Angels' Willie Calhoun Reveals Why He's Been So Successful This Season

It's the little things in baseball sometimes.

The Los Angeles Angels may be off to a poor start to the season but outfielder Willie Calhoun has been exceeding expectations this year. The former top prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers has been making waves this season after signing with the Halos on a minor-league deal this winter.

So far this season, he has hit .328 with one home run and five runs batted in over 58 at-bats. He has adjusted the way he approaches each at-bat which has allowed him to see more success this year. The veteran opened up about why he has been off to such a great start.

“I was always a gap-to-gap guy,” Calhoun said. “I lost that approach when I got (to the majors with the Rangers) and started trying to chase power instead of letting it naturally flow … It really obviously never worked out for me.”

If Calhoun can keep up this high level of production, the Angels will have gotten a steal from the offseason. They could look to keep him going forward or even flip him for assets at the trade deadline.

“He knew my swing from when I was coming up, so I sat down with him right away in spring training and told him I wanted to get back to that guy I was coming up in the minor leagues,” Calhoun said. “I viewed myself a doubles guy. I never viewed myself as a power guy, but I kind of got suckered into trying to chase it.

Sometimes in baseball, it's all about the little things. For Calhoun, he knew that he needed to change the way he was approaching things and it has worked wonders. It remains to be seen if he will keep this up but for now, the Halos will take whatever they can get.