Series Preview: Cleveland Indians vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Players to Watch: Angels

• Mike Trout: As if I was really going to mention anyone else first? Trout has been phenomenal. He leads the Angels in batting average, on base percentage, runs, stolen bases, and jaw dropping plays. He’s been everything as advertised hitting .336/.391/.526. It’s no wonder then why the Angels were 9-14 before Trout was called up and 35-21 since. He was the spark plug they needed. Good luck finding a way to shut him down because no one’s been able to that yet.
• Mark Trumbo: Along with Trout, Mark Trumbo has been the other catalyst for the Angels success in 2012. Building off of what was a successful rookie campaign, Trumbo has been even better. Right now Trumbo lead the Angels in home runs, RBI, and OPS. He’s even been forced to deal with playing multiple positions, making his success that much more impressive.

Players to Watch: Indians

• Jason Kipnis: Kipnis was expected by many to be named to the All-Star team. Some how, some way, that didn’t happen. That now opens up the possibility that Kipnis could explode and in the process show the world that he did belong with the best of the best in Kansas City next week. Kipnis doesn’t seem like the vengeful type, but you never know.
• Jack Hannahan: With Lonnie Chisenhall out of the picture, third base is Hannahan’s once again for the foreseeable future. Can he take advantage once again and make a case to keep his spot once Chisenhall returns? Can he find that magic stroke with runners in scoring position that he had earlier in the year? The Indians need him to if they’re going to stay in contention.

Trivia Answer: Tim Salmon won the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1993. That year he hit 31 home runs and had 95 RBI while hitting .283/,382/.536. The strangest part is the fact that both Tim Salmon and Mike Trout are named after fish. Too bad the Angels didn’t draft Mike Carp.