When the Los Angeles Angels got their hands on prodigy Shohei Ohtani on December 8, 2017, we had the right to believe that the combination he would then form with Mike Trout would bear fruit, perhaps even bringing in one or two championships in Anaheim.
But six years later, we must admit that the plan of the Californian general staff has fallen through.
Certainly, the general manager, Perry Minasian, and his flock have their share of blame in this unexpected debacle.
However, it must be emphasized that the injuries clearly did not help the cause, Trout finding himself more often than not in the infirmary.
Indeed, over the last six seasons, the two protagonists have been in the Angels' lineup for only 46.6 percent of meetings.
During this period, Los Angeles compiled a record of 194 wins against 211 losses for a winning percentage of .480… unlike .445 when at least one of the two teammates was out of the lineup, i.e. for the majority of the time.
Worse still, over the past four seasons, the trio of Trout, Ohtani and third baseman Anthony Rendon has only been seen together for 22 percent of games.
During this stretchthe Angels posted a record of 58 wins against 62 losses, which corresponds to a winning percentage of .483.
To answer your next question, Trout-Ohtani-Rendon were only in the lineup together for 22.0% of the games in the last 4 seasons.
The Angels were 58-62 (.483) in those games.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) December 13, 2023
The Angels in our campaigns therefore never had a real chance to use their two gems together, but their losing record, even in games where both were present, shows that they needed to build a better team around them and they didn't do it.
Let's hope for the Angels and their fans, fortunately for them that there are any left, that lessons will be learned from this whole adventure.
