.

Although Fletcher typically declines to talk much about what he’s doing at the plate, at least one part of his game very clearly changed last year.

From 2018 to 2020, Fletcher swung at 37.4% of the pitches he saw, including 26.4% of those out of the strike zone and 40.1% in the strike zone. Since 2021, he has swung at 46.9% of the pitches he’s seen, including 33.3% out of the zone and 61.8% in the zone.

His contact rate has been steady at about 91% every year, which is elite. That means he’s able to put a lot of pitches into play that he was taking when he was performing better. His hard hit percentage was 19.3% in 2018-19, but 15.2% in 2020-21.

Defenses also adjusted to him, often moving the right fielder toward the line and taking away some of the balls that Fletcher had been dunking into the outfield for hits.

It’s too early to tell if Fletcher, now healthy, will revert to his pre-2021 discipline.

“Just the same stuff I’ve been working on the last couple years,” he said when asked about his current approach at the plate.

Even if Fletcher performs at his 2021 level, that could still be a benefit to the Angels. When he was out, they turned to players such as Andrew Velazquez and Tyler Wade, whose offense was much worse than even the bad version of Fletcher.

Also, Fletcher can still help the Angels’ lineup by the way he works his at-bats. The Angels have struggled to make contact often this season, giving pitchers and the defense easier outs.

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“You hate to play against guys like that because they’re tough to strike out,” Manager Phil Nevin said. “The at-bats seem to lengthen out a lot. And right now he’s swinging the bat well, so he’s hard to defend. He can pull the ball. He’s got a couple home runs. He shoots the ball the other way.

“Then he gets on base and he is a really good base runner. Having him in there and when he’s swinging good, being able to lead him off, it lengthens us out a little bit. When you get the big guys (Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon) back in there, it really makes us long in the lineup.”

Fletcher has no doubt that he will again be the hitter that he was at his best.

“I know how good I can be when I’m right at the plate,” he said. “I’m just glad to be healthy now.”

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 3-4, 3.41 ERA) vs. Twins (RHP Tyler Mahle, 5-7, 4.49), Friday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM