ANAHEIM — Ray Montgomery is old enough to remember when striking out was a bad thing.
“It was literally like you were stoned and scorned,” said the Angels’ interim manager, who played in the majors from 1996 to 1998. “It would have been grounds for, like, ‘You’re not going to get called to the big leagues if you keep doing this.’”
The baseball world is different now. It’s a bit of exaggeration to suggest that striking out is no longer “bad,” but it’s more tolerable.
Many teams accept strikeouts as a reasonable price to pay to get more home runs.
Which brings us to the Angels, who have the most strikeouts and the fourth most homers in the majors.
The Angels have 1,571 strikeouts this season, which is tied for the 11th most in baseball history. They are 83 strikeouts from the major league record with only six games left, so they — probably — won’t get there.
The record was set by the 2023 Minnesota Twins, who won 87 games and finished in first place. Three of the four teams that struck out the most won at least 85 games.
While there have been plenty of teams that strike out at a high rate while being successful, the Angels (70-85) are not one of them.
“The players aren’t trying to strike out,” Angels hitting coach Johnny Washington said. “It’s one of those years where, obviously, we’ve struck out a bunch as a group. My hope is that we get better.”
Outfielder Taylor Ward has been one of the Angels’ most productive players, with 34 homers, a team-leading 101 RBIs and an OPS+ of 114. That means Ward has been 14% better than the average major league hitter.
Still, he’s struck out 26% of the time, which is the highest rate of his career and worse than the MLB average of 22%.
Shortstop Zach Neto — the Angels’ best all-around player this season — finished his season with 26 homers and OPS+ of 116. He also struck out 27% of the time.
“I think our power guys, including myself, should probably take this off-season and maybe try to make some adjustments to strike out less, to have had maybe a better two-strike approach,” Ward said.
Ward said he doesn’t want to change his swing with two strikes, though.
“I don’t want to have two swings,” Ward said. “I want to focus on one swing, but you can choke up and still have the same swing. Maybe also change your mindset with two strikes. It’s easier said than done.”
Cutting down strikeouts would be like swimming upstream in a sport in which strikeouts have continually increased. The last 10 years have been the 10 years with the most strikeouts in baseball history.
The Toronto Blue Jays have the best strikeout rate in the majors, at 18%. In 2005, that would have been the third worst.
The reasons are well known. It starts with an offensive philosophy that emphasizes home runs, even at the cost of more strikeouts.
Meanwhile, pitching has changed.
Teams are now happy to pull their starters quickly and then unleash a stable of relievers throwing upwards of 100 mph for one inning at a time. Pitching labs have helped pitchers learn subtle grip changes that can add a couple inches of break to a slider, or more ride to a fastball, making the pitches that miss bats.
Hitters run the risk of overcompensating, giving up power in the interest of putting the ball in play.
Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel has a 12% strikeout rate, which is one of the best in the majors. He’s also hit 11 homers. His .390 slugging percentage is well below the major league average of .427 at first base.
“If I really wanted to, I could be a 20-25 home run guy, if I was willing to strike out 150 times a year,” Schanuel said. “But that would also, I feel, hurt the team more than it would help the team.”
Strikeout rates and home run rates don’t always move together, though.
Mike Trout has single-handedly been a significant piece of the Angels’ strikeout problem. Trout’s 32% strikeout rate is the highest of his career, including a 40% rate over his last 205 plate appearances. His 4% home run rate is the lowest of his career.
Trout has said he’s been fighting mechanical problems all season, which has affected his ability to make contact. He’s also dealt with some lingering knee pain from the injury that knocked him out for most of May.
Whatever the cause of Trout’s strikeout issue, it likely doesn’t help for all the Angels’ young players to watch their superstar trudging back to the dugout after a strikeout so often.
They are hoping he’s not the same player next year.
“This is not the version of Mike Trout that I think any of us envision,” Washington said. “I’m willing to bet that he’ll return to form in 2026 and my reason for it is because he wants to be great. He continues to be relentless in this work every day. I mean, the grind with this guy doesn’t stop. He hasn’t felt comfortable throughout the year, and he’s been grinding his way through it.”
In contrast to Trout, outfielder Jo Adell has managed to increase his home run rate while cutting his strikeout rate. Adell said he’s not necessarily shortening his swing with two strikes. Instead, he’s trying to be more aggressive early in the count so he doesn’t get to two strikes.
Adell said he and his teammates can still do better.
“For me personally, it’s very easy to go up there and want to take the big swing to try to help us put runs up,” Adell said. “But at the end of the day, traffic on the bases is going to win.”
Even though the Angels hit so many homers, they are 25th in runs. The discrepancy is because they are 29th in batting average and 28th in on-base percentage.
A solo homer after two strikeouts isn’t as good as a three-run homer after a single and a walk.
“I think the real value is, can we create more opportunities to get on base?” Washington said. “I think that’s where the real value lies. And cutting down on strikeouts, I think, is a focus for all players and coaches across the game.”
UP NEXT
Royals (LHP Cole Ragans, 2-3, 5.16) at Angels (LHP Sam Aldegheri, 0-0, 10.38), Tuesday, 6:38 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network West, 830 AM
Related Articles
Angels waste strong outing from Caden Dana, lose series to Rockies Angels’ Kyle Hendricks isn’t ready to decide what’s next Mike Trout blasts 400th career homer as Angels snap 8-game losing streak Angels rookie Christian Moore ‘humbled’ by demotion Angels fall to lowly Rockies, stretching losing streak to 8 gamesHence then, the article about angels search for ways to solve strikeout problem in 2026 was published today ( ) and is available on Los Angeles Daily News ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Angels search for ways to solve strikeout problem in 2026 )
Also on site :
- Supermarket timings for Boxing Day and New Year revealed for Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Lidl and more
- Trump rants about Epstein in Christmas Day post claiming he dropped ties with sex offender ‘long before it became fashionable’
- ABL Bio Receives Upfront Payment for License, Research and Collaboration Agreement for Grabody Platform and Equity Investment from Lilly