Colorado Rockies Old Friend: Chris Iannetta Struggles To Get Right In Anaheim

Jun 17, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Angels catcher C. Iannetta against the Arizona Diamondbacks during an interleague game at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The former Colorado Rockies’ catcher is trying to keep his job in Anaheim with the Los Angeles Angels, but to say he’s struggling on offense is an understatement. 

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Former Colorado Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta had a couple decent years with the Los Angeles Angels in 2012 and 2014, but the wheels fell off a bit in 2015.

The 32-year-old catcher was expected to run the show in Anaheim and catch the majority of games after the club rid themselves of backup Hank Conger and acquired low-hitting backstop Drew Butera. That hasn’t happened, however; Iannetta is slashing just .193/.313/.292 in 192 plate appearances with the Angels this year, which, ouch. A .292 slugging percentage?!

He did hit a home run on Tuesday night against the Rockies (because of course he did), but other than that, he’s only slugged three other homers this year and has just four doubles to his name, too, with an OPS+ of just 76 and 47 strikeouts against 29 walks.

Obviously, catchers (besides Buster Posey) aren’t expected to crush it at the plate — if they can work well with the pitching staff behind the plate, they can play for a long time. So there’s nothing to say Iannetta is in big trouble as the starter (the Angels have guys like Butera behind him looking for playing time, a far worse hitter in his career than Iannetta has been).

That said, though, for a club that didn’t hit at all for the first few months of the season, Iannetta’s slump was just one more struggling bat on top of an underachieving lineup that couldn’t score runs to save their pitching staff. Now, as the Angels’ bats come alive, Iannetta’s struggles are less magnified and he can find his way in a lineup suddenly hitting around him.

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