OC Register: Angels debut their (almost) full lineup

[AngelsWin.com]

TEMPE, Ariz. — Monday marked one of the milestones of spring training, the Angels playing their First Game With A Full Lineup. Although the lineup still didn’t include Albert Pujols, who is rehabbing from foot surgery, and there is still some...

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[Chuck]

[Angel Oracle]

Bedrosian missing some time.....back in early March.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018

[Hubs]

For 2017,

Do they end up batting Maybin 2nd and Calhoun 5th, or does Calhoun stay in 2nd?

Revere is also more of a top of the lineup guy so I see them moving Calhoun down in the lineup, but I am not sure.

[Hubs]

The article seems to think the opposite of what I said, that's why I asked.

 

[Chuck]

25 minutes ago, Hubs said:

For 2017,

Do they end up batting Maybin 2nd and Calhoun 5th, or does Calhoun stay in 2nd?

Revere is also more of a top of the lineup guy so I see them moving Calhoun down in the lineup, but I am not sure.

I think against lefties Maybin slides into the 2nd spot and Calhoun into the 5th or 6th spot. 

[Homebrewer]

It's an athletic looking bunch, I'll say that for them. 

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

2 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

I think against lefties Maybin slides into the 2nd spot and Calhoun into the 5th or 6th spot. 

agreed

 

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

3 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Overall, not a bad lineup! athletic some good lefty/righty combo. I might swap Simmons and Maybin though....

[Chuck]

9 minutes ago, SlappyUtilityMIF said:

Overall, not a bad lineup! athletic some good lefty/righty combo. I might swap Simmons and Maybin though....

Yeah I like it. 

Once Pujols is at 100% I'd like to see this.

Against righties:

3B Escobar

RF Calhoun

CF Trout

DH Pujols

1B Valbuena

LF Maybin

2B Espinosa

C Maldonado 

SS Simmons

Against lefties:

3B Escobar

LF Maybin

CF Trout

DH Pujols

RF Calhoun

1B Cron

2B Espinosa

C Perez

SS Simmons

 

[notherhalo]

Valbuena at #4 doesn't sound thrilling, however who knows with Pujols how he will end up on 2017, hope it's good (268/323/457) @36 yo

Other AL West #4's

Rangers:  Napoli (239/335/465) @34 yo

Athletics: Davis

Astros: Correa (could breakout)

 

[Hubs]

I think the Angels are going to have a lot of different lineups, but looking over the splits this morning, I found that there is definitely a nice mix.

There are a few players that will play pretty much everyday. There are always injury concerns. At Catcher, it matters way more about other factors than which hand the opposing pitcher throws from. 

We have fixtures in CF (Trout), DH/1B (Pujols), and at SS (Simmons). Espinosa, Calhoun, and Escobar will play the vast majority of days, though I hope Valbuena takes some time from Escobar to get us a lefty bat in the lineup. Maldonado and Perez split the catching duties. The other two spots, at 1B/DH and in LF we could see some mixing up. 

But this makes sense and it's why we have a good mix.

Revere is a left handed hitter who had an awful 2016. Prior to that his splits each year would flip flop, in 2014 he was better against lefties and in 2015 he was better against righties. But I do think he's a reserve OF with us, behind Maybin and Calhoun, and even Trout (if Trout DH's or gets one of his 2-3 days off).

Maybin has trended better against RHP in his career, but with the adjustments to his swing last year, he was pretty even against both LHP and RHP. 

Revere then can probably fit in left whenever they want to give Maybin a day off, regardless of who is pitching.

Valbuena is a lefty hitter who over the last two seasons does hit better against righties. Cron though also does the same even though he is right handed. Escobar is right handed but was better against lefties, as is typical of right handed hitters. 

Calhoun is better against RHP in his career, so if he gets a day off it will be against lefties.

Espinosa is better against righties than lefties but he is a switch hitter, so he'll only sit when someone else is hot and they need to shift things around.

We don't really have any extreme platoon guys, though some have pronounced splits, they aren't usually consistent.

Defensively, none of these guys are slouches.

The problem is a good one to have, which is basically not enough starts for quality hitters. These things do tend to work it all out, and we do have a very versatile lineup.

Trout can obviously play all three OF, as can Maybin, Calhoun, and Revere. There is an ideal lineup defensively I'm sure. We don't have a guy who is limited to left or right or is not good defensively.

We have the best SS in the league defensively, so he plays there most days, though we have a capable infield backup in Pennington.

At 3rd, Escobar has issues, but he can also play SS in a pinch, badly, but can. Espinosa can move to SS easily if needed. Espinosa is a stud defensively at 2nd or SS. 

Valbuena can play 2B in a pinch, but also plays 3b and 1B well. Cron is pretty much just a 1B, but I wonder if he'd ever go back to being a catcher in the majors, as he was in college. Outside the box I know, but he has to be the emergency catcher, right?

So, you could have any of these lineups:

When Cron sits

Escobar

Calhoun

Trout

Pujols

Valbuena

Maybin/Revere

Espinosa

Maldonado/Perez

Simmons

 

Or when Valbuena sits

Escobar

Maybin / Revere

Trout

Pujols

Calhoun

Cron

Espinosa

Maldonado/Perez

Simmons

 

Or When Escobar sits

Maybin/Revere

Calhoun

Trout

Pujols

Valbuena

Cron

Espinosa

Maldonado/Perez

Simmons

 

Or when Espinosa sits

Escobar

Calhoun

Trout

Pujols

Valbuena

Cron

Maybin/Revere

Maldonado/Perez

Simmons

 

Or when Calhoun sits (rarely)

Escobar

Revere

Trout

Pujols

Valbuena

Cron

Maybin

Maldonado/Perez

Simmons

 

Or when Pujols sits (because he is injured)

Escobar

Calhoun

Trout

Valbuena

Cron

Espinosa

Maybin/Revere

Maldonado/Perez

Simmons