Los Angeles Angels: Tommy La Stella, Power Hitter?!
By Ryan Sanders
Los Angeles Angels IF Tommy La Stella has more home runs than Mike Trout. That’s something that warrants immediate investigation and scrutiny.
When Billy Eppler was planning out the Los Angeles Angels 2019 season, he was likely planning on having a ton of Mike Trout, Justin Upton, Andrelton Simmons, and improved health from the pitching staff. Tommy La Stella was likely not thought of heavily in the Angels’ success equation even after being acquired from the Cubs for cash considerations. La Stella has always been a solid pinch hitter who can contribute with the glove across the infield but has never been much more than that.
Fast forward to the present day, Tommy La Stella leads the Angels in home runs this year. Go back and read that last sentence again, reflect on it, go look at Mike Trout’s page in sheer confusion.
Welcome to the Twilight Zone.
After hitting 10 homers in his entire 5-year career, La Stella now has 11 (!!!!) home runs on the season. Out of all players with 11 or more homers, only Gary Sanchez has had less AB (107) than La Stella (133).
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La Stella is in unprecedented territory as he has never been thought of as a power hitter and this season and has nearly doubled his career WAR total in only 38 games for the Los Angeles Angels.
Digging into the numbers, we can see that La Stella has dropped his GB rate, increased his FB rate by 14% points up to 37%. This is backed up by his Statcast numbers, where his launch angle has increased to 8.6° after never being higher than 5.8° and it being even lower the past two seasons.
Mix that with a return to his career best exit velocity of 88.5 MPH and you have a recipe for a hitter maximizing power output.
What is more impressive is that La Stella’s new-found power has actually come with a career-low strikeout rate. Among all players with at least 100 plate appearances, La Stella has the second lowest K rate in baseball at 6%, only behind teammate David Fletcher. The only other players to have extremely low K rates and double-digit home runs are Michael Brantley and Nolan Arenado. Great company indeed for La Stella.
La Stella is putting on a display of what it looks like when a player maximizes output on contact. His weighted on-base average (wOBA) is 11th best in the league with sluggers like Christian Yellich, Cody Bellinger, and Anthony Rendon ahead of him. He has done all this despite having a below average exit velocity.
So where has this power explosion come from? La Stella credits the Angels’ hitting coaches for using video to unlock his new-found power:
"“One of the things we actually did was go back through all his videos from years past,” Reed said. “Wooten does an unbelievable job of finding that video, and we’ve gone back to his optimal position.”The optimal position, as it turns out, has La Stella standing taller, knees hardly bent at all, with his bat at about a 45-degree angle on his shoulder.“On video, it may not be as athletic of a position, but it’s comfortable for me, which allows my swing to work the way I want it to,” La Stella said."
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La Stella has always been lauded for his contact ability and prowess as a pinch hitter. This year, he has been thrust into opportunity because of injuries and has taken full advantage. Mike Trout has been one of the best players in baseball. That is something we expect every year and doesn’t surprise. Tommy La Stella leads the Los Angeles Angels in home runs and has been one of their best hitters. It just goes to show you, there are things you can expect but you can never predict baseball.