Who is Erick Aybar this Year?

To call Erick Aybar's career statistics offensively "erratic" could be an understatement. While Aybar solidified a position on the Angels roster prior to 2009, that year was his first full-year of games and ABs with the team. It was also the best offensive year of his career. Aybar put up a .312/.353/.423 line. He hit a career-high 9 triples and posted a 3.2 WAR.

The following year Aybar's numbers dropped as he posted a .253/.306/.330 line. To be fair to Aybar, part of these weakened numbers can possibly be attributed to an adjustment to the lead-off spot. An experiment that continued off and on until Trout took over the lead off early this year. In addition, Aybar's BABIP dropped from .338 to .289 in those two years.

In 2011, Aybar's numbers improved slightly but still failed to reach the success of 2009 with a .279/.322/.421 line. However, Aybar did set a career high in stolen bases with 30 and a career-high in home runs with 10 in 2011. He also won a gold glove on the defensive side.

In the off-season, word came out that Aybar and his agent were working with new Angels GM Jerry DiPoto on a long-term deal and in April, Aybar signed a 35-million, 4-year deal with the Angels. Early into that deal, however, Aybar has struggled. In March/April, Aybar hit a paltry .222/.259/.272. In May, things have stayed the same with Aybar posting .223/.247/.287. In 2012, Aybar has struck out 24 times, which is already nearly half of the amount of times he K'd in 2009 (54).

For a player who has consistently posted erratic offensive numbers, the deal that Aybar signed with the Angels seemed a possibly a bit generous. Defensively, Aybar is also difficult to gauge. Indeed, he did win a gold glove last year. However, as noted in a previous post, most advanced defensive stats (which are by no means perfect) have Aybar has a league-average shortstop at best.

At this point, it's safe to say that Aybar is off to dismal start. In fact, last year, Aybar posted a .285/.346/.439 in May. Having just signed a new deal, the Angels can only hope that Aybar makes the necessary adjustments offensively and begin to produce at a level that coincides with the money they are paying him.

Tomorrow we will look closer at Aybar's struggles at the plate in hopes of finding out what is different this year from his previous years.

Trumbo and the Changeup in 2012

Last night the Angels played a strange and sloppy but ultimately fun and triumphant game against the Yankees. Amongst the hundreds of things that can be written about last night's game, this little tweet by writer Joe Sheehan after Trumbo's walk-off home run was interesting.

@Kevin_Goldstein He grounds that to third ten months ago. Completely different hitter.

— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) May 29, 2012

Sheehan is definitely right about one thing: Mark Trumbo is a different hitter this year. Though, "completely" different seems an exaggeration. Still, Trumbo is swinging at less pitches out of the strike-zone and driving pitches to the opposite field more. As a result has seen his batting average and on-base percentage inflate beyond what anyone thought Trumbo would hit.

Is he a completely different hitter, though? What would 2011 Trumbo done against a 79 mph change up from a right-handed pitcher?

First, the Trumbo of 2012. Of the seven home-runs that Trumbo has hit this year, two have been changeups, both in the lower inner half of the plate (See here).

Using Fangraphs' pitch value stat which attempts to add run value to different types of pitches that a batter sees through two specific categories, Trumbo success with the change-up has increased dramatically.

First, a brief explanation of the stats:

"The first category is the total runs above average that a hitter has contributed against that pitch. However, it is tough to compare these total numbers since hitters see different amounts of each pitch. The second category corrects for this, standardizing the values on a “per 100 pitch” basis. In other words, when you see wFB/C, that represents the average amount of runs that hitter produced against 100 fastballs thrown."

In regards to Trumbo against changeups, his value for the first category this year is 5.3 with a 12.89 value over 100 pitches. Last year against changeups? Trumbo was -2.2 and -1.17 over 100 pitches against changeups. We should make sure to remember sample size here but thusfar, according to these stats, Trumbo is crushing changeups.

Taking a quick look at Joel Lefkowitz's Pitch/FX tool, Trumbo has seen 21 changeups from right-handed pitchers this year. Of those 21, Trumbo has hit two for home runs. Last year, of the 80 change-ups from right-handed pitchers Trumbo saw, he hit a total of 2 out of the park.

Finally, Trumbo's contact rate against changeups from righties has also improved. Last year, Trumbo swung and miss over 48% of changeups he saw from right-handed pitchers but this year, so far, that number has dropped to 23.1%.

There's are a number of factors contributing to Trumbo's early season success at the plate but one of those factors has revealed itself to be his ability to recognize the changeup from right-handed pitchers and make contact when it's thrown as exemplified last night.

Fun with Win - Loss Facts

Matthew Kory over at Baseball Prospectus pointed out in today's Prospectus Hit List (a ranking of every team on their performance, percentage of making the playoffs, etc.) that the Rangers are 11-13 after starting the year 16-5. The Angels during the last 24 games are 14-10. A tad better than the Rangers.

Clearly, these stats have a fair amount of subjectivity to them. Why 24 games? Why not the last ten, six or nine? Also, it doesn't take into account the teams these two have had to face. For example, in those last 24 games, the Angels faced one team with a winning record (White Sox have since gone a game over .500). While the Rangers faced three.

Still, Angels fans can be mildly delighted that the Rangers have cooled off a bit. Angels fans can also enjoy knowing that the same Baseball Prospectus rankings has the Angels with the greatest chance of winning a wild card spot. On the other hand, they have them at only a 44% chance of making the playoffs.

Take what you will from this.

Mini Web Roundup

The 'Stache has been missing in action due to some family obligations earlier this week. Regularly scheduled programming will return in full-effect next week. Until then here are a few Angels-related articles from the around the web this past week or so that are worth the time to read.


How Angels hooked a Trout in draft - Fox Sports

Los Angeles Angels rookie outfielder Mike Trout is the American League version of Bryce Harper, so how the heck did he fall to the 25th pick of the 2009 draft?

“You got me,” says Trout’s father, Jeff.

Howie Kendrick's strikeouts have increased for a third year in a row -LA Times

"Kendrick's strikeouts jumped from 71 in 2009 to 94 in 658 plate appearances in 2010, a strikeout rate of 14.3%. Kendrick whiffed 119 times in 583 plate appearances last season, a rate of 20.4%. His strikeout rate this season: 24.2%."

Has Albert Finally Turned the Corner? - ESPN

If Pujols does what he did last year from this point forward, he will bat .282 with 34 home runs and 94 RBIs. Those numbers may not touch his MVP years, but they might be good enough to steer this season back where the Angels once thought it was headed.

Fall Guy: Mickey Hatcher Fired As Angels Hitting Coach

Last night after the Angels 4-0 win against division rivals Oakland A's, Angels GM Jerry DiPoto announced that Mickey Hatcher was being relieved of duties as Angels hitting coach. According to DiPoto, Hatcher will be replaced by Triple-A hitting coach Jim Eppard.

In 2012 the Angels have grossly underachieved offensively. They lead the league is getting shutout, having been goose-egged eight times. No team since 1907 has been shut out more often through the first 36 games of a season. Only two AL teams (the A's and Twins) have scored fewer runs than the Angels this season. With such high expectations going into the season and the fourth largest payroll in the major leagues, the first half of the season, particularly the offense, has been a huge disappointment.

So who is to blame? Is it Mickey Hatcher? The off-season decisions of new general manager Jerry DiPoto? Is Mike Scioscia to blame? Or maybe the issue and more likely cause for the Angels woes is something more complex. Perhaps it is a number of factors like good scouting by the opposing teams and well executed and designed game plans by opposing pitchers and catchers. Add a little luck or lack there of, a few blown calls by some umps and you have your 16-21 Angels of 2012. At some point, though, for the Angels front office that wasn't enough to satiate them, the press, the fans or whoever. Somebody needed to take the fall. A change needed to occur. Hatch was their man.

To the front office's credit, not all the blame, at least publicly, was put on Hatcher. During the press conference announcing their decision, DiPoto was rational and kind of enough to admit the following:

"We're all accountable, to a certain extent, for what we've been given as our responsibility. I'm included in that. Mike's included in that. Obviously Mickey's included in that, and this is a move that we're making in an attempt to jump-start an offense and to instill a philosophy that we believe has the power to last."

Still, if Hatcher is going to lose his job over the Angels offensive woes, then Hatcher takes a majority of the blame here. And if such blame is going to be assigned to him then it's only fair that he also must be assigned credit for their successes. Let's not forget, Hatcher was there when the Angels won their first World Series. Hatcher was also the hitting coach when in 2009 the Angels rolled out a lineup on August 18th with all nine batters hitting over .300. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that was the first time since 1934 that any major league team has finished a game at least 100 games into a season with each player in its starting lineup hitting .300 or better. That season the Angels set franchise records for average (.285), hits (1,604) and runs scored (883).

So what happened?

Stepping back and being rational about the situation leads to the conclusion that the issues with the Angels run deeper than Mickey Hatcher. Does that mean he shouldn't have been fired? Not necessarily. Could his removal make a difference? Maybe. It is possible and only time will tell.  That's why we watch the game. However, if the Angels start offensively playing to their potential, we will undoubtedly hear that it was Hatcher's fault all along in between the "All Hail Eppard" chants. That's not fair or accurate either.  The more tempered fan will understand that both success and failure on the field run much deeper than any one man on the team.

Offensive Production from Angels Catchers: The Worst in Baseball Since 2011?

Late night revelations are few and far between. Yet, that is exactly what happened the night after hearing that Chris Iannetta would be out with wrist surgery for six to eight weeks. With prospect Hank Conger on the DL in Triple A, the Angels catching platoon is now minor league lifer John Hester and the offensively sub-par Bobby Wilson. Which led to a question to arise upon waking up well before the alarm: has any team had less production from the catcher position than the Angels since the beginning of the 2011 season?

Thanks to Fangraphs, that research can easily be done. Here's a list of where the offensive production from catching position that the Angels have received since the beginning of the 2011 season lies in relation to all 30 major league teams.

HRs: 26th
RBIs: 29th
BABIP: 30th
OBP: 29th
SLG: 29th
wOBA: 29th
WAR: 29th
OPS: 29th

So  no, the Angels are not last in offensive production from the catcher position. Just very, very close to the worst.

In most of these statistics, the Astros were the worst with the exception of HRs and BABIP (where the Angels were the worst). This, of course, isn't entirely surprising. With the consistent playing time of the offensively anemic Jeff Mathis in the 2011 season, it could be assumed the Angels were going to rate low. Seeing it on paper, though, seems to make such revelation all that much worse.

On the Road and In Arlington with Jered Weaver

Last night, Jered Weaver was tagged for 8 runs, 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings, it's safe to say that Weaver did not have his "A-Game" last night. The game changer came when Weaver hung a breaking ball to Nelson Cruz who drove it a mere 344 feet out of the ballpark for a grand slam.

Weaver was in rare form. Just not the kind of form the Angels would like to see.

The last time Weaver only lasted 3 1/3 innings was 2009 in Baltimore. Over four years ago, in 2008, against Cleveland was the last time Weaver lasted less than 3 1/3 innings.

Weaver, who is something of a "fly-ball" pitcher, is susceptible to the home run, giving up 20 last year. When facing a team that is currently 3rd in the league in home runs with 52, the long-ball can be a problem.

Last year, Weaver faced the Rangers more than any other team (5 games) and gave up five home runs against them. Still, considering how good the Rangers were offensively in 2011, Weaver did well, putting up a 3.34 ERA against them with a 6.9 strikeout ratio per nine innings.

Looking at his career stats, Weaver has pitched in no other stadium more than Rangers Ballpark, having taken the hill in Arlington 13 times. His numbers over his career in Arlington include a 5.21 ERA, 14 home runs and a record of 2 and 7.

It's difficult to compare any other ballpark or team to those numbers since Weaver has faced the Rangers in their home stadium more than anyone else. However, within the division, Weaver's stats are the worst when pitching in Arlington.

Thus, while Weaver is the clear ace of the staff, pitching in Arlington, whether it's the hard-hitting team he's facing or the factors of the ballpark, has proved to be tough for Weaver historically.

Finally, this trend seems to extend beyond Arlington when looking at his home/away stats. Weaver has pitched seven more games on the road than he has at home and four innings more. Yet, his he has yielded 23 more home runs on the road and has put up a 3.87 ERA versus his 2.59 ERA at home with a whip of 1.06 at home and 1.23 when pitching away from Anaheim. His strikeout to walk ratio also takes a dip from 3.88 at home to 2.74 on the road.

Jered Weaver is an excellent pitcher but clearly, he is at his best when in Anaheim. Regardless, Angels fans can take a little bit of solace knowing that, historically, Weaver has done better against the division rivals and that last night was an outlier they are unlikely to see much of for the rest of the season.

Better Than Your Favorite Walk-Up Song: OFF! - "Vaporized"

Once a week, a walk-up song is selected that isn't being used by anyone in the MLB but that should be. Sometimes, a player will be assigned the song.

