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Kendrys Morales
Time with Angels: 2006-2012
Stats: .281/.331/.491/.823, 79 HR, 265 RBI, 455 H, 216 R, 464 G, 119 OPS+
Baseball Reference WAR: 7.8
FanGraphs WAR: 6.4
Combined WAR: 7.1
It’s a real shame we never got to see what Kendrys Morales could have done with the Angels had he been healthy throughout his tenure with the club. During his seven seasons in Anaheim, Morales appeared in only 464 games, an average of just over 66 games a season.
Through his first three seasons, Morales wasn’t much of a factor. He appeared in only 127 games and hit only .249. It was 2009 in which he turned himself into one of the better hitters in the American League. Morales played in 152 games and finished fifth in the MVP voting. He hit 34 homers and drove in 108 runs, both of which would be career highs. His average was higher than .300, his OPS was .924 and he had 173 hits.
Morales continued his hot stretch into the following season. Through his first 51 games in 2010, he was hitting .290 with an OPS of .833. He had 11 homers and 39 RBI, a pace of about 35 homers and 120 RBI for a season. Then, as many of you know, Morales broke his leg after jumping on home plate following a walk-off grand slam.
Not only did he miss the remainder of the 2010 season, he missed the entire 2011 season as well.
He did play in 134 games for the Angels in 2012, but his production took a hit across the board. Though still really good numbers, Morales’ stats declined. His average was down, along with his on-base percentage and OPS. He hit 22 homers and drove in 73 runs, which again is fairly decent considering he missed nearly 30 games.
That offseason, Morales was traded to the Seattle Mariners.
It’s a shame we couldn’t get a five-year stretch of a healthy Kendrys Morales. When he played in games, he produced. Unfortunately, injuries just took away from what could have been a really great career in Anaheim.