LA Angels Opening Day Roster taking shape

ANAHEIM, CA – SEPTEMBER 16: Kole Calhoun #56 of the Los Angeles Angels hits a homerun in the 7th inning against the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images)

Outfielders –

The Angels outfield is what will hopefully be the strength of the team both offensively and defensively. This is also where a good chunk of the Angels salary in 2019 with nearly 50 million dollars invested in Mike Trout, Justin Upton, and Kole Calhoun. Calhoun and Upton had subpar seasons in 2018, while Trout had another MVP type season.

The Angels are hoping Upton and Calhoun will have bounce back seasons which will go a long way to helping improve the Angels offense which ranked in the lower half of the Majors in almost every category other than home runs. Calhoun slumped through the all-star break hitting under .150 the first two months of the season. He rallied to hit .208 and crack 19 homers and drive in 57 runs, still far below what the Angels would need from him. Upton’s numbers don’t look terrible on paper, but it was a year marked with inconsistency. Upton hit .257 with 30 homers and 85 runs batted in.

These numbers for Calhoun and Upton will not cut it in 2019. Calhoun looked good in the Spring, but now that it matters he will need to continue to hit well. Upton has been injured most of the Spring with tendinitis in his knee and he will begin the year on the injured list, but hopefully he will be back soon.

The fourth Angel outfielder will be an old favorite, Peter bourjos. Bourjos played four seasons with the Angels before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for David Freese in the winter of 2013. Bourjos was a non-roster invitee to Angels Camp and he had an amazing Spring to lock down the utility outfielder position and will now start the season in left field for Upton.

However, the Angels made another move to provide some outfield depth signing outfielder Brian Goodwin off the waiver wire from Kansas City. He has played three seasons in the majors playing for the Washington Nationals and the Royals. Goodwin is hitting .250 with 19 homers and 60 RBIs in that time. Goodwin is a left-handed hitter and that makes him a possible platoon candidate with Bourjos for now and could be valuable off the bench because he is a lefty.

Goodwin has not been officially placed on the roster as of yet but is expected to be by game-time tomorrow afternoon against the A’s in the season opener.

Schedule