LA Angels Offense Will Receive Boost with Jeremy Reed

News broke Friday morning that the LA Angels hired minor league hitting coordinator Jeremy Reed to be the big league team’s new hitting coach. It is the second hire since Brad Ausmus took over as manager, and this one could reap huge benefits.

Jeremy Reed has been the LA Angels hitting coordinator in the minor leagues since 2016, and has spent the last two seasons with the organization. He has received extremely high praise from a number of players, and might be what the team needs to take the next step on offense in 2019.

Reed played eight seasons in the majors, and was never a great player during his time in the bigs. However, he quickly turned to coaching as he was hired by the Milwaukee Brewers shortly after retiring.

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Reed joins Doug White as the two first hires under Brad Ausmus, and he could be the one with the biggest impact. Kole Calhoun‘s rollercoaster of a season was well-documented, and Calhoun himself gave a lot of credit to Reed following his spectacular second half after spending time on the disabled list. Reed was one of the main factors in Calhoun’s change in stance, which helped open up Calhoun’s swing and brought back his natural power.

Francscio Arcia, who set an MLB record with 10 RBI’s in his first two starts, also credited Reed for his breakout season in the minors, which led to his long-awaited (12 year) MLB debut. In an article for the Orange County Register, Jeff Fletcher details that “Arcia credited Jeremy Reed, the Angels’ minor league hitting coordinator, for helping redesign his swing.”

Arcia himself said “I have to thank [Reed] everyday”.

If the big league players believe in Reed, why shouldn’t Angels’ fans? The only downside of Reed is that he wasn’t able to work with the major league players unless they were rehabbing such as Calhoun. Imagine what he can do for the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and Justin Upton. The top of the Angels’ lineup could take off, as could everyone else.

Jeremy Reed will be a major weapon for Brad Ausmus and the Angels. New stances, new swings, and minor changes will be plentiful, and the hits will follow.