LA Angels: These 3 Halos have the hardest-hit home runs since 2015 (Video)

While things haven’t been perfect this season for the Angels (9-8), one thing that has gone very well is their ability to hit for power.

The Halos currently have MLB’s second-most home runs (26), third-highest slugging percentage (.440), and fourth-highest OPS (.766). The homers aren’t any cheapies either. More often than not, when the Angels get a hold of one almost everyone in the ballpark knows it’s a no doubter.

The Angels have one of MLB’s best power-hitting lineups and these home runs prove it.

Since 2015, three of the Angels’ hardest hit home runs in the Statcast era have come in the first month of the 2021 season.

No.3 Shohei Ohtani-115.2 MPH (451 feet) vs. White Sox

We start with the third on the list which was also has some history around it. On April 4, two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani became the first player in over 45 seasons to pitch in a game while hitting for himself as the eligible designated hitter. It didn’t take long for Ohtani to make headlines.

In the top of the first inning against the White Sox, Ohtani threw the league’s fastest pitch (101 MPH), while hitting the hardest hit ball (115.2 MPH) in the bottom half of that same inning.

Through 67 plate appearances, Ohtani is slashing a healthy .286/.328/.635 while excelling in advanced metrics as well. Ohtani has MLB’s highest Batted Balls Event (BBE) percentage (25.6%). This is a stat that represents any batted ball that produces a result which includes outs, hits, and errors.

He’s tied for the team lead with 13 RBI and is second on the Angels with five home runs on the season. Ohtani’s most recent long ball was a career milestone, his 100th as a professional player between Japan and the United States.

The team’s current home run leader is next on the list.

No. 2 Mike Trout-115.5 MPH (446 ft) vs. Rangers

As he continues to get better with age, center fielder Mike Trout surpassed himself on Tuesday with the hardest hit home run of his career, a 446-foot shot against the Rangers.

https://twitter.com/HaloHangout/status/1384711715825373193?s=20

Trout is off to one of his best starts in his big-league career, slashing .393/.521/.804 with six home runs and 12 RBI in 71 plate appearances. His batting average (.393) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.325) are each the highest in the American League and just behind Ronald Acuna Jr for the MLB lead.

Angels: Usually when Mike Trout gets ahold of one, you know it’s gone.

Now in his 11th season with the Angels, Trout’s current statistics are significantly higher than his career averages (.305/.419/.585). It’s going to be hard to sustain for an entire 162-game season, but regardless, Trout is slowing no signs of slowing down any time soon.

If his traditional numbers aren’t enough to prove he’s still baseball’s best player, the advanced metrics provide more empirical evidence. Trout has MLB’s highest WAR (1.6), highest wRC+ (259), second-highest hard-hit percentage (63.9%), and fourth-highest average exit velocity (95.3 MPH).

I don’t think there’s any questions both Trout and Ohtani will carry the load offensively this season. It’s going to come down to the rest of the lineup doing their part to contribute when it counts.

One of those players will be an X-factor, and he’s got the Angels’ hardest hit home run since 2015.