Entering the season, the Los Angeles Angels lineup was supposed to be the strength of the team while the pitching was their biggest question. But so far early in the season, the pitching has carried the team while the offense has struggled.
Aside from one poor game where they allowed 13 on the second day of the season, the pitchers have allowed four runs or less in all of the Halos’ games to begin the season. The offense has yet to score more than six in a game and they have scored two runs or less in half of their games.
With a lineup that features Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Anthony Rendon, and Jared Walsh, and two top prospects with loads of potential in Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh, the expectations are far higher than they’ve produced.
However, it is incredibly early in the season and manager Joe Maddon said believes they are close to breaking out, via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times:
“He looks fine to me,” Maddon said of Rendon. “He looks like really good. Again, I watch things like his balance and the bat speed, and he’ll start squaring them up. He’s gonna get really hot. We’ve seen it before. Mikey’s real close too. And Ohtani, I’m not worried about at all.”
While Walsh and Marsh have hit well to begin the year, all of Trout, Ohtani and Rendin are hitting .200 or below with 19 or more plate appearances each. Trout has made up for his low average with a high on-base percentage at .368 while slugging .467, but Ohtani and Rendon have struggled to make up for their low averages.
So far this season, the Angels are hitting .217/.282/.376 as a team with an 87 wRC+, which is 13% below league average production and ranks 21st in the league in offensive value. They also rank 22nd of 30 with just 20 runs scored across their six games played.
Angels lose David Fletcher to injury
David Fletcher was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left-hip strain. To replace him, the club recalled infielder Andrew Velasquez from Triple-A.
The versatile Fletcher was hitting just .077/.077/.231 with a -27 wRC+ in 13 plate appearances this season.
However, the club is also expecting Taylor Ward, who has not played since injuring his groin in the Freeway Series versus the L.A. Dodgers, to return during their roadtrip.
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