What Happened To The Change?

Last week, Angels manager Mike Scioscia hinted that there would be changes coming to the offense and that some of the reserve players would be receiving more playing time.

What happened to that?

Excuse me for sounding like a Debbie Downer, but come on – this offense is starting to become pathetic. The Angels are currently ranked 11th in the AL in runs (327), 12th in OBP (.320), 10th in SLG (.388) and 12th in OPS (.709). For a team that lives on getting runners on, over and in with bunts, singles and sacrifice flies, this is inexcusable. Considering the fact that the Angels have the 6th highest payroll in the majors at $118 million and players like Vlad Guerrero, Torii Hunter, Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman, this is beyond under-performing. This is getting to the point of scary.

While Vlad Guerrero has been on an absolute tear over the last month, hitting .422 with 6 homers and 14 RBI’s, and Kotchman has been as steady as always, Garret Anderson, Gary Matthews Jr. and Torii Hunter have been dragging the offense down to the depths of the American League. With a collective average of .248 in the month of June, these 3 players are causing a whole lot of harm during a stretch where the team really needs them to step up and produce. These 3 players also have a total of 4 home runs, 22 RBI’s and 38 K’s through 20 games during the month of June. This hurts even more when you consider that they are normally the team’s 3, 5 and 7 hitters. So I’ll ask again… what happened to the promised change?

I don’t know what needs to happen to jumpstart the offense. I don’t know if starting players need to be benched in favor of reserves or if the lineup needs a good shaking. I don’t know if a trade needs to be made (though I don’t see how Adam Dunn could hurt). Something needs to happen, though, and it needs to happen fast. If the Angels go into the postseason with the same kinds of numbers they are displaying now, we can all expect another early exit. Our pitching can handle the task, but teams in the playoffs generally know how to score and score big. If the Angels are faced with a deficit of more than 4 runs in a game, I’d have a hard time believing the offense could overcome it and win the game, let alone a postseason series.

There may be some hope on the horizon, as the Halos have scored an average of 5.0 runs over their last 7 games. Is this a sign of the offense finally breaking out of this 2 month slump, or is this the residue of facing sub-.500 teams? I’m not sure. But one thing I am sure of is this – this offense needs to show up, and it needs to show up fast. Our starting pitching can not carry this team to the World Series by themselves. Vladimir Guerrero can not carry this team to the World Series by himself. Our bullpen can not carry this team to the World Series by itself.

Mike Scioscia needs to do something to turn this offensive trend around. That’s the bottom line.