2018 Remarkable! Season Preview – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

by | Feb 27, 2018 | Baseball

 

2017 Record: 80-82 (2nd in AL West)

 

The Angels kicked off the offseason when they extended Justin Upton to a five-year/$106 million deal — just a day after the World Series wrapped up. Then they landed, highly touted Japanese prospect, Shohei Ohtani. The Halos continued to bolster their lineup with the signing of Zack Cozart and acquisition of Ian Kinsler. Will these additions help take down the defending champion, Houston Astros, in the AL West?

 

STARTING PITCHERS

 

Garrett Richards
  • Opponents hit .098 against Garrett Richards (4-for-41) on non-fastballs in 2017 (Rank: 1st of 155 non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .231)
  • Opponents had a groundball rate of 54.1% (40/74) against Garrett Richards in 2017 — (League Avg: 45.3%).

 

Shohei Ohtani
  • Did not play in MLB

 

Tyler Skaggs
  • Opponents had a groundball rate of 63.8% (37/58) against Tyler Skaggs on non-fastballs in the second half of the 2017 season (Rank: 6th of 167 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 47.6%).
  • Hitters swung at 57.1% of Tyler Skaggs’ pitches in the zone (266/466) in the second half of the 2017 season (Rank: 187th of 189 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 65.9%).
  • He threw his curveball 29.0% of the time (319/1,099) vs right-handed batters in the 2017 season — 5th highest among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 16.4%.

 

Parker Bridwell
  • As a starter, he recorded 37 of his 54 strikeouts (68.5%) with his slider in the second half of the 2017 season (Rank: 4th of 89 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 36.0%).
  • As a starter, he walked 6 of 189 right-handed batters (3.2%) in the second half of the 2017 season (Rank: 13th of 180 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 7.4%).
  • He threw off-speed pitches 51.4% of the time (453/882) vs left-handed batters in the 2017 season — 6th highest among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 41.3%.

 

J.C. Ramirez
  • He threw his slider 49.4% of the time (580/1,173) vs right handed batters in the 2017 season — highest among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 18.2%.

  • He allowed an OPS of .640 (318 PAs) vs right-handed batters in the 2017 season — 6th best among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .768.
  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .453 (62 Total Bases / 137 ABs) on low breaking pitches in the 2017 season — worst among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .302.

 

Matt Shoemaker
  • Injured in 2017

 

Relief Pitchers

 

2017 Bullpen Ranks

Stat # Rank
AVG .240 T-11th
OBP .298 5th
SLG .396 8th
OPS .693 7th
BB% 7.2% 1st
K% 25.7% 7th
GB% 41.8% T-28th

 

Blake Parker
  • He allowed an OBP of .225 (253 PAs) in the 2017 season — 5th best among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .308.
  • He struck out 37.3% (50/134) of right-handed batters he faced in 2017 (Rank: 11th of 242 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 23.8%).
  • He had an ERA of 0.74 (36.2 IP) at home in the 2017 season — best among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 3.41.

 

Cam Bedrosian
  • Opponents had a line drive rate of just 9.8% (5/51) against Cam Bedrosian on breaking pitches in the 2017 season — 4th lowest among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 20.0%.

  • He recorded 35 of his 53 strikeouts (66.0%) with his slider in the 2017 season — 20th highest among 196 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 28.4%.
  • He threw his slider 60.3% of the time (144/239) with two strikes in the 2017 season — 13th highest among 143 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 32.3%.

 

Keynan Middleton
  • Right-handed hitters had a miss rate of 38.0% (109/287) against Keynan Middleton in 2017 (Rank: 9th of 250 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 26.9%).
  • He had an average fastball velocity of 96.8 MPH in 2017 (Rank: 23rd of 250 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 93.4).
  • Opponents had a line drive rate of 32.2% (19/59) against Keynan Middleton in the 2017 season — 3rd highest among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 20.9%.

 

Jose Alvarez
  • He walked 1 of 107 left-handed batters (0.9%) in the 2017 season — best among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 9.8%.

  • He allowed an OBP of .252 (27/107) vs left-handed batters in 2017 (Rank: 22nd of 236 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .328).
  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .583 (21 Total Bases / 36 ABs) on low breaking pitches in the 2017 season — worst among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .259.

