Justin Bour will have an increased role for the LA Angels early in the season.

When the LA Angels originally signed Justin Bour this off-season it was seen as a move that would increase thedepth of the team especially at first base. It was also a move that would give the Angels a left-handed power bat.

With Shohei Ohtani looking like he will not be on the LA Angels opening day roster due to his off-season Tommy John Surgery, Justin Bour will see his role increase at least until Ohtani is ready to assume his designated hitter duties.  Until Ohtani is ready to go Albert Pujols and Justin Bour will be the Angels designated hitter and first baseman.

For Bour it will be a chance for him to prove himself right away at the start of the season in 2019.  Bour had his worst season as a pro in 2018 hitting only .227 with 20 homers and 59 RBIs for the Marlins and Phillies.  Bour is still relatively young too at age 30 so he still should have some good years ahead of him and one of his best attributes is a career OBP of .344.

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Even after Ohtani returns, hopefully by the middle of May, Bour will still play a key role for the Angels as he can play first base, be a designated hitter, or even play the outfield, mostly right field.  Bour can also be a late-inning defensive replacement for Pujols that won’t totally put a void in the line-up if the game ends up going to extra innings.

Bour is just one of the pieces that Angels general manager Billy Eppler added to help give new manager Brad Ausmus some more weapons at his disposal including Jonathan Lucroy at catcher and also Peter Boujos to be a potential fourth outfielder.

In addition the Angels also added starting pitchers Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill to solidify the rotation and Luis Garcia was added to the bullpen mix to give the Angels another power arm.

We will see how things go when the season gets going hopefully all the additions as well as any subsequent moves to bolster the bullpen will pay off in 2019.