Offensive Help On The Way?
By Matt Blake
On the heels of the Mariners’ firing of GM Bill Bavasi, the Angels have hinted that they are considering making moves of their own. Hold on, Hatcher haters; we’re not there yet. Manager Mike Scioscia has said that the recent offensive struggles have not been ignored by the management staff, and that Angel reserves may be getting more playing time in the coming weeks.
Hmm… that’s interesting.
The Angels are in the midst of a horrible offensive slump that has seen their players hit a combined .224 in May and June, including a league worst 31 home runs during that span. Though the Halos are still winning games, there are major concerns about the offense and it’s lack of performance, most notably a team OBP of just .318. With all of these things in mind, here are my suggestions for the Angels:
1. Sit Garret Anderson and Gary Matthews Jr., and start Reggie Willits and Kendry Morales. Anderson and Matthews have on-base percentages of .289 and .317, respectively. That is absolutely horrible. There is no reason why those two should still be playing while Reggie Willits, who owns a career OBP of .385, is rotting away on the bench. Kendry Morales has been tearing up AAA this year, after a slow start. His line has improved to .324/.365/.505 with the Salt Lake City Bees. While he may not be the greatest outfielder, Morales can hold down both corner outfield positions, as well as the DH role. I say we start Willits in left field and let Morales rotate with Vlad between right field and DH. Willits brings more speed and a lot more on-base percentage to the team, while Morales brings power, slugging percentage and the ability to move runners over, something that Anderson and Matthews have been unable to do.
2. Start Mike Napoli every day. I know Mike Scioscia loves his defensive catchers, but defense will never help us score runs. Mike Napoli played amazingly well the first two months of the season when he was getting a majority of the starts. I am very aware that he has fallen into a slump (going 2 for his last 30), but Napoli knows how to hit and take walks, something that Jeff Mathis isn’t good at. I am a firm believer in the idea that you need to get consistent at-bats to break out of slumps, and that definately applies to this situation. Napoli has shown that he can be a decent hitting catcher, while Mathis has been flailing at the plate. Though he’ll never hit for a high average, there’s no reason to think that Napoli, if given everyday at-bats, can’t end the year with a line of .255/.360/.470 with 25-30 home runs. We need to give Napoli a majority of the starts, let him break out of his slump and ride his bat into the postseason.
3. Change the lineup. This may actually be the first step in the process, but I think the other two steps I’ve listed are more important. Our recent lineups have looked something like this:
Figgins/Izturis/Anderson/Guerrero/Hunter/Kotchman/Kendrick/Matthews/Mathis.
This, in my opinion, is unacceptable. Casey Kotchman, though he’s not a fast runner, needs to be batting third. He’s been our one consistent hitter throughout the season, and he needs to be receiving more at-bats per game. My proposed lineup, with the aforementioned changes in place, would look like this:
Figgins/Willits/Kotchman/Guerrero/Hunter/Morales/Kendrick/Napoli/Izturis
This lineup is one that can win a World Series. Figgins and Willits are both very good at getting on base and can make things happen on the basepaths. Kotchman, Guerrero, Hunter and Morales have power and the ability to drive in a ton of runs. Kendrick and Napoli are both good at moving runners over a driving them in, and Izturis would essentially be another leadoff hitter in the number 9 hole.
I don’t know what Mike Scioscia has in mind or what he’s going to do, but I do know that changes in the offense are desperately needed. I don’t think now is the time to worry about player egos or how much money they’re making. Scioscia needs to start the players that are going to get the job done. Period. If that means swallowing some pride and benching veterans, then so be it.
The Angels are still winning and are still playing pretty well as a team, but that may not last much longer if this offensive slump continues. If they want to get to the playoffs and win, then maybe some of these changes should take place.