SONG: "Vaporized"
ARTIST: OFF!
ALBUM: OFF!

Comments: OFF! is a new punk outfit led by old-school punk and former lead-singer of the Circle Jerks and Black Flag Keith Morris. They also include Burning Brides frontman Dimitri Coats, Redd Kross bassist Steven Shane McDonald, and Rocket From The Crypt/Hot Snakes drummer Mario Rubalcaba. So it other words, this isn't some snotty, 18-year old punk band, this group has Cred (with a capital C).

"Vaporized" is especially walk-up song worthy because of two main factors: it's short and has a heavy-as-fuck riff within the first five seconds. This track would be perfect for a lead-off hitter. Just when everyone is filing into their seats with their red-rope licorice and hot dogs and lemonade that nasty guitar riff suddenly puts a dark, eerie cloud over the game.

Ideally, you would want the track to run to the 22-25 second mark so the fast 4/4 punk verse gets in before returning to the heavy riff. If you want to jar a pitcher out of his zen mind-set to start a game, this would likely do it.

A Club Defining Weekend?

The Angels march into Tejas this weekend for a three-game set against the division leading Texas Rangers. While the Angels are 7 and 3 in their last ten, the team is still struggling with an inconsistent offense. Albert Pujols seems poised to break out of his slump but is still currently batting under the mendoza line (.198). On top of that the Angels just lost Chris Iannetta, who will undergo wrist surgery, and be out for 6-8 weeks. With prospect Hank Conger on the DL in Triple-A that will leave the main catching duties to Bobby Wilson and (insert minor league backup here). Which leads to the question: has any team recieved less offensive production from the catcher position than the Angels in 2012 and 2011? Research to be done and found out by next week!

To make matters worse, their hurting bullpen recently lost LaTroy Hawkins for 4-6 weeks. In addition, Scott Downs is banged up but apparently, not going to spend any DL time.

Losing the series to the Rangers wouldn't spell the end of the season for the Halos. However, a sweep would put them back 10 games (again). This is also, arguably, only the second playoff contending team the Angels have faced this season (the surprising Orioles being a possible third). So it will be a good test to see just how much this team is turning around their early season woes, if at all.

Tonight CJ Wilson goes against his former team and the pitcher that essentially replaced him, Yu Darvish. Jerome Williams will face Matt Harrison and Weaver will go against Neftali Feliz on Sunday.

Who will show up? The struggling Angels that we've witnessed more than not in the first 20% of the season or a new invigorated Halo squad that has won 7 out of their last 10? We'll have to wait and see.

Finally, trade rumors have been swirling around Peter Bourjos. Keep a close eye on that RSS feed over the weekend.

Your 2012 Angels' DiSar Award Candidates (Or How No One Takes a Walk On the Angels)

Over at Baseball Prospectus, writer Sam Miller did a piece on possible DiSar Award candidates for the 2012 season via the Pebble Hunting column. The Disar Awards were established by Joe Sheehan and named after long-time Angels shortstop Gary DiSarcina.

So, what is the award for exactly?

Here is the leading quote from Sheehan that Miller uses to explain:

No one personifies this better than Angels’ shortstop Gary DiSarcina. DiSarcina went deep into April of the 1998 season before drawing his first walk, and proudly stated that it was a goal of his to not walk all season. He believed he was a better hitter when hacking away and being "aggressive". DiSarcina’s career OBP of .291 and five full seasons of .294 or lower haven’t deterred him, or moved the Angel coaching staff to dissuade him of the notion. So in honor of our misguided friend, I’ve elected to establish the DiSar Awards.

According to the article, Ramon Hernandez, catcher for the Colorado Rockies, is leading the pack. It took Hernandez 67 plate appearances this year before earning his first base on balls.

It was a bit surprising that there wasn't a single Angels player on the list of candidates thus far. Observationally, it seems the Halos are one hack-tastic team. So how much DO the Angels walk?

Well look at here! The Angels are last in the American League in base-on-balls with 73 total. That's below the Royals with 78 and the Tigers who are just above them with 80. The Angels are also third from last in the American League in on-base percentage at a paltry .295 as a team. Look at the bright side, the Angels are at least above Seattle (.291) and Oakland (.289).

In all of baseball, the Angels rank 27th in BBs and in OBP as well.

To be fair, this doesn't necessarily mean that Angels hitters have an aversion to taking a walk. It's possible the Angels get more pitches thrown in the strike zone at them that most other teams. Still, the numbers aren't encouraging.

