The Los Angeles Angels recently concluded a 10-game road trip in which they posted a 4-6 record, but it could have been a lot worse if not for completing a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend.
The Angels began the road trip with a win over the Detroit Tigers but then dropped their next six games, scoring a combined 11 runs during the span.
The Angels offense bounced back by scoring 12 runs in the series opener against the Blue Jays and kept the momentum going by winning four consecutive games before falling to the New York Yankees on Tuesday.
Angels hitting coach Jeremy Reed acknowledged there are certain areas the team needs to improve in but is pleased with the recent results, via Sam Blum of The Athletic:
There’s been some things that we’ve seen, that we’ve noticed. The swing-and-miss. The strikeout rate. We’re very well aware of those things. We go in there and work on the heater, if it’s the fastball that they’re swinging and missing at.
Or we work on the breaking ball if it’s that. We have a lot of knowledgeable people that are working on swing mechanics, swing decisions, approach, game-planning. There’s a lot of different things at the major-league level that get magnified. It’s baseball. And it’s just nice to see some success at the end of it.
With Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout in the starting lineup on a nightly basis, it is difficult to comprehend how the Angels could struggle so badly at the plate for an extended period.
However, when the lineup is clicking as it has been over the past week, the Angels have proven they could go toe-to-toe with any team.
The Angels are hitting just .228/.295/.382 (90 wRC+) as a team this season, and their 8.6 WAR ranks 23rd out of 30 teams. L.A. has struggled putting the ball in play as their 26.2% strikeout rate is the highest in all of baseball.
Ford benefitting from subtle change at the plate
Mike Ford is among the Angels who have swung a hot bat lately, hitting two home runs in as many games against his former New York Yankees team.
Ford credited his recent success to making a slight adjustment to his swing with the help of some Minor League coaches.
