Mike Trout can't save Angels from their latest embarrassing problem

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout has at least looked a little more like the player fans remember from his heyday with the team, but it hasn't changed the fact that the team itself is struggling. Not only is the win-loss record bad, but the team’s track record with the new ABS challenge system has been among the worst in the league.

As a team, the Angels rank 29th out of 30 teams when it comes to ABS challenges. The hapless Colorado Rockies are the only team that's been worse this season. The Halos have a 39% success rate, and while several other teams have a lower rate of success, the Angels are second-worst in MLB at overturns versus what is expected according to Baseball Savant.

Trout has been above average when it comes to using the new technology. To date, he's challenged seven strikes and has had five of them overturned. He had a recent snafu over a challenge, though the mistake was more the fault of the umpire than it was the Angels' superstar.

The Angels' backstops have actually been pretty good when it comes to challenges. The team's catchers have done a good job of challenging balls that were actually strikes and they’ve had a 59% success rate. That's good enough for the 14th best mark in MLB, so at least the Angels aren't an embarrassment on both sides of the ball.

Angels' ABS struggles speak to larger issues about the franchise

The Angels struggles adjusting to the new ABS technology speaks to bigger issues about the franchise as a whole, and it further illustrates why the team hasn't been competitive for nearly a decade.

The failures to successfully the ABS challenge system to their advantage is as a microcosm of the team’s larger struggles, and serve as a metaphor for the franchise’s inability to adapt to an ever changing game. Fittingly, Trout is the only one who seems to have figured it out, which is another metaphor for the franchise over the last 15 years.

It all adds up to a discontent fanbase demanding changes and begging owner Arte Moreno to sell the team. Whether meaningful change comes as a result of all this, it’s clear the Angels have improvements to make.

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