Will Kole Calhoun bounce back for LA Angels in 2017?

In 2015 LA Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun had a break out year setting career highs in home runs and RBI’s while also taking home his first Gold Glove Award for his play in right field. However, Calhoun struggled throughout most of 2016.

So the question many LA Angels fans have “Will the real Kole Calhoun please stand up.”  Calhoun’s numbers at first glance look very similar to 2015.  However, if you look deeper into the numbers you will see the whole picture. .  Calhoun had a stretch of 32 games where he hit no home runs from June 26th to August 9th.  During that stretch Calhoun saw his batting average plummet from .292  to .269.

When Calhoun’s slump started there was an outside chance that he could ne selected as a reserve for the AL All-Star Team which quickly faded.  Calhoun righted his ship in the last two months of the season hitting 10 homers and driving in 30 runs to end the year with a .271 batting average with 18 homers and 75 runs batted in.

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So again I ask the question, Will the Real Kole Calhoun please stand-up.  The Angels are hoping for more consistency offensively from Calhoun in 2017 and continued strong defense.  Although Calhoun did not repeat as a Gold Glove winner he still had a solid year defensively,

In 2015 Calhoun had 26 homers and 83 RBI’s might be a little stretch for Calhoun, but I don’t really think so.  Calhoun is capable of being a 20-25 per year home run hitter. Ibelieve he can also drive in close to 100 runs as well.

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In 2017 the question will be where will Angels manager Mike Scioscia bat Calhoun in the order.  Last season he was placed in the number two spot.  However, with the addition of lead-off type guy in both Cameron Maybin and Ben Revere, the Angels have some options in their line-up.  Calhoun will most likely hit in the number two spot or the 5th spot in the line-up.  You could also see him in the 6th spot or possibly the third spot on a few occasions.

If Calhoun can bounce back in 2017 it will definitely help the Angels offense to be more formidable and should give Angels manager Mike Scioscia more flexibility in the top half of the line-up.

One thing that should help Calhoun as well is that he just signed a three-year contract extension with a club option for 2020.  This should give Calhoun some security that he is in the Angels plans for the future.

With all this said here is my projections for Kole Calhoun for the 2017 season.

Kole Calhoun:  .281 avg.  28 homers and 88 RBI’s with a .335 OBP.  My prediction is that Calhoun will also win a Gold Glove again as well. 

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This may be some lofty expectations, but I believe in the “Red Baron”.  I think he is on the verge of really breaking out and becoming a perennial All-Star.  Time will tell if this prediction will come to fruition.  The LA Angels and their fans certainly hope so.