2019 Angels Year in Review: Outfield

11/12/19 - Jay Sheehy - Founder and Editor-In-Chief

While I was tempted to break outfield down by individual position (mainly so I could harp on the other-worldly greatness that is Michael Nelson Trout in the center field spot) it occurred to me that outfielders are expected more and more to be able to man every position. Even though Mike Trout won’t be starting in right or left field any time soon (2012-13 were weird years, no offense to Peter Bourjos but Trout should have never been moved), the majority of outfielders do occasionally play other positions, if only for a few games here and there. So that’s my decision and I’m sticking to it (No, it didn’t have anything to do with reducing my work on the Angels season in review series, I’m not that lazy…He’s not that lazy!).

Angels in the Outfield (No? Too easy?)

The positional rankings of the Angels outfield goes like this:
Left field ranked 22nd in baseball.
Center field ranked…you guessed it, 1st in baseball! (The confetti drops!!)
Right field ranked 13th in baseball. This is why they chose not to pay Kole Calhoun $14 million for 2020.

Left to right: Mike Trout, Justin Upton, Kole Calhoun, Brian Goodwin

Left field was supposed to be manned (and manned well) by Justin Upton, who was paid $18 million for his services this year. It didn’t quite work out that way. Instead, Upton split the season with Brian Goodwin and the occasional help from David Fletcher.

Justin Upton ($18 million) - First off, Upton could not get healthy this season. After tendinitis in his right knee delayed his Spring Training debut, Upton earned himself the first 72 games of the season off with a severe toe sprain he injured in the Freeway Series just days before the start of the regular season. Once he returned, however, things didn’t get much better. His .215/.309/.416/.724 line was his worst since his 43 game debut as a nineteen year old. The OPS+ of 92 was his first under league average since that inaugural season. His defense was never worse than the -1.4 dWAR he threw out in only 56 games in the field. The Angels finally shut him down for good a couple weeks into September (the 13th, I believe). It was a difficult season for J-UP but he’ll be back. He’s been twenty percent better than league average for the last decade and I believe he’ll return to that (at the plate, at least).
Baseball Reference credited him with -0.9 WAR. FanGraphs credited him with -0.2 WAR.

Brian Goodwin ($583,500) - Claimed off waivers from the Kansas City Royals after Justin Upton’s toe injury, Goodwin was an absolute savior for the Angels outfield. The Peter Bourjos experience ended by May (and was made easier by Goodwin’s 1.001 OPS at that time) and Goodwin became an everyday player for the Angels. Always a streaky player, Goodwin had three months over a 1.000 OPS and three at .651 or below. Yet, he stabilized the Angels outfield with Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun. His season line of .262/.326/.470/.796 was good for a 109 OPS+ and one less thing for Brad Ausmus to worry about in this trying season. Not particularly good at defense, Goodwin produced at almost a league average level in his first full season (he had only ever played 75 games in a season).
Baseball Reference: 2.1 WAR. FanGraphs: 1.9 WAR.

In right field Kole Calhoun did Kole Calhoun things. While the Angels have decided not to pick up his option for 2020, Angels fans know what a solid contributor Calhoun was, and more importantly, how hard he played the game. Sure, his defense was always a little overrated, he couldn’t get on-base at a high enough clip and he provided zero value on the bases, but Kole Calhoun showed up everyday and went to work. To win a World Series title you need the gamers, gritty and gutsy, guys willing to do what needs to be done. Kole Calhoun is one of those guys. Some team will be glad to have Kole Calhoun. The Angels always were.

Kole Calhoun ($10.5 million) - A .232/.325/.467/.792 line earned Kole a 108 OPS+ (which isn’t worth the $14 million he was slated to make in 2020). His -0.4 dWAR (BRef) might surprise some people but the reality is that many of those highlight plays Kole makes diving in the field are only necessary because he doesn’t cover enough ground to get there standing up. It was fun while it lasted, Kole. And now, the Red Baron rides off.
Baseball Reference: 2.3 WAR. FanGraphs: 2.5 WAR.

The best player in the 2010’s was Michael Nelson Trout. He played center field for the Los Angeles Angels. In 2019, the Angels were ranked #1 in center field by Baseball Reference. They were better in 2018, but still ranked #1. They were worse in 2017, but still the #1 team at the position. They were #1 in 2016, 2015, and 2014. It was all the way back in 2013, when the Angels weren’t ranked #1 at center field. Why did that happen when Mike Trout was on the roster? Well, basically, Mike Scioscia didn’t know what he was doing. And in starting Peter Bourjos 53 times that season, the Angels overall WAR at CF slipped quite a bit. You can’t keep up with prime Andrew McCutchen if you have Peter Bourjos starting 53 games there. The Angels still ranked #3 based on Trout’s ability over the 111 games he played in center (there were multiple games where Trout and Bourjos both spent time in the middle). 2012? They were #1 on the freakish ability of Mike Trout over one of the best rookie seasons in the history of baseball. Bourjos still played there too much, but he played decent defense that season. They were #6 in 2011 during a career year for Bourjos (that would not be duplicated), and #21 in 2010, before Mike Trout. This is about Mike Trout.

Mike Trout ($36,833,333) - Your 2019 AL MVP. Let’s start with his batting line: .291/.438/.645/1.083 for a 185 OPS+…out of those five figures, only his batting average didn’t lead the league. And, here’s something for 2020, his Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) was .298 in 2019, which is twenty points lower than any other season in his career. Even after that terrible .298, his career BABIP sits at .348— Is Mike Trout due for a regression to the mean, and thus a higher BA/OBP/SLG/OPS next season? YES! (to be fair, he’s not as fast as he once was so the .370 seasons of BABIP might be over, but there’s no reason he should ever be this close to .300, on either side of the line). On the base paths, Trout stole 11/13 bases, which was a bit of a disappointment. It did allow him to hit two hundred career stolen bases. His overall base-running ability is still top notch, as FanGraphs had him ranked as fifth best in all of baseball. Defensively, Trout was about league average at center field, which given his offensive prowess is a huge win. Yet, it was a big drop from his 2018 season so hopefully he can return to that 2018 level in 2020. What else is there to say? Too much, really. He’s played nine years and is 87th in career WAR, 0.1 points ahead of Derek Jeter…who played twenty seasons!! He is the G.O.A.T.

As a whole, the Angels outfield ranked 5th in baseball. Out of context that seems good. Yet, with Mike Trout manning center the starting point is much better than any outfield through the majors. With Kole Calhoun gone it will be Brian Goodwin’s job in right field to start the 2020 season. Until the arbitration calendar flips over. Then, we get the next Angels superstar.

Jo Adell - The 10th overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, Jordon Scott Adell burst onto the prospect scene with a power/speed combination that was even better than promised when he came out of Ballard High School in Louisville, Kentucky. The swing-and-miss in his game was the number one reason scouts wavered on him, and though his short forty-nine game stint in 2017 did little to dispel those issues, his ability to take pitches and his pitch recognition immediately appeased many doubters.
By the end of the 2018 season, Adell was the #15 prospect in all of baseball. He moved quickly all the way to a 17 game stint in Double-A. Now the #5 prospect in baseball, Adell had an up-and-down 2019 season due to a freak accident in Spring Training that lead to injuries to his left ankle and right hamstring. Adell was batting .391 through the eleven games he played before injury and expectations were that he might spend a part of the 2019 season in the big leagues after he exhausted pitching at the Double and Triple-A levels. Once he returned from injury, Adell again beat up on Southern League pitching before hitting Triple-A for the first time. Though he had difficulty adjusting upon his arrival, a two home run game (that was wiped away by rain) signaled to the league that he was catching up.
Defensively, Adell can play all three outfield positions, and play them well, with incredible range and an incredible arm. The Angels had him playing more in the corners last season as they readied him for his eventual placement next to Mike Trout, who if you haven’t been paying attention is the best centerfielder of all time. The 2020 season will begin in Salt Lake for Adell, as the Angels want him to “get more reps” or “shore up his defense” or “work on the little things” before they bring him up to man right field for the next fifteen years. The arbitration clock will end midway through April so don’t be surprised if Adell’s fast start sees his promotion in early to mid-May. Angels fans, the future is nearly here.

The Angels farm system is top heavy with outfielders. Adell is their #1 prospect, obviously, but right behind him is Brandon Marsh and Jordyn Adams. While they are in two completely different areas on their way to the majors, there are similarities between the two. The biggest one, is their amazing athleticism (I’d give the edge to Adams).

Marsh was the Angels second round pick in 2016, and he has more than exceeded expectations after a stellar 2019 campaign. Injuries kept him from playing a full season until 2018, but since then Marsh has improved every facet of his game. While the power hasn’t been displayed in games, most see an eventual 20-HR hitter who plays excellent defense and gets on base at a very good clip. His 2019 average in Double-A was .300, so many see Marsh as the Angels left fielder of the future. Others, however, see him as obvious trade bait as the Angels have more than enough outfielders and nowhere near enough pitching (or catching). Personally, I’d like to see him spend a whole year in Salt Lake before they even think about any of these options because it would allow for a better view on who Justin Upton is going to be going forward and how quickly Brandon Marsh can truly contribute to the big league club. Of course, there are risks involved in letting a prospect on the upswing go through a full season at Triple-A, where the majority of pitchers have some big league experience. Either way, as we sit here today, Brandon Marsh is definitely a fantastic prospect to have in the upper levels of the minor leagues.

Jordyn Adams was the Angels first round pick in 2018 and boy is the front office pushing him already. While his athleticism is second to none (See August 3rd Saturday Morning Review ((Scroll Down))), Adams has a much longer road to travel to become a high producing outfielder. In the 97 games he spent in Low-A this season, Adams produced a .250/.346/.358/.703 line. Hardly something to write home about. The lack of power is a minor concern though most industry insiders see his power as something that should progress as he becomes more aware in the batter’s box. Yet, that seems to be the least of his issues as his plate discipline was a shining beacon on an otherwise mediocre offensive season. Still, despite his struggles, the Angels brass moved him up for a nine game cameo in the California League to end his season. While that might speak to them being overly eager, it also points to their belief that Adams has the tool set to succeed against older competition. He is also a name that will come up in trade talks as the Angels look to acquire pitching. Yet, with his lack of experience and middling performance, the Angels would be much better off waiting a year or two until he increases his trade value.