Angels’ young hitters still waiting for opportunity in premium lineup spots

LOS ANGELES — Ron Washington wrote names on slips of paper and tossed them onto the bed in his Cleveland hotel room, looking for a cleanup hitter.

That was the day when the Angels manager came up with Willie Calhoun to bat fourth. Although Washington insists that he really did pick names, he also said Calhoun was the player he wanted all along. That wasn’t so much a statement about Calhoun as it was about Washington not wanting to put his young players in prime lineup spots.

At that time, Jo Adell was the hottest hitter on the team, but Washington had moved him to the No. 2 spot a few days earlier, only to see Adell go 2 for 13 in three games, including a four-strikeout game.

Since then, Zach Neto and Logan O’Hoppe have had stretches in which they have been among the Angels’ best hitters. Still, Washington has rarely moved any of them into the top four spots in the lineup. Calhoun and Taylor Ward have slumped, but they have held their spots in the middle of the order.

There have been times when the Angels’ lineup has looked like it would be perfectly reasonable if you flipped it upside down.

At this point, it’s worth going back to what Washington said that day in Cleveland, when he picked Calhoun as his cleanup hitter.

“I tried putting Adell in the top of the lineup and it lasted a day,” Washington said. “I tried putting Neto in the top of the lineup and it lasted two days. I’m not going to take O’Hoppe and put him fourth. I’ll hit him fifth or sixth, but for some reason, when you put one of them in those spots, they think they’ve got to be special. And they don’t. They really don’t. They’ve just got to be who they are. If you can give us base hits there, I’ll take it. You can give us doubles there. I’ll take it. I’m not looking for home runs, because I don’t have that kind of team.”

While all hitters say they try not to change their approach when they are in a new lineup spot, O’Hoppe and Neto both acknowledged that goes against human nature.

“You try not to think about it,” O’Hoppe said, “but then telling yourself you’re not going to think about it makes you think about it more. … I know my swings are a little bigger and I expand a little more. Trying to do more. It’s the obvious thing you would expect to happen.”

Neto said “it was a little culture shock for me,” when Washington tried him in the No. 2 spot on April 27-28. Since then he’s mostly hit eighth or ninth, only creeping up to sixth a week ago.

“All of the sudden the lineup becomes a part where they have to do more than expected, and sometimes they put too much pressure on themselves,” Washington said.

Washington apparently doesn’t feel the leadoff spot brings the same pressure as the 2-4 spots, though, because he’s put rookie Nolan Schanuel at the top of the order regularly this season.

Washington’s difficulty filling out the middle of the order with experience began with a late April string of injuries to Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Brandon Drury and Miguel Sanó. Drury, who just came back this week, was the last of those dominoes to fall. It was just after Drury went out that Washington tossed the papers onto his bed.

Washington insisted over the weekend that he’d still like to have those veterans batting in the more prominent spots to allow the young players to develop without as much pressure.

As O’Hoppe and Neto gain more experience, though, they are getting closer to being ready.

“I’m happy to see they’re handling it well, because there will come a day that they will be the guys that we depend on up there,” Washington said.

Which is exactly what they want.

“Hopefully in my career I’m hitting there at some point and I’m used to it,” said O’Hoppe, 24. “I don’t know anybody at the bottom of the lineup that has only a year or so under the belt that doesn’t want to do that.”

O’Hoppe said he’s now comfortable hitting fifth simply because he’s been doing it for weeks.

Neto, who actually told Washington in spring training that he liked to hit ninth because it was “second leadoff,” said he aspires to hit in one of the top three spots as he gains more experience.

“I hope so,” said Neto, 23. “Lately I feel like I’m doing a good job of having quality at-bats. Bringing guys in. Hitting some out of the ballpark. I feel like I haven’t earned it yet, but I’m on my way to the top of the lineup.”

Adell, 25, is the oldest and most experienced of the bunch. He’s also the one with the most raw power. Despite his slump, he still has hit 12 homers, tied for the team lead.

Adell also said he aspires to be in the middle of the order.

“At some point I want the opportunity to be able to take that on, and really be counted on to drive in runs,” he said. “I think that’s my makeup. For right now, I do what I do and go have good at-bats and continue to focus on my craft, put the ball in play hard and make something happen.”

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 2-8, 5.24) at Dodgers (TBD), Friday, 7:10 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM