Angels Manager Reveals Why He Made Major Mike Trout Change

Los Angeles Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery revealed why he moved Mike Trout from third to second in the batting order for Thursday's series opener against the Seattle Mariners.

“It’s not a big shakeup,” Montgomery said. “It’s just, any time you can get Mike more at-bats and try to get him in a position where he can get to the plate more, I’m gonna try that. So I thought it would be a good time to do it, in this series.

“You look around the league, and you could say that a lot of the better hitters bat in [the second] spot, and that’s probably true. Analytically, I’m not that smart to go to that extreme. I just think any time you can get your better players more opportunities to hit, that’s a good thing.”

The Angels ultimately suffered a 4-2 loss, however, Trout came up to the plate five times. He went 1-for-2 with a double, a run and three walks.

Giving Trout more at-bats makes more than enough sense for the Halos, as he has been fantastic since returning from the bone bruise in his knee, which kept him out for a month. He has the highest wRC+ (149) of any Angel since returning to the lineup, and has more homers than everyone on his team except Jo Adell in that span.

Trout's performance further highlighted his elite ability to draw walks, as he has the fourth-highest walk rate in MLB this season. He leads the team in walks, and trails only Nolan Schanuel's .366 on-base percentage with his .365 mark.

The Angels will hope to turn around the series against the M's, as it is potentially the one which will decide their season. The second game of the set begins Friday at 6:38 p.m. PT.