Los Angeles Angels mid season review

The Los Angeles Angels have a 51-46 record, and they sit five full game behind the Texas Rangers for the lead in the American League West. We can’t say they are a bad team just that they got off to a pretty cold start. In April they went .500, in May they were one game worse than .500, then they got hot as they went 18-9 in June, but have slipped a bit in July. They had a 11-7 record in interleague play and were not for the red hot Rangers they would be looking all right.

The Angels offense is doing OK. They have scored 441 runs, and as a team they are batting .257. That number is a little low, and ranks them 10 amongst the 14 AL clubs. They have collected 832 hits (9th amongst AL teams) which can be broken down like this; 170 doubles, 7 triples, and 96 home runs. They have struck out 645 times, and drawn just 287 walks.

The main issue with this club seems to be the pitching staff. They have given up 451 runs and the staff ERA is 4.40. For the starting rotation it seems the main issue comes with the four and five starters who are a combined 12-18 and both have a pretty high ERA. This staff has given up 863 hits; 94 of which were home runs. They have struck out 678 batters, and issued 332 walks. Their closer, Brian Fuentes, has converted 18 saves and as an overall record of 3-1 with a 3.81 ERA.

This is a team that was rocked by free agency and most of the questions heading into 2010 were about who would replace Chone Figgins, John Lackey, and Vladimir Guerrero. I don’t think they have an answer yet for the Lackey spot, or for all the offensive they lost. Not one of the regular nine starters on this club is batting better than .300.

Related Links:

•Los Angeles Angels news and notes
•The Business of Major League Baseball
•MTR Baseball.com