Over/Under Kole Calhoun OPS+ 109.5

Let’s continue the series and look a right fielder Kole Calhoun as he looks to bounce back from a pedestrian 2017 and possibly form a great outfield alongside Mike Trout and Justin Upton. Kole’s resurgence should be the difference between the Angels having a good outfield and a great one.

While wRC+ is a better metric than OPS+, in Kole’s case those numbers have been nearly identical and more readers are familiar with OPS+, so I am going with the more widely understood metric.

For those new to these figures, 100 is considered league average and Kole’s career OPS+ is 110. He had a high of 123 back in 2014 and sat at 116 in 2016. So the question really is, will Kole have a year in line with his career norms?

Why He Will: his career OPS+ is 110 and he has eclipsed that number in all but two seasons. Plenty of players have down years and bounce right back. His on base percentage last year was .333, right in line with his career .330 so it was the slugging that was missing. And don’t forget about the short wall in right field this year.

Why He Won’t: he hasn’t in 2 of the last 3 seasons and is coming off a career worst 97. Players don’t typically get better as they turn the big 3-0, which Kole hits this season. The fact his slugging percentage dropped 60 points with the juiced baseballs does not bode well. Let’s face it, Kole may now be an average MLB hitter.