If there was any question about it, I think we saw last night that Trumbo is the most dangerous bat on this team. Why is he batting 5th behind Morales day in, and day out? I know Morales is hitting better than he was, but still, shouldn't your power hitter be in the cleanup spot?

I think it probably has more to do with the righty, lefty, righty thing more than anything. Trumbo could hit 4th, and when Morales isn't in the lineup he usually does. Its not a big deal IMO.

I had noticed that in some of the huge offensive outbursts this team had, like back in Baltimore, Trumbo and Morales were flip-flopped. With the pitching woes this team is experiencing right now, the offense is going to have to carry the team until help arrives. With Trout getting on base like he is, it seems to me that Trumbo should be getting those 1st inning AB's instead of Morales.
1st inning runs are more important now, with Richards, Williams and the like in the 3-4-5 pitching slots. Give em a cushion so they don't feel like they have to nibble and can go after hitters.
Also, no lead is safe with this bullpen, who really have been pitching over their heads..
The wheels could come off that thing at any time.
JMO.

The stats favor a right left right combination especially late in the game when bullpen strategy comes in to play. Also the Angels are winning, and why mess with success?

The stats favor a right left right combination especially late in the game when bullpen strategy comes in to play. >>>

Which is NL style thinking, so you and Scioscia are on the same page.
This is the AL, with the DH, where power and run scoring are the name of the game. This offense should be burying teams, not playing for late inning strategy.

I know of a few games where if Trumbo had been batting 7th he would have had 3-run homers instead of solo shots.

Beyond Trout batting lead off, batting orders lead to random results.

I think Trumbo would see better pitches in every AB with Morales hitting next, rather tha Callapso, Kendrick, etc. Morales is a better contact hitter, and Trumbo needs mistakes and pitches in the zone to utilize his power.

" This offense should be burying teams, not playing for late inning strategy."

the game is played over 9 innings so a late game strategy does make sense if it does not take away from the production of the game as a whole. Give me stats on how the current strategy has costs the Angels wins and I mean net wins because like lightitup states, it gets pretty random after a few cycles in the lineup.

"so you and Scioscia are on the same page."

Not at all. I think a logical argument can be made either way and two smart people can disagree on this topic. I disagree with MS more often than I agree with him, but on this decision it has not stopped the team from being successful and doubt that switching Morales and Trumbo would mean a net gain in wins.

If and when Wells returns, if MS can resist starting him, that would be the best use for him....to be the situational matchup hitter late in games.

The best use for Wells is to pinch hit when there is no one on base. Here is his stat line without runners on base.

.357 avg .400 obp .629 slg 1.029 ops

He is our 4th best of defender and 6th best hitter except with no one on base. Not some one that should start more than 3 games in the 2nd half.

If MS decides to play him more, then I will be on the bandwagon bashing MS.

When you look at the stats, there is really no measurable reason that I can see to bat Morales before Trumbo. Ave, power, obp, speed, SO rate all favor Trumbo. For this year, Pujols and Trumbo hit righties as well as lefties, so I'm not sure the right, left, right strategy even applies here. You bring in a lefty to face Morales and then you have Callaspo who hits over .300 against lefties. I think it is Mike just being stubborn. I really don't think he spends much time thinking about metrics.

< it seems to me that Trumbo should be getting those 1st inning AB's instead of Morales. >

Meh, over the last few weeks Trumbo has more HRs but Morales is the better hitter. I don't think it matters as much as you seem to think it does.

I imagine its the R-L-R ordering thang.

I guess Mike doesnt realize that Trumbo has a higher BA against RHP than Morales does.

"For this year, Pujols and Trumbo hit righties as well as lefties, so I'm not sure the right, left, right strategy even applies here."

Exactly. The numbers even show it doesn't apply.

Trumbo vs. RHP
.313/.372/.606, .978 OPS (218 PA)

Morales vs. RHP
.299/.341/.441, .782 OPS (220 PA)

Just look at the difference in slugging...

Morales hitting cleanup "just cuz" is getting tiring. Kendrys Morales is not Kendry Morales. Not the same player anymore.

Since you seem to love to follow me, and make a point of arguing any point or thought I might have, it doesn't surprise me that you meh me here, again.
The majority agree, with stats to back it up....don't see you meh-ing any of them though.
Every time I post something, I can count on you to be in disagreement in the very next post.
Stalk someone else.

What's funny, he is one of the posters who didn't think Trumbo could hit. There is no doubt know, that Scioscia cost Trumbo the ROY award last year. The Angels are lucky Trout got a chance to play.

Judging by April, Scioscia didn't believe Trumbo was going to adjust and improve his approach either. Probably because MS had been listening to Hatcher.
Since Mickey has been gone, the approach at the plate has improved up and down the lineup.
Might not be 100% attributable to the change to Eppard, but it is there.

Not necessarily so, in my opinion, I think Morales in 4 spot and Trumbo in 5 extends the middle of the line-up. I think Trumbo started the year as a #4 hitter, and that's where I wanted him, but of late he has been hitting like a #5 or #6 hitter with all his strikeouts leading to his plummeting OBP. Morales is a studious hitter and will likely have a higher OBP than Trumbo in the long run, and so I rather think he would come before Trumbo.

This is just my thinking. I hope Morales returns to his previous form by the beginning of next year in which case by then he definitely should take the #4 spot.

Why are you Angel fans in love with Albert? Trout and Trumbo have been a complete surprise and if the Angels counted on Albert to drive the offense as they thought at the beginning of the year they would be 10 games below 500. The guy has done nothing and I would suggest moving him to the 5 or 6 hole. Watch the games people instead of being starstruck. Notice no MLBAS for him...Maybe AL pitching is a lot better than the NL? Of course this guy had to pray on a $280 million dollar contract with his wife. You want this guy up with 2 outs game 7 down by a run and runners on second and third? Good luck with that! I am sure he would be great in a 10-0 game though. Love our home grown talent. Weaver has more heart in his fingers than this guy will ever have.

Trumbo should be cleanup, but at least Morales has better protection between Trumbo and Pujols. We can inflate his stats until he gets traded for Greinke. Then Trumbo can move up in the order.