Kendry Morales. Photo: Icon SMI
The series on team offense continues with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels finished second in the majors and American League in runs per game in 2009, scoring 5.45 runs per game. Mark Saxon at ESPN gives us a good idea of what the Angels lineup will look like in 2010.
The CBSSportsline depth chart confirms the personnel. I would think Scioscia might bat the left-handed hitting Matsui ahead of the right-handed Rivera since the Angels should see more righties on the mound than lefties. I’ll go with flipping those two. The OBP and slugging percentage used come from the Marcel the Monkey forecast system. Plugging those numbers in the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) produces the following results:
- Best lineup: 5.31 runs per game
- Probable lineup: 5.19 runs per game
- Worst lineup: 4.99 runs per game
- Regressed lineup: 4.82 runs per game
The LAT agrees with Morales, Matsui, and Rivera batting 4-5-6, but little else. While I used to think it was neat to bat catchers with good OBPs at the top of the lineup, I’m getting away from that idea. They take too much wear and tear during the game, so the good hitters can do the the fewer times at the plate that comes with batting lower in the order. I like the third best lineup in that case, with the ex-Yankees batting one and two, and Aybar batting ninth until he can bring his OBP up to make him a legitimate leadoff hitter. I don’t think Torii Hunter would be very happy batting seventh, however. Someone would need to convince him he’s a second cleanup hitter in this type of lineup.
One nice thing is that Morales, Kendrick, Aybar and Wood are all in the their primes, so we could see some bigger seasons from foursome. That could make up for potential declines from Abreu, Matsui, Rivera and Hunter, the older players on the team.
Previous entries in this series:
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