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LA Angels Roundtable: Six Under-The-Radar Key/Bounce Back Players for 2019

By Vincent Page

ANAHEIM, CA - AUGUST 12: Shohei Ohtani #17 hits a two out single scoring Kole Calhoun #56 and Justin Upton #8 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the ninth inning of the game against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium on August 12, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - AUGUST 12: Shohei Ohtani #17 hits a two out single scoring Kole Calhoun #56 and Justin Upton #8 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the ninth inning of the game against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium on August 12, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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ARLINGTON, TX – AUGUST 18: Justin Upton #8 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim reacts after striking out in the second inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington on August 18, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Rick Yeatts/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX – AUGUST 18: Justin Upton #8 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim reacts after striking out in the second inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington on August 18, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Rick Yeatts/Getty Images) /

Justin Upton

By David Rice (@HaloHangout)

My candidate for bounce back player in 2019 is Justin Upton.  Many of you may say Upton had 30 homers and drove in 55 runs, but it was still a sub-par year for the 31-year old Upton.  In 2017 Upton was in the MVP talk hitting .273 with 35 homers and drove in 109 runs.

What made me say Upton needs to bounce back is the fact that he had three prolonged slumps.  He had multiple long periods where he just couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn.  Upton hit only .232 in the first two months of the season and then again hit only .197 in September.  This kind of inconsistency severely hampered the Angels offense.

The Angels and Upton will definitely benefit greatly this season from having Shohei Ohtani in the line-up full-time after he recovers enough from Tommy John surgery.  In addition the Angels have added another left-handed in Justin Bour who has some pop in his bat that could also take some pressure off of Upton.

Defensively Upton also needs to improve a lot and it has been said he has been working hard this off-season and I believe he will bounce back and have a stellar season.

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