29-year old lefty swinging SS Erick Aybar isn’t helping out too much offensively this year for  the Angels.  He has played in 45 games for the Angels so far this year and he is 47 of 183 (.257 avg, .627 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 1 homer, 17 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  In his first 12 games in June, Aybar is only 11 of 48 (.229 avg, .552 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers and 5 RBIs.  Aybar needs to start giving the Angels better offense as they were depending on him getting on base more and using his speed to mess with opposing pitchers.

32-year old lefty swinging RF Josh Hamilton has been helpless against lefty pitchers so far this year.  He is only 9 for 52 (.173 avg, .393 OPS) with 0 homers and 2 RBIs against lefty pitchers.  He has also whiffed 22 times against only 1 walk against lefty pitching…..which is pathetic!  Hamilton has played in 50 games overall this year for the Angels and he is 43 of 193 (.223 avg, .684 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 8 homers, 18 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  Hamilton has already whiffed 56 times while only walking 15 times so far this year.  The Angels need to get Hamilton back on track if they are going to make a legit playoff run in 2013.

31-year old lefty swinging outfielder Josh Hamilton played in 148 games for the Rangers last year and he was 160 for 562 (.285 avg, .930 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 43 homers, 128 RBIs and 7 stolen bases.  The Angels then gave him a 5-year, $133 million deal over the winter.  He has been a utter bust so far this year.  Hamilton has played in 29 games for the Angels so far this year and he is 25 for 120 (.208 avg, .544 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers, 9 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  Hamilton has only walked 6 times while whiffing 37 times so far this year, which is pretty pathetic.  The Angels need Hamilton to start swinging the bat like he can.

31-year old lefty swinging outfielder Josh Hamilton signed a 5-year, $133 million dollar deal over the winter with the Angels, so they are expecting big things out of him this year.  Hamilton has played in 6 games for the Angels so far this year and he is 4 for 25 (.160 avg, .476 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs.  He has already whiffed 10 times while only walking 3 time so far this year.  He could be starting to snap out of his slump for the Angels as he was 3 for 5 with a double and a runs scored against his ex-team (Rangers) last night.

26-year old righty swinging outfielder Mark Trumbo is having a rough time with the bat so far this month for the Angels. Trumbo has played in 17 games so far in August and he is 14 of 70 (.200 avg, .529 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs. He has only walked 2 times while whiffing 27 times so far this year, as he is swinging at everything. Trumbo has now played in 111 games for the Angels this year and he is 120 of 422 (.284 avg, .878 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 29 homers, 75 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Angels need Trumbo to get back on the track with his bat.

The Angels made a big upgrade in getting Zack Greinke this weekend. The only area I could see the Angels looking for an upgrade could be at 3B. Alberto Callaspo is the starting there now. He has played in 82 games for the Angels so far this year and he is 67 of 267 (.251 avg, .691 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 7 homers and 32 RBIs. Callaspo has had a rough time so far in July though, as he has played in 22 games in which he is 17 of 74 (.230 avg, .665 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 2 homers and 11 RBIs. The Angels have enough offense to carry Callaspo’s bat at 3B, but it wouldn’t hurt them to improve there for the rest of the 2012 season.

28-year old switch-hitting SS Erick Aybar played in 143 games for the Angels last year and he was 155 of 556 (.279 avg, .743 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 10 homers, 59 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. He also won a Gold Glove (the first of his career last year). The Angels then rewarded Aybar with a 5-year, $40.08 million dollar deal over the winter. He has been awful so far this year. Aybar has played in 55 games for the Angels so far this year and he is 43 of 196 (.219 avg, .534 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 0 homers, 13 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He has now played in 684 games in his first seven years with the Angels and he is 642 of 2,370 (.271 avg, .685 OPS) with 301 runs scored, 24 homers, 219 RBIs and 83 stolen bases. The Angels need Aybar to get going at the plate, or this is going to start looking like a horrible contract they signed him to.

29-year old righty swinging catcher Bobby Wilson is finally getting his chance to start behind the plate for the Angels due to Chris Iannetta’s injury and he has dropped the ball so far. Wilson has played in 31 games for the Angels so far this year and he is 13 for 76 (.171 avg, .403 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 0 homers and 1 RBI. Wilson has now played in 147 games in his first five years with the Angels and he is 58 for 294 (.197 avg, .558 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 5 homers and 25 RBIs. Wilson’s roster spot could be in jeopardy when either Hank Conger or Chris Iannetta get healthy, if he doesn’t start hitting the baseball quite a bit better than he is right now.

I know that it’s early, but 32-year old righty swinging 1B Albert Pujols has not hit the ball well yet this year. He has played in 5 games so far this year and he is 4 for 18 (.222 avg, .667 OPS) with 1 run scored, 2 doubles and 2 RBIs. Pujols is going to break out soon and the Angels can’t wait for that to happen as it will make the whole lineup better. He has only whiffed 3 times so far this year, so he’s hitting the ball….just not finding the holes yet.

37-year old lefty swinging OF/DH Bobby Abreu is really slowing down at the plate. Since July 1st, Abreu is 33 for 171 (.193 avg) with 19 runs scored, 4 homers, 21 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Abreu has played in 127 games overall this year for the Angels and he is 114 for 451 (.253 avg, .718 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 7 homers, 53 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Abreu is starting to lose P.T. lately with outfielder Mike Trout ripping the baseball. Mike Scioscia will probably play the hot hand at DH in September, so Abreu better starting hitting soon or he’s going to be doing more watching than playing the rest of the year.