Are the LA Angels legitimate contenders for AL West

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; Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons (2) celebrates with teammates Kole Calhoun (56), Cameron Maybin (9) and Cliff Pennington (7) after hitting a walk-off single in the ninth inning against the Houston Astros Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

With the Houston Astros starting out on fire and the LA Angels struggling to keep their heads above water (.500) it looked like the AL West would be a runaway for Houston. However the Astros have lost 4 of 5 and opened the door.

Now I know it is still very early in the season as the LA Angels have played only 53 games thus far, but their hopes of contending for an AL West title were looking very slim. The Angels have battled injuries and inconsistency, but have still managed to be close to .500 at 26-27 and are 10 games behind the Astros at this point.

With Houston at 35-16 the Angels sit in a second place tie with Texas 10 games behind. Winning the AL West is still far-fetched for the Angels, but if they can put together a hot streak they could make things interesting.

So what will it take for the Angels to climb into this race for the AL West. I believe there are five keys which I will list that are imperative the Angels do to challenge the Astros and Rangers.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout (27) and designated hitter Albert Pujols (5) are both keys to the Angels success. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Angels have had many injuries already in 2017, they must get healthy to contend

The 2016 season was disastrous for the Angels much of the reason for this was the plethora of injuries the team endured throughout the season. So far 2017 has not started out much better as the Angels have already had two starting pitchers and all three of their closers land on the disabled list.

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In addition two of their first basemen C.J. Cron and Luis Valbuena have also spent time on the disabled list and starting third baseman Yunel Escobar is currently on the DL. Mike Trout and Albert Pujols have also missed time recently due to hamstring injuries.

Despite all of the injuries the Angels have managed to stay afloat thus far as they sit at .500 winning 6 of their last 10 games. This is due in large part to the depth of the team that general manager Billy Eppler assembled during the off-season.

Bud Norris and Yusmeiro Petit have been major contributors as has Blake Parker, all of whom were non-roster invitees that Eppler picked up in the off-season. Another Eppler move that has paid dividends is the signing of swing man Jesse Chavez.

Chavez has been the Angels most consistent starter this season. Chavez has four quality starts in nine chances, but has gone at least five innings in all but one start. He is 4-5 with a 4.61 ERA. While these are not Earth shattering numbers they are still solid and have kept the Angels from having to go into their bullpen as early.

The Angels depth has also been key in the outfield with Trout missing five games as both Ben Revere and Cameron Maybin have been able to fill-in for the centerfielder while he was nursing a hamstring injury. The fact that the Angels had a plethora of corner infielders has also been important with the Escobar, Cron, and Valbuena injuries.

However for the Angels to make a run for the division they need their starting position players to all be healthy. They also need to get Richards and Skaggs back in the second half of the season in order to solidify the rotation for a stretch run and potential playoff appearance.

Until then the Angels depth will be key.

Los Angeles Angels designated hitter C.J. Cron (24) left and right fielder Kole Calhoun (56) right warm up before the game Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /

LA Angels have many players in their line-up who are underachieving so far.

Every year teams will have one or two players who will have a slow start over the first couple months of the season. The Angels had almost a whole team start slowly. I went to a game early this month and the Angels only had two players hitting over .260 which were Mike Trout (.348) and Martin Maldonado (.272).

As of yesterday it was still the same as only Andrelton Simmons (.283) has jumped above .260 in addition to Trout (.337) and Maldonado (.265). Overall the Angels as a team are batting .236 which is 27th in the majors and they have scored 213 runs which is 20th best overall, which means the Angels are in the bottom third of the league in both categories.

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The Angels are averaging 4 runs per game which is not terrible, but when you compare it to the top run scoring team, the Washington Nationals who are averaging 5.8 runs per game you can see the disparity.

Danny Espinosa is the biggest disappointment hitting just .141 with four homers and 15 RBI’s. Kole Calhoun is also mired in a season long slump hitting just .209 with five homers and 16 RBI’s. First base has also been an issue with C.J. Cron hitting .232 with one homer and eight RBI’s which led to his demotion to the minors. Jefry Marte is also struggling hitting .180 with three homers and 13 RBI’s and Luis Valbuena is hitting .167 with two homers and nine RBI’s.

