Will LA be home sweet home for Josh Hamilton?

Josh Hamilton is on his way to play in LA and over the last five seasons he has been the picture of inconsistency while playing in Angels Stadium.

Over the last five seasons, Hamilton has played 38 games, granted a small sample, but in those games he hit .260 going 39-for-150. He hit five homers, 10 doubles, drove home 19, walked 13 times and whiffed 28 times. 

Here are Hamilton's results 2008-12 in LA

Clearly one of the things that Angels pitchers did against Hamilton was to induce grounders for him to pull and get him go to the opposite field, in the air. Hamilton hit .304 to the opposite field with two homers. Hamilton hit .286 when pulling the ball, with no homers.

But Hamilton's success was by doing what hitting coaches are always encouraging their batters to do - go up the middle. Hamilton has hit .375 with two doubles and three homers to centerfield over the last five years in LA.

Hamilton: 2008-12 

• Overall, Hamilton has hit .305, slugged .549, with an OPS of .912. He's slammed 142 homers.
• To right field, or when pulling the ball, Hamilton has hit .480, slugged .922, with an OPS of 1.396. He's slammed 66 homers.
• To left field, or when going to the opposite field, Hamilton has hit .373, slugged .618, with an OPS of .982. He's slammed 25 homers.
• To center field, Hamilton has hit .345, slugged .617, with an OPS of .955. He's slammed 50 homers.  

Clearly, when Hamilton makes contact, he has been very successful.

Of all the numbers Hamilton has posted, 555 may be the most significant.

Hamilton Strikeouts 2008-12 

• 2008 - 126 whiffs in 156 games
• 2009 - 79 whiffs in 89 games
• 2010 - 95 whiffs in 133 games
• 2011 - 93 whiffs in 121 games
• 2012 - 162 whiffs in 148 games
• Total - 555 whiffs in 647 games 

See the ball, hit the ball.

Contact, up the middle, can make LA home sweet home for Hamilton, no Joshing.