And while we are at it, how about some more ugly stats? Only two players on the Angels have double-digit BBs -- Chris Iannetta with 10 and Torii Hunter with 11. Five of the nine regular starters (take P-Bo or Trout, both are under) have an OBP under .300.

The tradition of Gary DiSarcina lives on in Anaheim.

To put things in perspective, four of the nine Texas Rangers starters have double digit BBs. However, the entire team sans two players --backup catcher Yorvit Torrealba and utility infielder Alberto Gonzalez -  has an OBP over .300.

A question: Does a high base-on-balls rate for a team equate with success this year?

Judging simply on record alone, the answer is mostly "yes." The Padres rank second in base-on-balls but are currently sampling fine wines in the cellar of the NL West. Indians top the list with 136 BBs and find themselves atop of the AL Central. Rounding out the top five reveals three teams currently in first-place with the Dodgers, Rays and Cardinals.

On-base percentage reveals a similar story. The top five team OBPs are in the following order: Cardinals, Rangers, Yankees, Indians, Dodgers.


Final question: Who is the currently winning the DiSar Award on the Angels? Any guesses?

Surprisingly, the current leader for obtaining the DiSar Award on the Angels is Kendrys Morales who went the first 14 games of the season (54 plate appearances) without a base-on-balls. Close behind, unsurprisingly, is Howie Kendrick who went 12 games and 49 plate appearances without a 90-foot free trot to first base. However, Kendrick has also gone the last nine games and 34 plate appearances without a BB.

Keep a close eye on HK. He's making a run for the DiSar!

Doing what  DiSar doing most -- swinging.

Ernesto Frieri Examined

Late last week the Angels traded infielder Alexi Amarista and minor league pitching prospect Donn Roach to the San Diego Padres for relief pitcher Ernesto Frieri. Since then trade, Frieri has appeared twice for the Angels, pitching two scoreless innings and striking out 4 of the 8 batters he has faced while walking two. At first observation, Frieri seems to have a lot of movement on his fastball resulting in a lot of swing and misses. Both outings Frieri seemed to have trouble locating his breaking pitch.

Delving into Frieri's pitching stats, inducing batter's to swing seems to be the key to his success. According to Brooks Baseball, Frieri thrives off this. Over his career, his 4-seam fastball has been called a strike without a batter swinging at 16% clip and a ball 33% of time. However, the batter swung at his fastball 49% of time and whiffed it 30% of the time. In other words, the numbers suggest that Frieri doesn't necessarily throw his fastball for strikes very often but his success lies when batter's swing at it, resulting in an out either by strikeout or other.

In the two games against the Blue Jays, the numbers that suggest Frieri's success lies in keeping his pitches out of the strike zone and inducing swings proves true. On Sunday, Frieri threw 15 pitches in his outing. Here's the a plot of his pitches:

That's two total pitches in the strike zone, one fouled off for a strike and one swung and missed. It should also be of note that Frieri didn't have a single pitch called a strike that wasn't caused from the batter swinging or a foul ball. This is also in line with his career stats.

Let's look at the Saturday game:

Frieri was more in the strike zone but still threw a majority of his pitches outside of it.

Interestingly, in both games, Frieri came in and walked the first batter, who both times was Adam Lind. On the Saturday game, Frieri walked Lind on five pitches. Here's the graph:

Frieri got the benefit of a ball over an inch outside the zone getting called a strike while the other 4, all fastballs, Lind watched sail by without swinging at all.

Here's Sunday's game against Lind:

Four fastballs, one in the strike zone which Lind swung out and a breaking pitch, way low and inside.

Point? This small, two-game sample size coupled with the historical data on Frieri suggest that one way to be successful against Frieri is to be patient at the plate and make him throw strikes. As mentioned in the original post about Frieri, his K:BB ratio in 2011 and thus far in 2012 suggest that Frieri has good command of his pitches. That is not necessarily the case, though. Instead, his low walk rate versus strikeouts is the result of getting a lot of swing and misses. It will be interesting to see AL hitters approach against Frieri going forward and if they adjust by showing more patience aganst him.

Trade Alert: Angels Look for Bullpen Help in Ernesto Frieri

Just before last night’s game, the Angels announced that they had traded infielder Alexi Amarista and minor league pitcher Donn Roach to the Padres for reliever Ernesto Frieri. On the surface, this trade looks like a good one for both teams. It helps the Angels bullpen woes immediately and adds two more intriguing prospects to the Padres already excellent farm system. The best player in this trade, though, may be Donn Roach.

