LA Angels Player Grades: Mike Trout Dominant in Series Win Over Rangers

The LA Angels had quite the home opener this weekend. After a brutal loss on Thursday, the team went out and won three straight. Now, it’s time for player grades.

In week’s past, the LA Angels cumulative GPA in these was probably around a 2.0, maybe even lower. This weekend, however, the team put together a really nice string of performances. The best part of this was that a lot of players were contributing. Obviously some players slumped, but it was an overall good team effort against the Rangers.

As always, an A grade means that player was absolutely amazing, and there isn’t a flaw in their performance. A B would mean the player was above-average and played very well during the series, but had one or two things keeping them from an A grade. C means the player was their average self in the series, while a D is below average, and an F means they were awful and better served to be on the bench.

So without further ado…

Catchers

Jonathon Lucroy: 15 AB, 2 H, 3 SO, 0 BB, 1 RBI, 1 R

After a hot start to the season, Jonathan Lucroy slowed down against his former team in the Texas Rangers. He did continue to have good at-bats and make some solid contact, but the ball just didn’t bounce his way this series.

On defense, he was solid as always. His game calling was solid, and he put his pitchers in good position to succeed. Unfortunately, they didn’t always hit their spots. For example, Matt Harvey was out of control in his start despite Lucroy giving him good options.

Grade: D

Kevan Smith: 3 AB, 1 H, 0 SO, 0 BB, 0 RBI, 0 R

Only a few at-bats for Kevan Smith this series, but he did well with what he had. If he can go 1-3 every time he gets a start to rest Lucroy’s legs, I’ll take that. This was also the second straight time he has been paired with Tyler Skaggs to play, which is something to keep an eye on. The duo has worked well together so far.