Is Johnny Giavotella done?

Eh tu Johnny G?

In 2015, Johnny G burst onto the Angels scene with sometimes a laugh, sometimes a high-flying slide, sometimes really bad games or plays, and sometimes huge clutch hitting.  In the end, and eye problems aside, Johnny G had the best year of his career in Anaheim.

Fast forward to 2016 and Johnny G was playing down a bit from his career year (which was expected), but still hitting a decent .265 (though only a .291 OBP), and some MUCH improved defense.  Pretty recently, Johnny G sightings have become few and far between.  Over the past 10 games, he's only seen 14 ABs while Cliff Pennington has 21.  Clearly the tide is turning on the little man and he's only started at second base 4 times in the last 10 games while Pennington has started 6 of them.

So what happened?  Pennington is only hitting .244 but he does have a .309 OBP and a .716 OPS (compared to Johnny G's .674).  Not huge differences in the offensive department, but enough perhaps to give Pennington more playing time, and he's arguable a better fielder.

Most likely, the main thing we are seeing here is that Pennington, who is contracted through 2017, has the second base job to lose for next year (or at least utility man).  Johnny G's contract is up after this season and it's likely the Angels won't resign him (or go through arbitration with him).  In fact, I'd be surprised if they didn't at least try to test the waters on trading him in July, but who would bite on the bite-sized pint with a sub-300 OBP?

Personally, I really enjoy watching Johnny G play and I love his spunk and passion.  However, he's not really that great of a ballplayer (mostly just average) and there are plenty of people who could do a better job at second base.   The Angels know this season is going nowhere fast, and since Pennington is contracted through 2017, they might as well see what he can do given more playing time.

We are likely seeing the last 48 games in the Johnny G era, so if you are a fan, enjoy them while you can!