LA Angels: 3 stats you wouldn’t believe that defined letdown 2021 season

The LA Angels really disappointed us this season.

They disappointed us in many ways, but their overall performance just didn’t cut it this season. While injuries played a major role in all of that, it was still frustrating to sit back and watch Shohei Ohtani not get the support to make the playoffs.

There are three stats in particular that show how disappointing this past season was, and illustrates why the team fell short of expectation.

No. 3 statistic you wouldn’t believe that defined the LA Angels’ letdown 2021 season: 26 runners caught stealing

The LA Angels aren’t sending their runners at the right time.

They’re tied for eighth in the league with 26 runners caught stealing. What’s more alarming about this is that they’re not stealing a ton of bases to go along with that.

Of the nine other teams with just as many or more stolen bases than the Halos, six of them have at least 86 stolen bases. The Angels had just 79 steals.

It’s not that the Angels don’t have speed. Shohei Ohtani is the fastest baserunner in the AL, Brandon Marsh is a burner, Jared Walsh is one of the fastest first basemen in baseball, and David Fletcher can move himself. It’s that the Halos aren’t sending guys at the right times.

For instance, 10 of these squandered stolen base attempts were from Ohtani. That shouldn’t be happening.

A fast player like Ohtani has a target on his back as soon as he gets on base, but that’s not an excuse for getting thrown out ten times.

Joe Maddon is a three-time Manager of the Year, but needs to get better when it comes to sending runners at the right times.

No. 2 statistic you wouldn’t believe that defined the LA Angels’ letdown 2021 season: 94 wRC+

So the pitching for the LA Angels is horrendous. We’re all well aware.

But we did spend a lot of money on offense, correct? That’s not our biggest problem, correct? The answer to both of those questions is ‘yes,’ but the offense was still rather lackluster overall this year.

A 100 wRC+ is average, and the Angels recorded a 94, which was 17th in baseball. There were multiple teams in our division that had a wRC+ over 100, including MLB’s leader, the Houston Astros (116).

The Angels had plenty of injuries to their best offensive players this year, however some didn’t perform while they were out there. For instance, $35 million man Anthony Rendon posted just a 95 wRC+, and Justin Upton (who made $23 million last year), posted a 92 wRC+. Upton was clearly affected by injuries when he was on the field after he came back from the missed month, but he started the season slow too.

David Fletcher, who many fans like a lot due to his strong play in the middle of the season, finished with a horrible 70 wRC+. The players we have on offense didn’t perform anywhere close to where they were supposed to.