Angels News: Halos Off-Season Addition is Struggling Mightly So Far

Angels infielder Brandon Drury must pick up his play

The Los Angeles Angels did all they could to improve their roster and end their postseason drought. Angels superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout haven't had much help or health on their side in their tenure together, but hopefully, things are different this time around. 

LA bolstered their roster by adding critical players at almost every position, including the utility player Brandon Drury. Drury is coming off a season with the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres, with an average of .263 and .812 OPS. However, the 30-year-old has yet to find his footing in Orange County and is off to a horrendous start in 2023. 

(Stats are before Monday's game)

Brandon Drury has had a brutal start to his 2023 season.

.179/.208/.210 and a 25 wRC+ in 72 PAs.

He’s swinging more, especially at pitches outside of the strike zone, and making less contact: pic.twitter.com/MhBnCyZ9Nq

— BTH (@BeyondTheHalo) April 24, 2023

Drury signed with the Halos in December 2022 for a two-year deal worth $17 million after helping led the Padres to the NLCS. 

Making contact could be the biggest difference from bringing home a run or not, and striking out could be brutal and momentum changing for the squad. The 2010 draft pick does have three home runs and nine RBIs, but he also has 23 strikeouts in 21 games. Brandon's a career .432 slugger and has had struggles in that department, too. The average OPS+ in the league is 100 and he's 28 points below that with a 72 OPS+. 

He might have found something yesterday in their series opener against the A's going 3-for-4 with three runs, two home runs, and four RBIs in their loss. Hopefully, this helps guide Drury and leads him to a great run for the rest of the season.