 

Jim Johnson
  • Opponents hit .481 against Jim Johnson (13-for-27) on the first pitch of at-bats in 2017 (Rank: 84th of 86 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .346).
  • He recorded 24 of his 61 strikeouts (39.3%) with his curveball in 2017 (Rank: 21st of 205 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 11.6%).

 

Blake Wood
  • Hitters swung at 37.2% of Blake Wood‘s fastballs (265/712) in the 2017 season — 2nd lowest among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 48.2%.

  • He allowed a BABIP of .369  in the 2017 season — 4th worst among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .291.

 

HITTERS

 

2017 Offense Ranks

Stat # Rank
AVG .243 28th
OBP .315 T-23rd
SLG .397 27th
OPS .712 27th
BB% 8.6% T-16th
K% 19.7% 7th
QAB 2476 26th
wOBA .315 27th

 

Andrelton Simmons
  • He struck out 67 times in 647 PAs (10.4%) in 2017 (Rank: 3rd of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 21.6%).

  • He batted .336 (39-for-116) on high fastballs in 2017 (Rank: 8th of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .228).
  • He had a line drive rate of 28.8% (34/118) with RISP in 2017 (Rank: 10th of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 21.4%).

 

Mike Trout
  • He had an OPS of 1.112 (400 PAs) versus RHP in 2017 (Rank: 1st of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .752).
  • He drew 23 walks in 106 PAs (21.7%) versus LHP in 2017 (Rank: 2nd of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 8.8%).
  • He batted .442 (34-for-77) on low fastballs in 2017 (Rank: 1st of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .285).

 

Justin Upton
  • He slugged .728 (91 total bases in 125 ABs) versus LHP in 2017 (Rank: 3rd of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .419).
  • He struck out 151 times in 492 PAs (30.7%) versus RHP in 2017 (Rank: 141st of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 21.7%).
  • He had 79 Extra-Base hits out of 152 total hits (52.0%) in 2017 (Rank: 6th of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 36.2%)

 

Albert Pujols
  • He had an OBP of just .276 (326 PAs) at home in 2017 (Rank: 142nd of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .331).
  • He came to the plate with runners in scoring position in 195 of his 636 plate appearances (30.7%)  in 2017 (Rank: 2nd of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 24.9%).

  • He grounded into 26 double plays in 136 opportunities (19.1%) in 2017 (Rank: 141st of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 11.1%).

 

Martin Maldonado
  • He has not drawn a walk in his last 125 PA’s dating back to August 10, 2017 (this is the longest active streak).
  • He a line drive rate of just 15.4% (49/319) in 2017 (Rank: 174th of 176 part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 21.7%).
  • He batted .463 (25-for-54) when ahead in the count in 2017 (Rank: 7th of 176 part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .350).

 

Kole Calhoun
  • He slugged just .228 (18 total bases in 79 ABs) on changeups in the 2017 season — 3rd worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .447.

  • He had a line drive rate of 28.3% (28/99) against right-handed relievers in the 2017 season — 8th highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 21.6%.
  • He batted just .229 (89-for-388) against starting pitchers in the 2017 season — 9th worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .280

 

Zack Cozart
  • He had an OPS of .802 (271 PAs) with two strikes in the 2017 season — 3rd best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .578.

  • He slugged .627 (178 total bases in 284 ABs) on fastballs in the 2017 season — 11th best among 145 qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .507.
  • He chased just 23.0% of non-fastballs out of the zone down (81/352) in the 2017 season — 7th lowest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 35.6%.

 

Ian Kinsler
  • He batted just .217 (20-for-92) when the pitcher is behind in the count in the 2017 season — worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .361.

  • He had a line drive rate of 33.0% (29/88) with RISP in the 2017 season — 3rd highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 22.1%.
  • Ian Kinsler had an OPS of just .573 (176 PAs) against right-handed relievers in the 2017 season — 5th worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .771.

 

Luis Valbuena
  • When ahead in the count, he had 10 HRs in 65 ABs (6.5 AB/HR) in the 2017 season — 6th best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 16.6.
  • He had 35 Extra-Base hits out of 65 total hits (53.8%) against RHP in the 2017 season — tied for 9th best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 36.6%.

 

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