DiPoto has constructed a team that has great power when healthy, and have the best player in baseball in Mike Trout, but this club has a tough time not striking out, and worse is that they also don’t draw Walks. Their last few year offensive acquisitions in Ibanez, Stewart, Freese, Cowgill and Iannetta have fanned 123 times in just 371 total AB in 2014, while only walking 41 total combined times in the same time frame.  They have only attributed 11 HRs and 47 RBI for their efforts as well.  The Slash Line is .202/.292/.340 for those guys. Can the core guys of Trout, Pujols, Hamilton (when back), Kendrick and Aybar make up for the anemic production they are receiving?

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Last night the Rangers finally did what no one else has done in 2014 thus far, Shutout the Rockies 5 – 0.

While Nolan Arenado was able to extend his hitting streak to 28, the Rox failed to plate a runner.

This leaves the Los Angeles Angels as the only team left in the MLB to not have suffered zero runs in a game.

I am not giving the title to LA yet, as they have played 4 less game than the Rockies.  Technically calendar wise, the Halo’s pulled of the feat, but lets see if they can make it through the weekend in Canada without being Shutout.

I think Los Angeles has a great chance in the next 4 games to score at Skydome, so if I could place a wager on the thing I would.

There is no problem having a Strikeout Rate in today’s MLB game, if you can back it up with power, Walks and production. In the interest of Run efficiency, the Angels are generating most of their offense from the top 4 guys in their lineup. With Hamilton out currently, it only puts more emphasis on the team not operating to the numbers they need to compete for a playoff position.

The Angels are still hovering around .500 at 16 – 17, and have fallen into 4th place in the AL West, behind Division Leading Oakland, then surging Seattle and Texas.

Mike Scioscia and crew also travel to Philadelphia for a series, before returning home to host the Rays.  This will be yet another tough 10 game stretch for them to fashion a winning record on the other side of this thing.

The schedule becomes a lot easier with a homestand versus the lowly Astros, and followed by the offensively challenged Royals.

Still, if you are the management, you have to be at least satisfied with the offense thus far.  For the most part, it has been the Pitching Staff that has cost them several runs.

That, and a injury to Josh Hamilton.

I am happy to see that the skipper has effectively benched Raul Ibanez, and the club has cut down their Strikeouts since David Freese has landed on the DL.

Check this out 8 guys would be on pace for over 100 SO if they had a seasons worth of AB at 550.

Who cares about Mike Trout whiffs, as he is all-world.

The problem was Ibanez and Freese struggling so mightily with fanning.

The Strikeouts still have to be a concern.  Overall the club is pretty good on offensive numbers, but that failure to have contact at times can be crucial in close games.

Angels SO 2013 Thus Far  (Based on 550 AB)

Mike Trout 40 – 129 AB (171)

Raul Ibanez 31 – 96 AB (177)

Ian Stewart 28 – 61 AB (252)

David Freese 28 – 84 AB (165)

Howie Kendrick 25 -133 AB (103)

Chris Iannetta 17 – 70 AB (134)

Collin Cowgill 19 – 60 AB (174)

Kole Calhoun 12 – 60 AB (111)

Luckily Albert Pujols has cut down his SO rate in 2014, and Erick Aybar is a quality contact hitter, although his .288 OBP (.316 OBP for his career)  is not fantastic either.

The Angels are 9th in BA for the AL (.253), and 10th in OBP (.321), but they make up for it with Runs Scored (3rd).  This has a lot to do with them being 2nd in HRs at 40, trailing the Blue Jays by 9 in that category.

Los Angeles is scoring above 5 runs per game, but they have only scored 17 runs in their last 6 contests.

Their Strikeouts do place them only in 6th for the AL, however among contending teams, only Boston is ahead of them.  The A’s and Yankees are also nearby.

Forget about the A’s and Red Sox though as they are the league leaders in OBP, so they can make up for the whiffs.

When Josh Hamilton returns to the fold, if they are going to get a facsimile of what his 1st games in 2014 indicated, this team will be fine.

If the former AL MVP can cut down his Strikeout Rate enough, this club will prosper.

Again, when I called out the GM Jerry DiPoto for this lineup, it was more based on the Peter Bourjos for David Freese deal, and then signing Raul Ibanez.

I hate slagging on Ibanez too, because for the most part, he has been dynamite for the last decade, he is just miscasted. The guy should be a PH in the NL.  He has HR power and an affinity for hitting in clutch moments off the bench.

I had no problem with the team trading Mark Trumbo with players like C.J. Cron and Kole Calhoun in the system.

However by adding Ibanez, it added to a plethora of players who Strikeout a pile, and don’t have the Walk rate numbers to justify it.  Ian Stewart and Chris Iannetta have horrible Strikeout rates as well.

I still think the club should try to sign Kendrys Morales if he is available after the June Draft.  He would be a perfect DH for this club.

Yes, he too can Strikeout 100 times or more a season, yet he can also hit you .280/.330/.480 -with 20 HRs and 80 RBI.  The kind of production the team could have.

I would not sign Morales for more than through the 2015 season, and maybe the club thinks the combination of Calhoun and Cron could fit the bill at a cheaper rate.

A team that is looking to challenge in 2014 can’t think like that.  The Angels can’t miss the 2014 playoffs and think that serious ramifications won’t occur right after.

Arte Moreno has plunked down a fortune on  this team in the last several years without the results to show for it.

I would write about their Pitching Staff woes, but I won’t.  Lets just say that at least the club has Tyler Skaggs going forward.

The Angels might be scoring a lot of runs this year in the MLB, but a lot of those have come in blowouts and off of HRs. The team has SO 267 – while only walking 106 times themselves – for a difference of -161.  That is a lofty difference for what is supposed to be a contentender.  . Several players are similar in that they fan a ton, and do not walk. The brass has at least pulled the DH job for Ibanez, and has called up C.J. Cron. When Hamilton comes back from injury, they will need him to put up MVP caliber numbers like his compadres Pujols and Trout, if this club wants to compete.

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

A Big thanks goes out to our chief writer Hunter Stokes for preparing today’s feature post.

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