3 Angels players who are now on thin ice with Matthew Lugo continuing to rake

Kyren Paris

As referenced above, Kyren Paris has had a rough go of late at the plate. Underlying holes in his swing and issues with plate discipline were present in his swing from the start, and those issues have only been exacerbated during his prolonged slump.

Paris ranks at the very bottom in the league in strikeout rate, posting a ghastly 41.3% mark. The Ks are driven by his propensity to swing and miss, as his eye-popping 45.2% whiff rate that ranks in the first percentile shows. Driving much of this is his tendency to chase pitches outside of the zone, which happens way too often, at 30.2% of the time.

These issues were prevalent in Paris's game prior to working with Aaron Judge's personal hitting coach Richard Schenck in the offseason. While the resulting stance change has helped him drive balls he connects with with more power, he still isn't recognizing pitches and making enough contact.

The Angels could decide that he needs a reset and send him down to Triple-A Salt Lake to work through these issues. Lugo wouldn't be the cleanest Paris replacement as the latter has been working in near equal measures in both the infield and the outfield, but the Angels do have other infield options to take on those at bats, even if said options leave something to be desired.