ANAHEIM, Calif. _ The Los Angeles Angels did not merely survive a season-ending knee injury to ace Garrett Richards in 2014; they thrived without their best pitcher, going 21-7 in the wake of his Aug. 20 injury and turning a half-game lead in the American League West into a division-clinching 11 {-game bulge by Sept. 18.
So it was natural for the Angels to cling to that experience in the face of this week's devastating news that star center fielder Mike Trout, considered the best all-around player in baseball, would require surgery for a torn left-thumb ligament and be out for six to eight weeks.
"When Garrett went down in 2014, that was a big blow to our pitching staff, but everyone pulled together, and we finished up pretty strong," right fielder Kole Calhoun said.
"Not having a guy like Mike, things are definitely stacked against us, but we have a lot of guys in here, and if we play together, if we pull together as a team, we can still be pretty good."
Not to say that won't happen _ who knows with these Angels, who showed how unpredictable they can be with some dramatic come-from-behind wins early in the season and have weathered the loss of top relievers Cam Bedrosian, Huston Street and Andrew Bailey to forge a highly reliable bullpen.
But the loss of Trout will be much more difficult to overcome than the loss of Richards in 2014.
For one, Richards started once every five days. Trout played every day, impacting games with his bat, his speed on the bases, his stellar defense and a lineup presence, which can force opposing pitchers to alter their approach against the Angels.
The Angels had four solid starters in 2014 in Jered Weaver, Matt Shoemaker, C.J. Wilson and Hector Santiago, a deep and versatile bullpen headed by Street, Joe Smith, Kevin Jepsen and Jason Grilli and a potent offense that eased the burden on the pitching staff.
"The guy's been on the field with us every single game for his entire big-league career. To have him on the disabled list for the first time is kind of the unknown," Calhoun said of Trout. "It's definitely tough. He's the best player in the game, so guys are gonna have to pick up the slack around here."
Especially Calhoun. New second baseman Danny Espinosa has been a huge disappointment, batting .144 with 56 strikeouts entering Wednesday night's game against Atlanta, and new corner infielder Luis Valbuena, expected to be a middle-of-the-order threat, is batting .176 in 26 games of an injury-plagued season.
But the struggles of Calhoun, who hit .266 with a .763 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 61 homers and 216 runs batted in in his first three full major league seasons (2014-2016), have been the biggest surprise.
Calhoun, who signed a three-year, $26 million extension over the winter, is batting .205 with a .601 OPS, five homers and 17 RBIs in 52 games headed into Wednesday. He hit .255 with a .676 OPS in April and is batting .153 with a .522 OPS in May.
"There's a cliche about seeing the ball well: A lot of guys throw that around, but I think in Kole's case, there's no doubt that he's a little hard, he's a little jumpy, he's just trying too hard," manager Mike Scioscia said. "He definitely needs to exhale and have things slow down in the batter's box."
The left-handed-hitting Calhoun normally hits left-handers almost as well as he hits right-handers. He has a career .266 average and .761 OPS against right-handers and a .245 average and .713 OPS against left-handers.
Those numbers are heavily skewed this season. Calhoun entered Wednesday batting .233 with a .655 OPS against right-handers and .098 with a .391 OPS against lefties. With runners on second and third, two outs and a chance to cut into Atlanta's 6-3 lead, Calhoun struck out to end the fifth inning of Monday night's loss.
"He's working very hard on it," Scioscia said. "This guy is such a gamer. He does anything for the team, whether it's diving for a ball in right field, pulling for guys, hitting first, second, sixth in lineup. ... He's all about the team, so for him to struggle, there's nobody who feels it more than he does.
"He's too talented to stay down for a long time. This guy is a good player. He'll find it. Right now, it's a matter of slowing some things down in the batter's box, taking some of the things pitchers are giving him and trying to use the whole field. If he does that, I think you'll see him start to swing the bat to his capabilities."
