Halos Showing Their True Potential

Immense predictions can bring immense disappointments. Luckily for the Angels, baseball season is 162 games long, not 20. That left some time for them to make the disappointments of April go away, and boy, have they ever.

Fueled by the energetic and youthful exuberance of outfielder Mike Trout and the booming bats of Mark Trumbo and Albert Pujols, the Angels have rebounded, and have begun to show their true selves. Heading into 2012, fans of the Angels, and baseball fans in general, saw the great potential that was there for the team. Stacked rotation. Stacked offense, with Albert Pujols flanked by Kendrys Morales and Trumbo. A decent bullpen. It was all there, but nothing clicked as the season began.

As stated in the previous article, we here at Harness the Halo believed that changes were needed in order to bring a fresh perspective to the club. Just a couple of weeks after that article, hitting coach Mickey Hatcher was fired by general manager Jerry Dipoto. The team brought on their AAA affiliate hitting coach, Jim Eppard, and coincidently, the night that he arrived, Albert Pujols began to mash the baseball.

Since the hiring of Eppard, Pujols has slugged 7 home runs and driven in 23 runs in 24 games, while batting .318. This could be a huge coincidence, or it could be a sign that the changing of the guard in the hitting coach job was enough to kick the Halos' offense into gear. After all, if the 13 year veteran hitting coach could be so easily expendable, it was made clear that Dipoto is not afraid to pull the trigger on making dramatic changes.

Regardless of the reason for the offensive upswing, the Angels have made it very clear that they are now a different team than they were in April. After starting off with a 6-14 record and very little signs of life, the team has gone 20-12, leaping out of the cellar of the AL West and into sole possession of second place in the West.

26-26, a .500 winning percentage, may not seem like much. But to a team that at one point was seven games under .500 and eight games back of division rival Texas, this record can be seen as a threshold. With the break-even point reached, at 26 wins, 26 losses, it can be said that the season starts over, right here.

And so, the starting line has been re-drawn, and the path to victory in this race toward the AL West crown is now within sight for the Halos. No longer are the Angels chasing the Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners. No. Now it's become a whole different kind of race.

It's the race everyone expected. Texas Rangers on one side, LA Angels on the other. The only problem is that the Rangers are already a few steps ahead, 5.5 games up, so it's up to the Angels to chase them down.

Luckily for them, they've got a whole new set of fast wheels to catch them, and they come in the form of Mike Trout. There's also that Mark Trumbo guy, who's .451 home batting average leads the Majors, and the resurgent Pujols who suddenly looks like, well, Pujols.

It's also important to note that the Angels' pitching has been excellent, with a team ERA of 3.45 that leads the AL and is 6th in baseball. Also, since acquiring Ernesto Frieri from the San Diego Padres, the bullpen has been lights out, and has lowered its ERA by almost a full run in only 18 days. That takes a lot of work, and a lot of 0's put up on the board.

Buckle up, Angel fans. It's going to be a bumpy ride, but it will no doubt be a fun ride to watch.

New Coaches, Fresh Perspectives Needed Now

Say all you will about Albert Pujols. It's quite overstated at this point that the $240 million man is a contributor to the Angels' woes so far this 2012 season. Also, say what you will about Ervin Santana, Dan Haren and pretty much the entire bullpen for getting off to rocky starts.

But to be honest, 18 games into the season, this is a story about 25 players forming a collective team, and that team is led and guided by a coaching staff. This is a team with so much promise, so much talent, with names like Kendrys Morales, Albert Pujols, Torii Hunter and Mark Trumbo anchoring the offense, and Jered Weaver, CJ Wilson and Dan Haren heading the pitching staff.

So much talent there, and yet already so much failure. What should be a team that could win around 100 games this season is off to a 6-12 start. They are worse than the once laughable teams like the Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals. How could this possibly have happened? Could it be that each one of the players is feeling the heat to perform and live up to the lofty expectations placed upon them?

In a way, yes. Although they won't admit it, it's extremely clear from just watching this club that these players are trying too hard. And who's supposed to calm them down and get them on the right track? That would be hitting coach Mickey Hatcher and pitching coach Mike Butcher.

