The Los Angeles Angels enter play Tuesday having scored 292 runs this season, which is tied with the Baltimore Orioles for the seventh-most in all of baseball. However, if there was one area in which the L.A. lineup has struggled, it’s with runners in scoring position.
The Angels are hitting just .248/.325/.397 in those situations, and it has contributed to the team’s mediocre 32-30 record thus far.
Manager Phil Nevin is well aware of the Angels’ woes with runners in scoring position and noted the team must improve if it wants to go far in the postseason, per Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group:
“We know where we’re at,” Nevin said. “It’s talked about every day, in the media obviously. It becomes magnified when it goes game after game and we have not had much success with it. Winning teams don’t have those struggles in those situations.”
Mike Trout is in the midst of another All-Star caliber season, but he’s batting just .200 with a 31.7% strikeout rate with runners in scoring position. The 10-time All-Star believes his struggles are more mental than mechanical:
“This game can drive you crazy a little bit when you’re trying to do too much up there and your mind starts racing,” Trout said. “Your body does things that you don’t want it to do. Your (swings) get to be long, instead of just staying short and trusting yourself. I think it’s a mindset.”
Taylor Ward echoed that sentiment and said his teammates need to keep the same mindset in every situation:
“I think the worst thing you can do is have a different approach or thought process,” Ward said. “When you realize there’s runners in scoring position, I think that puts added pressure on you and that thought isn’t good.”
Brandon Drury isn’t worried about the struggles and thinks the Angels are due for some positive regression with runners in scoring position:
“I think everybody goes through times when you’re driving the runner in, whether it’s hitting the ball well or getting lucky, and then you have times when you just can’t get anything to fall with runners in scoring position,” Drury said. “It’s a long season. It’ll all even out.”
The MLB average with runners in scoring position this season is .254, which is just slightly above the Angels, so perhaps Drury’s assessment will prove to be true and L.A. eventually improve in that area.
How can Angels improve with runners in scoring position?
The Angels are set to get back Anthony Rendon soon, and he has been the team’s most productive hitter with runners in scoring position by far, hitting .357 in those situations.
When Rendon is in the lineup, the Angels are batting .302 with runners in scoring position across 30 games.
Make sure to follow Angels Nation on Twitter for all the latest news and updates surrounding the Halos!
