DETROIT — Mike Trout took advantage of a mistake, a cutter that floated over the middle of the plate, to crush a two-run homer on Saturday night.
The next day, he fought off a fastball on his hands, breaking his bat and flaring a little bloop into right field, driving in a run.
The Angels have done plenty of the former. They’d like to get better at doing the latter.
“Relying on the home run is kind of scary,” Manager Kurt Suzuki said. “It’s not easy to hit home runs in the big leagues. If you have another dynamic way to score runs, it gives you more opportunities. So that’s something we’ve been talking about, and I know the guys have been working on it and thinking about it.”
A one-dimensional offense is near the top of the list of reasons the Angels have endured such a miserable first two months of the season.
The Angels (20-34) have the worst record in the majors, and it’s no coincidence that comes with an MLB-worst .215 average with runners in scoring position. That’s 16 points worse than the next closest team. It’s also 10 points worse than their overall average, which ranks 28th.
No, batting average is not as good of a metric for overall offensive production as OPS. However, in a discussion of situations in which even a single gets a run, and a walk doesn’t, it’s a useful number.
It’s tough to score runs if you can’t manage even a little broken-bat single when you have a runner at second or third.
Most teams actually hit better with runners in scoring position than they do overall. The major league average with runners in scoring position is .250, while the overall average is .239.
Part of that is likely because of times when the infield is in. To Angels veteran Adam Frazier, it comes down to the hitter’s mindset.
“When guys are in scoring position, the pitcher’s kind of got their back against the wall,” Frazier said. “You’ve just got to stay disciplined. You can’t get caught up in the moment.”
Frazier said pitchers often try to be perfect in those spots, which can lead to a hitter getting ahead in the count if he can just be disciplined enough to wait for his pitch and not chase.
All of that is easier said than done.
One Angels player who seems to have it down is Jo Adell, whose average with runners in scoring position has been higher than his overall average in each of his three full seasons.
This year, Adell is hitting .367 with runners in scoring position, compared with .246 overall.
“I think it just goes back to a disciplined approach,” Adell said. “I think with runners on base, knowing that there’s a job to get done, I think that’s the attitude I want to take every time, regardless of the situation, but I think I’ve done a very good job when runners are on to find a way to get something going or advance a runner.”
Adell said the Angels are working on doing that better as a team.
“I think it would be huge,” Adell said. “If we don’t get too big in the moment, just take advantage of the fact the pitcher is in jeopardy of giving up a run. Just extend the inning, and the cards are in our favor. I think if we all take the approach of just doing a little bit of something to move a runner, and not get too big or try to be the hero, good things are going to happen.”
Logan O’Hoppe has also been good in those situations, even though he’s having a disappointing season overall. O’Hoppe is hitting .196, but .269 with runners in scoring position. He had a two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded on Friday night.
“I think it definitely allows me to lock in on what I pitch I need even more,” O’Hoppe said. “It’s easier to get caught up in other things and other results when there’s no one base. I feel much more comfortable with guys in scoring position.”
On the other side of the ledger are players like Oswald Peraza, whose .172 average with runners in scoring position is 105 points less than his overall average. Trout (40 points lower), Nolan Schanuel (82 points lower) and Zach Neto (33 points lower) have also underperformed in the clutch this season.
Whether that’s just a fluke or a true issue is up for debate in baseball circles. Some analysts believe that a hitter’s average with runners in scoring position is just a small sample of his overall numbers, and eventually the numbers will be similar.
Trout’s average with runners in scoring position has been lower than his overall average often throughout his career, but part of that is because he sees fewer strikes in those at-bats. This year he has a .189 average with runners in scoring position, but his on-base percentage is .464.
Neto has been better with runners in scoring position in two of his seasons and worse in two.
Even though Neto hasn’t been successful this season, he said the right things about what he’s trying to do.
“It’s just a matter of slowing the game down, knowing the situation,” Neto said. “Knowing we have a job to do, whether it’s a ground ball to the right side to move a runner or a sac fly. Just making sure we do the job for the team. Like we preach all the time, just keep passing the baton to each other.”
The Angels actually did it better over the weekend. They were 6 for 26 (.231) with runners in scoring position, but with only three strikeouts. They won all three games.
In the previous 13 games, including 11 losses, they hit .123 with runners in scoring position, and they struck out in 26% of their plate appearances.
To Frazier, simply putting the ball in play is the most important thing. Softly hit balls can often be rewarded because those are the ones that beat the scouting reports for defensive positioning.
“The computer does such a good job of limiting things from the offensive side, with the positioning and all that, so sometimes you don’t even have to hit the barrel,” Frazier said. “You’re just trying to put a good swing on it, stay through the baseball, stay inside the ball, hit it to the big part of the field. A lot of times you’ll get rewarded.”
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Jack Kochanowicz, 2-3, 4.55 ERA) at Tigers (RHP Keider Montero, 2-3, 3.83 ERA), Tuesday, 3:40 p.m. PT, ABTV, 830 AM