The biggest malfunction is the offense. Every Angel hitter is swinging at pitches outside of the strike zone. Albert Pujols, in his Cardinals days, was known for his keen eye and ability to drive pitches that other hitters simply could not. Now, as a Halo, he is 18 games into the season and hasn't hit a homerun, and his batting average is dipping below .220.

It is true that this is the greatest hitter on the planet, according to many. But even the best fall into bad habits, and it's up to the hitting coach to solve the problems. Normally it can take a few games for other teams' stars to "work out the kinks", with some helpful pointers from the hitting coach to aid them.

So far, from the looks of it, Mickey Hatcher has been telling Pujols to take fastballs down the middle and try to pull every pitch that he sees. From the results on the field, as Angel fans can see with their own eyes, Mr. Pujols has done nothing but pull EVERY pitch thrown his way. The results? Ground ball, after ground ball, after popup, after strikeout.

And that's just one of the hitters. If you haven't sat down and watched an Angel game, then you haven't missed much. The supposedly power-rich lineup is tied for last in homeruns in the American League, and the team is 10th out of 14 in runs scored. They have walked the third fewest amount of times, which is a sign pointing to anxious approaches, and thus fewer good pitches to hit from here on out.

Seemingly every time an Angel batter steps up, opposing pitchers know how to get them out easily. Get ahead in the count with fastballs on the corners, and then expand the zone. The Angels' batters can't seem to lay off the 0-2 curveball, changeup, fastball or slider, whether it's in the zone or out, they aren't squaring them up.

It's one thing to say that "these are professionals" and that "they will figure it out eventually" as Mickey Hatcher has said many times the last 3 seasons. Many players have even denied that Hatcher is a poor hitting coach. But the fact of the matter is, this Angels team is supposed to go to the playoffs, and that involves not waiting around for bad habits to change.

Teams that can be patient and can afford to wait for their players to break out of slumps are the Kansas City Royals and San Diego Padres. These are teams with payrolls in the $30-40 million range and no playoff aspirations, not a $150 million payroll and World Series goals like the Angels. The Halos' management needs to stop acting like they aren't a big market team. In case they hadn't noticed, THEY ARE PLAYING WITH THE BIG BOYS NOW.

When you look at the biggest of the "big boys", the 27 time world champion New York Yankees, they are known for bringing in coaches that make an impact. Their current hitting coach, Kevin Long, preaches patience and instructs each of his hitters to live up to their strengths, and has made tweaks to players' swings that turned them into offensive beasts.

Nick Swisher is suddenly a true offensive force for the club after struggling in Oakland and Chicago for a few years, and Curtis Granderson, a left handed batter that at one time couldn't hit left handed pitching, hit 41 homeruns last season, 18 of which came off of lefties. See what a good hitting coach does? He makes players change their approaches for the better, and gets great results.

If Arte Moreno really is serious about winning his World Series ring or two, then he needs to understand that loyalty means nothing to winners. Joe Torre was one of the greatest managers of all time. He lead the Yankees to 4 World Titles. But, after missing the playoffs in 2007, he was fired. That's how winning teams are.

The fact of the matter is, Mike Scioscia has earned the right to receive the benefit of the doubt, for now at least. He isn't necessarily the problem, although he should find a way to put Mark Trumbo into the lineup more often. Scioscia can stay for now, but Mickey Hatcher must go. Mike Butcher, the Angels' pitching coach, needs to go too, if the bullpen arms can't figure it out and Dan Haren and Ervin Santana don't start being more consistent.

It might be uncomfortable to let Hatcher go. He's a nice guy, he's been around since 2000 as the hitting coach. But times have changed, and the message that the Angels sent this offseason is "we are a big market team, and we're in it to win it".

Prove it, Angels. If the offense is broken, fix it. Bring in the man to fix it. And if the pitchers faulter, bring in the man that can tweak our pitchers' deliveries and have those opposing hitters flailing once again. Or else, as in 2010 and 2011, we'll be failing once again.

Morales or Trumbo?

Since the Angels made their huge splash this winter and signed Albert Pujols to his megadeal, the talk among Halo fans has been whether or not to trade either Kendrys Morales or Mark Trumbo. Either scenario has its pros and its cons, but the debate as to whether or not one will be traded or not is a tough one. Trumbo and Morales are both talented players that have their issues, but choosing who to trade is not an easy decision.