Jerry Dipoto got to leave Anaheim on Sunday feeling pretty great about his inaugural return to Southern California. The Angels would have been swept over the weekend for the second time in three series if not for the elite baseball stylings of Mike Trout. Even with Trout doing Trout things the Halos still hit just .200/.248/.411 in the series, finally saddling the offense with the inevitable AL-worst marks in batting average (.217), on-base percentage (.287), and slugging percentage (.322).
It’s difficult to overstate how incredibly hard it is for a team with the best offensive player in the American League to be last in all the major offensive categories. Honestly, it should be impossible. Yet here we are. Six of the team’s nine regulars currently have sub-.530 OPSes, and three of those have sub-.450 OPSes.
Without Trout, the Angels as a team would be batting .207/.272/.301. That’s a .573 OPS, or roughly what Jeff Mathis has hit for his career. This won’t carry on forever, of course, but Mike Scioscia deciding to bat Johnny Giavotella and his .292 OPS (!!) in the No. 2 spot, as he did Sunday, certainly doesn’t help matters.
Boxscore Breakdowns
Game 1: Mariners 5, Angels 2 (F/10)
Game 2: Angels 4, Mariners 2
Game 3: Mariners 9, Angels 4
Series Takeaways
Albert Pujols’ BABIP Seemingly Knows No Floor
Albert Pujols had the worst BABIP in baseball last season among qualified hitters, checking in at a lowly .217. No one else was within even 18 points. This year, somehow, it’s gotten worse. Through 19 games, Albert’s 2016 BABIP sits at an absurd .140.
Over the last 70 years, only two non-pitchers have ever turned in a sub-.200 BABIP while qualifying for the batting title: Curt Blefary (.198) in 1968 and Aaron Hill (.196) in 2011. If Pujols doesn’t want to be the third member of that unfortunate group, he’s going to have to find a way to reach base on balls in play other than line drives. Thus far, his batting average on grounders (.071) and fly balls (.095) are well below the league norms (.237 and .170, respectively). Some of this is due to the effectiveness of defensive shifts against Albert, but not all; he was shifted on just as much last season and still hit .192 on grounders.
Cory Rasmus Appears To Have A Hard Limit
Rasmus has been mostly solid in long relief for the Angels so far this season, but has run into trouble when eclipsing the 40-pitch mark. This first happened in the opening week of the season, when Rasmus pitched 2⅔ of solid relief only to pass 40 pitches, walk two straight batters, and get the hook. It then happened again Sunday, when Rasmus threw 3⅔ of fantastic relief only to pass the 40 pitch mark, walk a batter, then surrender a two-run homer.
Long-relief guys are great to have around for saving other arms, but even they have their limits. Right now, about 40 pitches seems to be Rasmus’.
Matt Shoemaker Is Running Out Of Chances
Shoemaker got no help from his defense on Sunday, but was still objectively terrible for the second time in four starts. He is presently the only Angels starter with a below-average ERA (6.87), and his FIP (6.64) leaves little hope that improvement is coming.
He was able to get away with the long-ball issues somewhat last season by continuing to limit walks, but this year that just isn’t happening. His 4.9 BB/9 is the worst on the team and more than double his career mark. If he can’t figure out how to stay around the strike zone soon, he’s going to lose his rotation spot to Tyler Skaggs. Whether he’d then move to the bullpen or Triple-A probably depending on how poorly the next few weeks go.
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