Angels’ David Fletcher Is Baseball’s Most Anonymous Talent

In the age of ever-increasing exit velocities and launch angles, David Fletcher stands out. The Angels’ second baseman ranks dead last in average exit velocity among qualified major-league hitters and has the second-lowest strikeout rate in the American League. He’s also second in the AL in hits and owns the longest hitting streak of the season, doing so with a quiet confidence his manager likens to Joe Namath’s.

On a team with three-time MVP Mike Trout, two-way phenomenon and 2021’s presumptive AL MVP Shohei Ohtani, and All-Star corner infielders Anthony Rendon and Jared Walsh, it’s the 5' 9" Fletcher who has paced the lineup from the leadoff spot for most of the year. (Recently, he and…