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Thursday, July.25, 2013

Mike Trout is one of the best young outfielders in the game of baseball today. He is currently carrying the Angels on offense right now, but he needs some help as he can’t do it all by himself. He is once again having a stellar year on offense with a .324/.402/.965 triple-slash on the season to go along with 16 HRs and 61 RBIs. He is also a threat on the base paths as well with him swiping 22 bases and has only been caught four times. The right-hander is hitting .323 against righties, while handling left-handers with no issues, as he has a .326 average against them. He is even better with runners in scoring position with a .323 average and a OPS of .967.

By Chris Lacey (Lead Baseball Columnist/Minority Website Owner) Follow @aecanada12

The Los Angeles of Anaheim made a huge splash in the offseason for the second straight year by signing the most coveted player on the market.

This time they signed OF Josh Hamilton and brought him to the city of angels to pair with him first baseman Albert Pujols who they signed last season to a very lucrative deal.

Mike Trout 2012 Rookie Highlights – Parental Guidance Is Advised

Pujols is not having his typical season that we are accustomed to seeing from him. The average for him is getting better with it at .254. He does however have 17 HRs and 59 RBIs in 378 at-bats. He does well facing right-handers, as indicated by his .266 average, but he struggles mightily facing lefties with a .213 average. He is at his best with runner in scoring position with a .280 average and 41 RBIs in 93 at-bats.

The Angels already have a star in the making with Mike Trout, and adding these two players would only increase their chances of making it to the postseason in 2013.

That would make sense, but they are 4^th in the American League West division trailing the Oakland Athletics by 11 games. The ace of their rotation Jered Weaver has missed time this season, and this was a huge blow to their rotation.

This meant that the team had to lean heavily on starter C.J. Wilson. Wilson has pitched great for them and is the lone bright spot in the rotation. He has won 10 games this season with a 3.10 ERA in 128.2 innings pitched to go along 118 strikeouts.

The veteran left-hander is holding opposing batters to a .237 average on the season, while left-handed batters are just hitting .216.

He is doing a good but not great job with runners in scoring position, as indicated by teams hitting .265. The result of this is that the Angels have allowed the 4^th most runs in AL at 455 runs.

As bad as the pitching has been for them, the offense has not made it any easier for the club. The Angels are 8^th in scoring in the AL with 443 runs, but this has to be considered somewhat of a disappointment.

The one player that is doing his part to ensure that the season is not a total failure is Trout. The young and athletic outfielder has a .324/.402/.965 triple-slash in 389 at-bats this season.

He also has 126 hits including 16 HRs and 61 RBIs to go with him stealing 22 bases and only being caught four times. He can handle both left and right-handed pitching, with him hitting .323 against righties and .326 facing southpaws.

He is extremely hard to get out with runners in scoring position, as indicated by his .323/.419/.967 triple-slash in this situation. Trout is still good with runners on and two outs, with him having 20 RBIs and hitting .260.

Trout is having a great sophomore campaign after the legendary rookie season he had with the Angels last season. The only problem is that he simply can’t do it all by himself, and he needs some help.

The help should be coming from both Hamilton and Pujols, but both are struggling to produce this season for the Angels. The odd thing is that both of these players in the past have had great offensive seasons.

Pujols is just hitting .254 on the season with 17 HRs and 59 RBIs in 378 at-bats. That would seem to be good for most players, but he is not your average baseball player. He has a career batting average of .321.

For him to have a batting average this low, it is a cause of concern for Angels fans. There is still time for him to increase his average up to his usual standards, but time is slipping away for Anaheim to have a chance at making the playoffs this season.

The other person that needs pick up their offensive game is Hamilton; he only has a batting average of .223 in 350 at-bats for them this season. The power numbers are gone as well with him only hitting 14 HRs and having 41 RBIs.

He is not showing good discipline at the plate either with him striking out 98 times. Hamilton has never showed great patience as a hitter, but you could live with that as long the power was there.

He is a good hitter that can carry a team when he gets hot, but it just seems like the whole season has been a struggle for him.

The players that they have on their team, they should at least be in the top three of runs scored and fighting for a playoff spot this season. The Angels have spent plenty of money the last two off seasons and are still waiting to see if it was well spent or not.

Josh Hamilton was expected to provide some more power to the Angels line up this season, but the opposite has occurred. He has only a .223 batting average in 350 at-bats, and is striking out too much as well with 98 strike outs. Hamilton has always had issues with showing patience at the plate, but he usually made up for that with great power numbers. This season he is in a decline with only 14 HRs and 41 RBIs. The real concern is how he is hitting with runners in scoring position, with a .157 batting average and only 22 RBIs in 70 at-bats.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***

A big thank-you goes out to our ”Lead Baseball Columnist and Minority Website Owner” Chris Lacey. Chris has been a fan of watching baseball since the age of 13. Now he does like all sports – but his favorites after baseball are hockey and basketball. 

Chris is very good with computers and is a college graduate.  

Chris is very active on Twitter and especially during the baseball season chatting with other Diamondbacks fans. Be sure to follow him and talk about the great game of baseball. Chris is addicted to writing baseball. 

Check out his work for rantsports.com here, for baseballhotcorner.com here, for venom strikes here and if you can believe it – fanrag.com here

Follow @aecanada12

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