Albert Pujols has been decently productive at the DH spot despite a low average of .249 hitting six homers and driving in 34 runs, but still well off the pace he set last year driving in 119 runs. Finally Cameron Maybin and Ben Revere have struggled mightily in left field hitting .247 and .222 respectively. Both have made recent surges to get back to a low but respectable average after both wallowing below .200 for most of the season.

If the Angels are to compete for a playoff spot they need better production from all the players mentioned above or at east three or four of them. Mike Trout and Andrelton Simmons cannot carry a team by themselves. I do however think this is a strong possibility rather than a long shot.

The next month will be key so let’s see what happens.

Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker in the first inning of the game against the Oakland Athletics. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

With injuries taking away 2 of their top starters the Angels staff has hung tough.

Just like in 2017 the Angels starting rotation has been decimated by injuries losing ace Garrett Richards and their only lefty starter in Tyler Skaggs in the first month of the season. However, unlike last year the players inserted into their place have pitched quite well.

So far this season the team ERA is 4.11 with a 26-27 record which is good enough for 13th in the majors. Not bad for a staff of pitchers that has two pitchers in their first year of starting (Alex Meyer and J.C. Ramirez) and two journeymen in Ricky Nolasco and Jesse Chavez who have pitched for a combined 10 teams in their careers. Finally you add in Matt Shoemaker who has been inconsistent at best in his four-year major league career with the exception of his rookie year in 2014 when he went 16-4.

Angels bullpen has been very effective despite injuries.

Going into the season the Angels thought their bullpen would be a strength which they were right about. However, the pitchers they thought would be a big part of it would not be named Parker, Norris, Hernandez , and Petit.

The Angels bullpen had three closers in their bullpen going into the season and not one of them is on the active roster at the moment as Huston Street, Andrew Bailey, and Cam Bedrosian all have landed on the disabled list in the first month of the season. So enter Blake Parker, David Hernandez, Yusmeiro Petit, and finally Bud Norris to fill in the gaps.

All the four have done has been impressive Parker has been solid as a set-up man and 6th and 7th inning man sporting a 2.82 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 22.1 innings. Petit has also pitched very well as a long man and sometime set-up man going 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA with a 1.04 WHIP.

Couple this with recently acquired David Hernandez who has been mostly used as a set-up man allowing only one run in his first 11 appearances. Overall Hernandez has pitched in 16 games for the Angels with a 4.26 ERA going 12.2 innings with 13 strikeouts . Other than his last outing where Hernandez walked three batters, gave up two hits and three runs which raised Hernandez’s ERA from 3.00 to 4.26 and his WHIP from 1.00 to 1.34 .

They have all been a key to bridge the gap to closer Bud Norris who has been outstanding so far this season. Norris has a 1-2 record with a 2.92 with a 1.01 WHIP and he has saved nine games in 11 chances. Norris has struck out 32 batters in 24.2 innings and has been a God-send with all the Angels closers on the DL.

If the Angels bullpen continues to pitch well when Street, Bailey, and Bedrosian return will take a lot of pressure off the Angels starters who can be confident if they can go 5 to 6 innings they will have a chance to get a win.

Los Angeles Angels catcher Carlos Perez (right) celebrates with designated hitter Albert Pujols (5) and center fielder Mike Trout (27) after hitting a walk-off bunt. Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

The Angels have already had five walk-off wins numerous comebacks can they keep it up.

The Angels have had numerous amazing comebacks already this season and also have won five games walk-off style. It seems they are never out of game as they have rallied numerous times in the late innings to put pressure on their opponents.

The Angels need to continue to do this as the season goes on if they have any hopes of winning division or making the playoffs. The Angels have rallied from six runs down in the 9th to win already this season and followed that up with a three-run ninth inning rally two days later capped off by a 10th inning suicide squeeze bunt to win the game.

Next: Unsung heroes have led way for Angels

The team continues to be resilient despite all the injuries and bad breaks and they need to continue to do so the rest of the season and we could again see an AL West banner being raised or at the very least an AL Wildcard berth. It could happen

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