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Five Keys for the LA Angels for a Successful 2020 Season.

By David Rice

CLEVELAND, OH - AUGUST 03: Albert Pujols #5 helps carry Felix Pena #64 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim off the field after he was injured covering first base to retire Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians in the second inning at Progressive Field on August 3, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - AUGUST 03: Albert Pujols #5 helps carry Felix Pena #64 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim off the field after he was injured covering first base to retire Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians in the second inning at Progressive Field on August 3, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 06: Justin Upton #8 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim breaks his bat in the second inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on September 06, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 06: Justin Upton #8 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim breaks his bat in the second inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on September 06, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

#3 – A healthy Justin Upton as well as Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.

There were a lot of things that wrong with the 2019 Angels.  One of the biggest issues was the injuries and ineffectiveness of the starting pitchers.  However, one thing that many people do not remember was an injury to a player who was supposed to be a key part of the Angels offense. That player was Justin Upton.

Upton was injured in the second-to-last Spring Training game as he tore a ligament in his toe running into the wall at Dodger Stadium chasing after a fly ball.  This injury put Justin Upton out for the first three months of the season and he never seemed to be at full strength all season once he returned. Upton finished the season with 12 homers and 40 RBIs and a .215 batting average.  Compare this to his two previous seasons where Upton hit 35 and 30 homers and drove in 109 and then 85 runs in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Manager Brad Ausmus did his best to fill the void mostly with Brian Goodwin who did an adequate job in Upton’s absence.  In addition to Upton missing some time due to injury, the Angels were without Shohei Ohtani for the first six weeks of the season. So the Angels did not have their #3 and #4 hitter in first part of the season.  Then in September Mike Trout joined that list with a foot injury which caused him to miss the last 25 games of the season.  Ohtani and Upton also joined Trout on the shelf with various issues in the final month of the season.

If the Angels can keep Ohtani, Trout and Upton healthy, and Rendon comes in and does what he is supposed to the offense will be a lot better in 2020.

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