Here’s some things John Sickels from Minor League Ball has this to say recently Roach:

I've mentioned him several times already, but I just want to point out (again) his insane ground ball rate. In 20 innings for Inland Empire in the California League, the Los Angeles Angels prospect has a 1.80 ERA, a 15/3 K/BB and a 7.20 GO/AO.

Sickels is extremely high on Roach. He posted a video analysis on Roach recently and also selected him as one of four breakout candidates in 2012. Currently, Roach is in Single-A with an ERA of 2.16 and a WHIP of 0.93.

As for Frieri, the 26-year old right-hander has a track record of putting up an excellent K:BB ratio, striking out 76 and walking 34 last year with having only walked 4 this year but striking out 18 in just 11 innings. His FIP in 2011 was an excellent 3.25. Most projections have Frieri continuing his 2011 success in 2012.

We will look more in-depth into this trade including reactions from around the blog-o-sphere on Monday.

Dream Weaver's No-No

What else can be said that won't already be written today about Jered Weaver's workman like no-hitter against the Twins last night? Not much. Check out some good coverage via Halos Heaven, news-y coverage via the LA Times and his post-game interview plus all 27-outs.

Beyond the excellent pitching, though, it's particularly a "feel-good" moment in regards to Weaver's commitment to the Angels as an organization. The first thing people who don't follow baseball seem to say about Weaver when they first look at him is "he looks like a surfer." How fitting for a Southern California team. Weaver was born in California, pitched at Cal State Long Beach and has been with one organization -- Los Angeles Angels -- his entire career. How much more of an awesome hometown story can you get? Top that off with the contract extension with a "hometown discount" he signed last year and it's hard to imagine any other player on the Angels who is more of a fan favorite and more of a "true-red" Angel. As a player, there isn't much about Jered Weaver to not like.

Other notes from the game, Kendrys Morales continued to rake from the left-side in Anaheim as mentioned in yesterday's post with a home run, a double and two RBIs. The Angels put up nine runs behind Weaver which is only the 5th time this year, they've scored more than five runs in a game. It's only the second, they've scored more than six.

Jeff Mathis is not missed

Will the Real Kendrys Morales Please Stand Up

One of the questions leading up to the 2012 season for the Angels was if Kendrys Morales, after being out of baseball with a terrible ankle injury, could return to his power-hitting form. Twenty-four games into the season, that question largely still remains.

In 71 plate appearances, Morales is batting .299/.338/.388 with one home run, six RBIs and three doubles. In this still very small sample size but Morales' batting average and on-base percentage are hovering around his 2009 and 2010 numbers while the slugging percentage has taken a bit of a hit.

Still, it's early. After being out of baseball for so long, it's fair to say that thus far, Morales' return has been successful. Yet, the question remains: will Morales return to his hitting form? A closer look at the numbers reveal polarizing splits that put the jury still out on what kind of hitter Morales will be this year.

One of the more interesting, but not necessarily revealing, numbers are in his home/away splits. In Anaheim, Morales is putting up a .444/.459/.611 line with all of three of his doubles and his single home run coming at Angels Stadium. Outside of Anaheim, Morales is hitting a meager .129/.206/.129 in almost the same amount of plate appearances (34) as he has at home (37). To be fair, though, Morales has faced tougher pitching on the road against the Yankees and the Rays.

The difference between hitting left-handed versus right-handed is even more skewed. From the left-side Morales is putting up .339./.383/.446 while in 11 plate appearances as a right-handed hitter Morales has a single hit. Morales's career stats, though, reveal that he has always been a better hitter from the left-side and judging from the spare amount of plate appearances that Morales has from right-side, Scioscia and company seem well aware of this.

While we will have to see whether Morales' power returns, keeping him in the lineup against right-handed pitching, like Scioscia has done, is likely the best plan of action for an offense that is struggling to put people on base and score runs . In fact, for a team that is batting .226 with runners in scoring position, it's encouraging that all six of Morales' RBI's have come with runners in scoring position.

One month into the season, Morales power has not fully returned. Yet, his clutch hitting and success from the left-side of the plate is encouraging , especially when platooning the DH spot with power-hitting Mark Trumbo who has showcased an ability to mash from the right-side against left-handed pitchers.

There's a reason why he took this photo from the left-side