Building the dream LA Angels Opening Day starting lineup after MLB lockout

Dream LA Angels Opening Day starting lineup after MLB lockout

The bottom of a dream LA Angels lineup would look like this:

Batting seventh for the LA Angels: Justin Upton, LF

I know, many LA Angels fans want Justin Upton off of this team. I don't see that as a likely possibility, however, as he comes with little trade value due to his poor play after he was injured last season. He IS a sleeper candidate, however, due to how well he was playing before he got injured last year.

He hit .326/.420/.600 (1.020 OPS) in the month before he got hurt. He smoked six home runs and scored 25 runs in 25 games.

Batting eighth for the LA Angels: Max Stassi, C

LA Angels catcher Max Stassi has become one of the better catchers in the AL recently, and showed many flashes of brilliance last season. He's been limited to injuries these last two seasons, but has recorded a 112 OPS+ in that time. That's not all that easy to come across when it comes to catchers.

Batting second leadoff for the LA Angels: David Fletcher, 2B

Having David Fletcher hit second leadoff for the LA Angels isn't so bad. Fletcher, while posting an awful .262/.297/.324 (.622 OPS) line last year has been a guy who can get on in the past. In his first two full seasons in this league, 2019 and 2020, he hit .298 and got on 35.6% of the time.

Not to mention he is arguably the best defensive second baseman in baseball.

This lineup would be FILTHY. If the Halos can assemble this while bolstering the pitching staff after the lockout, expect big things from the team this upcoming season.