By Tres Hefter, AngelsWin.com Staff Writer

Looking a little more at Jorge Soler, I noticed a few things...

Lead-Off
Soler was the lead-off hitter in 41 games last year (13 with ATL, 28 with SFG), more than any other spot in the batting order, and he flourished, hitting .324/.439/.677/1.116 to lead-off the game, and a robust .276/.386/.513/.899 in his 184 total PA hitting first in the order.
Angels lead-off hitters last year hit .246/.320/.377/.698.

Defense
Soler played a lot more outfield than I initially suspected. He didn't see the field once while with San Francisco, and didn't DH once with Atlanta. 
He also hit much better playing in the field.

• RF: .254/.352/.514/.866 in 167 PA
• DH: .241/.331/.421/.751 in 340 PA

A lot of that probably has to do with being in the Atlanta line-up though, but similar splits in '23 with Miami (.916 OPS in 133 PA vs. .830 OPS in 443 PA as DH). 
While I wouldn't advocate for him getting a lot of playing time in the OF due to his defense...it might be worth putting him out there when our GB-oriented pitchers are on the mound if it helps give him an offensive boost.

Versus Lefties
Not terribly surprising, but he's smoked lefties the last three years.

• 2024: .264/.387/.504/.891 with 19 XBH, 23 BB to 35 K in 155 PA vs. .740 OPS against RHP
• 2023: .277/.393/.688/1.080 with 18 XBH, 20 BB to 30 K in 135 PA vs. .788 OPS against RHP
• 2022: .203/.394/.525/.820 with 7 XBH, 7 BB to 19 K in 69 PA vs. .660 OPS against RHP

The Angels posted a better OPS against LHP last year than they did against RHP, but neither was great - .688 vs. LHP, .666 against RHP.

And while Anthony Santander also tends to hit much better when he's playing the field, his splits also lean a little the other way, albeit not as drastic. 

Santander had an .822 OPS vs. RHP and .793 OPS vs. LHP in 2024, .798 to .790 in 2023, and the other way in 2022, sporting a .720 OPS against RHP and a .913 OPS against LHP.

Should the Angels actually sign Santander, having he and Soler split RF/DH might not be great defensively, but could add up to a really potent offensive upgrade at those two positions.