"It's hard to imagine a hitter who can make Vladimir Guerrero look like a picture of patience, but Vernon Wells seems determined to try.

The Angels left fielder entered Monday night's game having seen 287 pitches in 94 plate appearances this season, an average of 3.05 that ranked dead last among 187 major league players with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.

The two players just above him on that list are Guerrero, the notorious hacker who now plays in Baltimore, and Cleveland second baseman Orlando Cabrera, who played with Guerrero on the Angels' free-swinging 2005 club that had as much trouble scoring runs as this current Angels outfit.

"I've always been that way," said Wells, who entered Monday with a .169 batting average, one homer and four runs batted in. "Pitchers are taught to get ahead early. My father always told me that if I get my pitch, take a hack at it."

The approach has always worked for Wells, who hit .273 with 31 homers and 88 runs batted in for Toronto last season despite seeing an average of only 3.24 pitches per plate appearance.

His season high for pitches per plate appearance is 3.54 in 2007. Wells hit a career-low .245 with 16 homers and 80 RBIs that year.

"There's a time and a place for it," Wells said. "You have to know the situation and who's on the mound. If it's late in the game and you're down a couple of runs, you don't want to be too aggressive. Or if the guy is a little wild, that's not that time.""