What Has Gotten Into the LA Angels As of Late?

Another successful story that the Angels have had recently is the performance of the bottom of their lineup.

Before the All-Star Break, the Angels’ bottom half of the lineup was ultimately a train wreck. The Angels have had consistent movement and shuffling of players, especially in left field and the catcher position. Where we’ve seen Bandy, Perez, and Soto all command the catcher position while Nava, Gentry, Ortega, Cunningham, Marte, Choi, and Robinson have seen stints in left field.

However, since then, the Angels have found a few players that have the possibility of being mainstays in the Angels’ organization.

One player that has been hot as of late is catcher Jett Bandy. He’s been lighting it up so much that he has actually taken the catcher position away from Soto and Perez as the Angels’ starter. In his last 30 games, Bandy has a batting avg of .289 and an OBP of .355. His slugging is an impressive .515 as well so we could see why the Angels have favored his play in the last month. Coupled with the fact that Soto went down with a knee injury in mid-July.

Another bottom of the lineup player that has been heating up in the last month is 1st baseman Jefry Marte. Since CJ Cron went down with an injury, Marte has filled in quite nicely for him. In Marte’s last 15 games, his batting avg is at an impressive .341 while his slugging is at .636. This has allowed Marte to gain more playing time lately and he is only 25. So the future looks bright for the young Dominican Republican. Ji-Man Choi has also played well in Cron’s absence mostly on the defensive side, but he has hit three home runs in his last 10 games despite only hitting .163 during that span.

Lastly, as most of us know, Andrelton Simmons is definitely known for his defense as he has been a Gold Glove winner in the past. However, his bat has been turning some heads as well. In his last 30 games, his batting average is at .360 while his OBP is over .400 as well. During the off-season, many fans did not like the trade that GM Billy Eppler performed featuring Simmons. However, that trade is looking like it’s starting to pay off for the Halos.

Next: Albert Pujols beginning to pick up steam