Mike Napoli’s six seasons with the Angels were filled with good production and fans clamoring for manager Mike Scioscia to play him more at catcher instead of light-hitting defensive specialist Jeff Mathis.
Napoli was traded away in January of 2011 and his two seasons since leaving the Angels have been filled with crushing his former team.
Yesterday that included Napoli going 3-for-3 with two homers off former batterymate Ervin Santana and six RBIs as the Rangers all but extinguished the Angels’ playoff chances.
He’s now played 33 total games against the Angels during the past two seasons, hitting .396 with 12 homers, 10 doubles, and an .829 slugging percentage while getting on base exactly 50 percent of the time.
Or, put another way:
Napoli for the Angels: .831 OPS
Napoli since leaving the Angels: .936 OPS
Napoli against the Angels: 1.329 OPS
When asked about Napoli’s performance, Torii Hunter said it best: “He plays with a vengeance. I hate that he’s doing it, but that’s how you really make a statement.”