LA Angels: A healthy Anthony Rendon creates ‘Big 4’ in Halos lineup

If the Angels (13-12) are going to make a run to the postseason and beyond, they’ll need to become more balanced. Starting pitching needs to get better in Anaheim, there’s nothing new on that front, but one certainty is the strength of this team being offense. The Halos were already swinging the bats well for a majority of this season without a healthy Anthony Rendon. Now he’s back, and this lineup just got better than it already was.

Through 25 games, the Angels have scored the tenth-most runs in the majors (125) and have the fourth-most home runs (37). This offense also has MLB’s highest team batting average (.265) and slugging percentage (.439), while posting the second-highest OPS (.759).

The Angels offense just got a lot better with the return of Anthony Rendon.

Most of the damage has come from the No.2-5 spots in the lineup with the rest of the offense chipping in. That’s a great recipe for success, because not everyone is going to put up All-Star numbers. If the role players can produce when they need to while the usual suspects do the heavy lifting, it’s going to make it tough on opposing pitchers to limit this team on a game-to-game basis.

Guys like David Fletcher, Justin Upton, Albert Pujols, Max Stassi, and whoever’s platooned in right field don’t have to be superstars because the players in the middle of the Angels lineup are already playing at that level.