The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim thought they were the biggest winners of the offseason after signing outfielder Josh Hamilton to a five-year, $125 million contract. It was a win-win situation, right? Just look at his resume: five time All Star, three time silver slugger winner, 2010 ALCS MVP and he won the MVP award for the 2010 season. There were such high expectations for Hamilton entering the 2013 season (not only because of his past success, but also because of his mega deal) but so far he’s been a huge disappointment to the Angels.
Hamilton made a name for himself in Texas where he spent five seasons with the Rangers. He entered free agency and decided to leave the “football town" in Texas for Anaheim after going to the World Series twice with the Rangers and losing both series. Hamilton has been expected to be the missing piece to the Angels and put them above the rest in the AL West, but he has been in a major funk all season.
A quarter of the season has come and gone and Hamilton has severely struggled. He’s batting .214 with five homeruns and only 12 RBI. Not the numbers of a guy making $17 million this year.
Does his early season slump necessarily come as a surprise though? Hamilton struggled at the end of the 2012 season along with the whole Rangers team. His 2012 struggles have followed him to 2013 despite the fact that he signed with another contender and is surrounded by fellow homerun threats and big name players. One would have thought that would help him, but it hasn’t.
The Angels as a whole have struggled and when a team is struggling so is all of it’s players. It’s been reported recently that the slugger has had some allergy and sinus issues, but has stated that has nothing to do with his current struggles at the plate, nor should he use that as an excuse. He’s struggling, plain and simple. He hasn’t been able to get anything going at the plate for the Angels and the added pressure of a big contract and a win now mentality doesn’t help. The team he’s on isn’t gelling and there isn’t a lot of chemistry there. So can he overcome his early struggles and end the year on a positive note?
The good news is that he can’t really get much worse. It’s still very early in the season as it’s only May. Hamilton’s bat has shown signs of life as he hit a homerun in Tuesday's contest with the Kansas City Royals. Time will only tell if Hamilton can get out of his funk, and thankfully, for him, it’s still early.