Mike Trout, Andrelton Simmons, Albert Pujols paired with the offseason acquisitions, namely Shohei Ohtani and Chris Young, will put the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim atop the American League in 2018. The lineup is stacked and the division is weak, so the odds fall ever in their favor.
Ohtani had a splendid start in his first Spring Training game, a 6-5 victory over the MIlwaukee Brewers. He struck out two and allowed only one run in 1.1 innings pitched. He most recently had a rocky start against the Tijuana Toros, but he picked himself up easily later on. Angels’ catcher Rene Rivera said, “Once the lights come on, they call 'play ball,' you're going to see a different pitcher. We'll see a lot more velocity, sharper pitches. He's going to be Ohtani. You have to give it time.” Rivera was right, for later in his performance, the Japanese star’s curveballs were dropping into the corners of the strike zone and his fastballs were hitting the upper 90s. Andrelton Simmons is returning from injury, so the LA lineup is all set to go with him, Young, Pujols, and, of course, Trout. All four players had favorable seasons last year and make great parts of the strong lineup. Simmons batted .278, with 14 home runs, 69 RBIs, and a .331 on-base percentage last year. Since he’s not there strictly for offense, those are great stats, especially with his speed because getting on base almost a third of the time means more stolen bases. His defense is also one of the best in the league, for it landed him with his third Gold Glove, eighth place in the MVP voting, the best defensive WAR at 4.2, and the eighth best WAR at 7.1. Pujols is a first ballot Hall of Famer and he hit 23 home runs last year, accompanied by 101 RBIs. Age doesn’t seem to have the effect on him that it has on most other players because he’s still able to clobber the ball out of the park and he will definitely add to his monstrous career 614 longballs. Trout is arguably the greatest baseball player of all-time and last year, which was not even his best season, in only 114 games, he hit 33 home runs, 72 RBIs, a .306 batting average, a .442 on-base percentage, a .629 slugging percentage, 1.071 OPS, the second best offensive WAR at 7.4, and the tenth best overall war at 6.7. He made his sixth all-star appearance and he would’ve started if not for an injury. He also came in fourth for the MVP award only following the World Series Champion, José Altuve, the Rookie of the Year with 53 home runs, Aaron Judge, and the Cleveland Indians’ star, José Ramirez (who all barely edged him out for the award). The Angels’ open their season at home against the Indians on April 2. Stay tuned for the second part of this series of articles about the prowess of underestimated California baseball teams in “California Countdown Part 2: Head Of Family And League.” The San Diego Padres, like the Angels, should definitely be on everyone’s watchlist. Jesse A. Cook “California Countdown Part 1: City Of Angels Soars” March 10, 2018
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