Five Players Who Will Be Keys To LA Angels Success in 2017?

Kole Calhoun –

Last season Kole Calhoun slumped mightily during the middle of the season going 32 games without a home run.  Calhoun righted his ship somewhat down the stretch, but the season as a whole was somewhat disappointing after his 2015 campaign.

In 2015 Calhoun a breakout year smacking a career-high 26 homers and driving in 83 runs which was also a career-best.  Calhoun also won his first Gold Glove for his defense in right field in 2015.  The only negative was a career-low .256 batting average.

With that kind of performance there were high expectations for Calhoun in 2016 and “The Red Baron” started out strong having a solid first three months of the season and he was looking like he could be a fringe contender to make the All-Star squad.

On June 25th Calhoun had 10 home runs and 40 RBI’s with a .292 batting average, but that is when Calhoun went into his longest homerless streak of his career.  From June 26th until August 9th which was a period of 35 games Calhoun went homerless.  His batting average dropped to .266 during that time and he drove in only 12 runs during that span.

In the last two months of the season Calhoun hit eight homers and drove in 25 runs and raised his batting average slightly raising it up to .271.  For the season Calhoun hit 18 homers while driving in 75 runs and hitting .271. He did not win the Gold Glove either, but his defense wasn’t bad.

The Angels need Calhoun to bounce back in 2017 and be more consistent throughout the season and set the table for Mike Trout if Calhoun is again placed in the number two spot in the line-up before Trout.

The type of numbers the Angels will hope for from Calhoun is .280 average with around 25 homers and 90 RBI’s and continued stellar defense in the outfield. Since Calhoun is a left-handed hitter with some power he is even more valuable. Let’s see if Calhoun is up for the challenge.