Angels Got Shut Out 3-0

As Taylor Ward goes, so too go the red-hot Los Angeles Angels

By Sam Blum

What makes Taylor Ward the way that he is?

On May 10, his batting average dipped to .174. He’d just come out of a 0 for 27 slump, having struck out 19 times in the previous 13 games.

On May 24, he awoke as the hottest hitter on the planet, having homered nine times in the last 17 games. An extra-base hit in nine consecutive contests. Two game-winning grand slams, and his OPS has risen more than 200 points in two weeks.

“He’s guessing right. He’s a guess hitter,” said Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington, trying to explain the extreme peaks and valleys of Ward’s season. “If you haven’t figured that out, watch. He’s a guess hitter. And guess hitters go through where they’re guessing wrong all the time. Earlier in the year, he was guessing, and now he’s guessing right.”

During Ward’s slump, the Angels played like one of the worst teams in baseball. They had MLB’s lowest on-base percentage. In 21 dreadful games, the offense scored just 52 runs. In the 17 games since, the Angels have posted 102 runs. The team reached .500 (25-25) again on Friday, after dipping to as many as eight games below.

A complete 180 to their once floundering season, led in large part by Ward.
His stunning turnaround likely isn’t as simple as Washington suggests. Yes, he acknowledges, there are certain pitchers where he hunts specific pitches to hit them.
But, Ward credits a significant mechanical change, noticed by Angels offensive coordinator Tim Laker, for his massive improvement.

“Like a light switch, you make a single adjustment,” Ward said, “and it changes everything.”

The day Ward’s hitless streak snapped, the organization brought in a minor-league pitcher from Inland Empire to throw him live batting practice long before first pitch. During that session, Laker noticed that Ward’s back foot was sliding during his load up to swing.

That small mistake was costing him timing and power, resulting in pop-ups to right field or grounders to the shortstop. That timing and power have now been on full display over the last two weeks. It’s because the back foot now remains firmly planted.

“Bad mechanics versus good mechanics. I always go back to that,” Ward said. “Mechanics run the hitter’s life. You have anomalies who were born to hit a certain way. They roll out of bed, and they’ve always raked. Then there are guys who have manufactured their swings to have good mechanics.”

None of this is particularly new to Ward. Go back to his breakout season in 2022. Or, at least, what appeared to be his breakout season. On May 20 of that year, Ward was hitting .370, with nine homers, 23 RBI and a 1.194 OPS. He’d started the season on the injured list. But after 30 games, he looked like a genuine MVP candidate.

And with that hot hitting, the Angels looked like they’d finally turned the corner as a franchise. They were 27-17 and on track for their first playoff berth in eight years.
Over his next 14 games, Ward went 7 for 50 with two extra-base hits and just three walks. The Angels had lost 14 consecutive games. Their manager was fired and their season fell apart. Ward was not an All-Star and didn’t find his offensive groove again until late August.

As Ward goes, so do the Angels.

“I feel like it’s cool to be back (where I was) in 2022. It’s very satisfying to be in this position right now and doing what I’ve been doing,” Ward said. “I think my biggest goal moving forward, in the rest of my career, is limiting the tsunami of drastic numbers.
“I think if I can continue to do this and stick with a good routine, I can level that out more.”

Ward is hitting the ball harder this year than he has in his career. His average exit velocity is 91.9 mph, and his average launch angle, at 20.2 degrees, is the highest it’s ever been. He’s striking out more and walking less. His fly ball rate is 39.7 percent, up from 32.9 percent for his career.

Ward’s offensive profile is becoming more power-driven. When it’s going bad, that means a ton of strikeouts. When it’s going good, that means a ton of home runs.

The key for Ward is consistency. And it makes sense, since what Ward does is not that different from any other hitter. All offensive players go through highs and lows. Often multiple times throughout a six-month season.

But for Ward, they’re just more pronounced and elongated.

A lot of Angels have contributed to their newfound winning ways. The rotation has handed out regular quality starts. The bullpen has finally started holding leads. Zach Neto went 12 for 31. Logan O’Hoppe has five homers in his last 29 plate appearances.

That’s what makes all of this so inexplicable. It could be that someone is a guess hitter and is guessing right. Or that someone made a mechanical tweak. But with the Angels, they’ve collectively gone from all struggling to all raking.

And no one represents that better than Ward.

“I don’t understand it, even how simple I am,” Ward said. “I don’t understand how the lulls can be so big. It’s insane to me. … Just continuing to do the right thing. Sticking to those foundational things that I’ve been good at.

“We learn from what we did back then and continue to ride this. Baseball’s baseball. Whatever everybody’s been doing individually, needs to stick to that.”

Angels extras

• Angels general manager Perry Minasian has been pleased with the team’s recent play: “We’ve played well, had some big hits, made some big pitches, made some big plays on the field. It’s been fun to watch. We’re playing better. It comes down to execution, it’s a game of execution. And the more experience these guys get … the more chances they have to do some positive things.”

• Neither Minasian nor Washington could provide a timeline for Mike Trout’s (knee) return from the IL, though it doesn’t appear to be a long wait. Trout has been doing baseball activity, but he still needs to run the bases before being cleared.

• Reliever Ben Joyce did not have a locker in the Angels’ clubhouse on Friday, indicating that he will not be with the team as he completes his rehab from season-ending shoulder surgery earlier this month.

• Pitching prospect George Klassen has resumed throwing after taking a line drive to his head in early May. He was hospitalized.

• Angels top prospect Christian Moore was promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake, where he promptly hit his first home run with his new team. He’ll be strongly considered for a call-up soon if he continues to hit and perform well with the Bees.