Los Angeles Angels Player Grades: Who Flunked in May?

The Angels endured an 8 game losing streak and went 11-17 in the month so there are plenty of candidates for this list. Major League Baseball has a really long season and some ebbs and flows are to be expected. However, for this group, the month of May was pretty much all ebb and no flow.

Yesterday we looked at who did great in May. Today, let's look the other direction.

Jorge Soler gets the dunce cap.

For the most part of May the Angels offense was a nightly letdown. Nobody played a bigger part in that than Jorge Soler. Slotted in the middle of the lineup and expected to drive in runs, Soler killed rally after rally.

For the month Soler slashed a pathetic .186/.255/.320 with 34 strikeouts in 26 games. He also grounded into 3 double plays including one that ended a game while the Angels were rallying.

As one of the few players on one year deals, Soler looked like an obvious trade chip a month ago. This tank job will obviously drop his value. Known for being a streaky hitter throughout his career, he could end up on the good or bad list next month.

Jo Adell gets a D.

Speaking of power bats in the middle of the order who are supposed to drive in runs but really kill rallies, Jo Adell had a brutal month as well. He did provde some stellar defense at times, though, so he provided more value than Soler.

For the month Adell slashed a pretty brutal .204/.255/.418 with 30 strikeouts in 27 games. He only walked 3 times in the month and his anemic on base percentage is helped by getting hit by the pitch 4 times. Yes, he got hit by a pitch more often than he walked.

Considering the dearth of power hitting outfielder, Jo Adell might have some trade value if he can get going offensively. Then again, trading assets with value is not what the Angels usually do.

Vaughn Grissom also gets a D.

The Angels took a gamble on Vaughn Grissom's upside and have seen both the good and bad. In the month of May it was mostly bad. He entered the month with an unsustainable .333/.404/.513 slash line then tanked it.

In May Grissom got into 23 games and had 90 plate appearances. He put up a horrid .188/.267/.313 line. The goot news is he only struck out 11 times while walking 7.

There could be an element of bad luck in play for Grissom, though, which is why he grades as a D rather than an F. His batting average on balls in play was a really low .191, over 100 points lower than league average. For a player with Grissom's speed that should not happen over a large sample size.

Jack Kochanowicz was the weakest link in the rotation.

Most of the starting rotation did pretty well in May but Jack Kochanowicz was hit hard. Yes, bad defense hurt in Toronto, but he was not fooling any hitters in that game or any others.

In 26.1 innings of work Kochanowicz surrendered 22 earned runs. A lack of strikeouts has always plagued Silent C. He sat down 21 batters this month which looks OK on the surface. But due to getting hit around he faced 125 hitters in those 26.1 innings.

One of the feel good stories early in the season, Jack Kochanowicz earned his rotation spot out of Spring Training but is in danger of being sent to the minors for the second season in a row.

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