vs. 
Has the offense improved since Mickey Hatcher's departure on May 15th? The obvious answer is yes, the offense has improved! Is that entirely because of Jim Eppard..no, not entirely. The improvement can be attributed to (in no specific order) the arrival of Mike Trout, the injury to Vernon Wells, the dismissal of Bobby Abreu the breakout of Mark Trumbo and the resurgence of Albert Pujols. Needless to say there have been a lot of different factors. Eppard obviously has a different hitting philosophy then Hatcher though and that should not be overlooked. The Halos may still hack at garbage pitching from time to time but there is a noticeable improvement in their approach at the plate. The Halos have improved offensively, but just how much?
Let's take a look at a few areas of improvement:
Walks
Under Hatcher, the team had 88 walks in 37 games which averaged out to 2.37 walks per games. Under Eppard, the team tallied 105 walks in only 33 games which averages out to 3.18 walks per game; a difference of 0.81 walks per game.
Runs
Under Hatcher the team scored 134 runs in 37 games, an average of 3.62 runs per game. Under Eppard, the team has scored 153 runs in 33 games for an average of 4.63 runs per game; a difference of 1.01 runs per game.
Below are the offensive stats for the Halos in the Hatcher era and the Eppard era along with where the team ranked/ranks overall in the AL.
Hatcher Era =(
Avg.: .246 / 8th
OBP: .296 / 12th
SLG: .378 / 12th
OPS: .674 / 11th
Hits: 237 / 7th
HR: 24 / 10th
RBI’s: 99 / 11th
R: 134 / 12th
BB: 88 / 14th
Eppard Era =)
Avg.: .270
OBP: .335
SLG: .431
OPS: ..766
HR: 39
RBI's: 148
R: 153
BB: 105
Overall
Angels’ Team Statistics / League Rank (as of 6/21/12)
Avg.: .260 / 5th (+0.14)
OBP: .317 / 9th (+0.21)
SLG: .404 / 8th (+0.26)
OPS: .721 / 8th (+0.47)
Hits: 613 / 4th
OBP: .317 / 9th (+0.21)
SLG: .404 / 8th (+0.26)
OPS: .721 / 8th (+0.47)
Hits: 613 / 4th
HR: 71 / 7th
RBI’s: 275 / 11th
R: 287 / 11th
BB: 105 / 13th
Again, hard to give all the credit to Eppard but there is a noticeable improvement across the board. Hatcher is a lovable character to some, an annoyance to others. I think one thing is very apparent though, he just wasn't cut out to be a hitting coach, at least not this team's hitting coach. So when the question arises of how much has this offense improved since Eppard's arrival, a look at the above stats pretty much sums it all up...the offense has improved a lot!
