Los Angeles Angels Summer Check Up

Los Angeles Angels

31-28 (3rd in AL West)



Eye Popping Number

11.2

The total WAR for non-Mike Trout players. Last season that number was 23.1. The way that Wins Above Replacement works, is that if you have a team of replacement level players (essentially AAA players) and they all create 0 WAR, that team will win 52 games in a season. Trout himself is usually work about 10 wins by himself, and he’s outdoing himself this year. But if he creates 10 wins, that means the rest of the team has to create around 25 WAR to make the post season (87 wins). The Angels have struggled to put other productive players around Trout in the past, but this year looks to be different as they are finally on pace to reach the 25 WAR mark (they’re on pace for almost 30 WAR).

Biggest Surprise

Is there any other answer here other than Shohei Ohtani? Probably. The starting rotation as a whole has outperformed preseason expectations, Andrelton Simmons is proving that his bat can be as valuable as his glove, and Kole Calhoun is having arguably the worst hitting season of anybody in history (bad surprise). But after speculation during Spring Training if Ohtani could compete in the MLB, both as a hitter and as a pitcher, he has put the doubters to rest. He currently has a 147 wRC+, meaning he’s been 47% more productive as a hitter than the average player, but he also has a 3.18 ERA over 8 starts with an elite 31.8% strikeout percentage.

Player to Watch

Both Trout and Ohtani kind of feel like cheating here. Trout is having the best season of his career. Also having the best season of his career? The aforementioned Simmons. Every year since coming to Los Angeles from Atlanta, he’s gotten better as a hitter. He’s currently hitting .336/.405/.469 and only struck out 10 times all season. With Trout setting the table at the top, Simmons has been a key cog in the middle of the lineup with 30 RBIs. Oh, and he’s still far and away the best defensive shortstop in baseball.

What to Watch for at the Deadline

Last year, the Angels made a splash by trading for Justin Upton at the deadline, and they should be buyers again this year by being in the thick of the wild card race. There are a few places they should look to improve. In right field, Kole Calhoun is still playing good defense, but offensively he’s been terrible. Albert Pujols has finally crossed the 600 home run mark and the 3000 hit mark for his career, but is just a shell of his old self. They could also use another starting or relief pitcher as all fringe playoff teams do. They could try and replicate last season by getting a star at the deadline and go after Cole Hamels (Texas) in order to strengthen their chances in a wild card game. Kelvin Herrera (Kansas City) could anchor the closer role while their current closer, Kenyan Middleton is on the 60 day disabled list. Jorge Soler (Kansas City) could fit in right field, and after trading CJ Cron in the offseason, they may want to bring him back to play first base.

*All stats as of 6/3 via fangraphs.com and baseball-reference.com

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