Mike Trout: good. Everyone else: bad.
Anaheim is a wonderful city with a beautiful ballpark, near-perfect weather year-round, and a bad baseball team that has wasted the careers of two of the best players in MLB history. Can’t have everything, I suppose.
They lost their crown jewel in two-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, who made his way up the 5 to play for the Dodgers, but Mike Trout is healthy and hitting like it’s 2017 again. Let’s get into it.
Where were they in 2023?
Shohei Ohtani had one of the greatest seasons ever seen in 2023. His hitting alone was enough to win the MVP, but he was also considered the Cy Young favorite before his elbow injury in August. Of course, since this is the Angels, that still wasn’t enough to contend for the playoffs.
*Adding to our list of favorite Shohei Ohtani moments.
@PitchingNinja | @BallySportWest #ShoTime #MLB
— Bally Sports (@BallySports) June 3, 2023
A late July run of eight wins in nine games convinced the Angels to buy at the trade deadline, acquiring Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Randal Grichuk, and CJ Cron. Unfortunately for them, it was not a sign of future success as they went 16-39 down the stretch and finished 13 games out of the playoffs. In a somewhat cowardly cost-saving move, they also placed all four of their deadline acquisitions on waivers at the end of August, along with veterans Chris Devenski, Matt Moore, Hunter Renfroe, and Dominic Leone. While post-deadline waiver trades no longer exist, the Angels were trying to get below the luxury tax to save some cash and get a better compensatory pick when Ohtani inevitably left.
It didn’t help that Trout was hurt and only played 82 games. He also wasn’t himself when he did play, but of course, a “down” Mike Trout season still produced 2.9 fWAR in half a season. He looked mortal for the first time in his career, but as we’re seeing so far in 2024, we may have jumped the gun on his decline.
What’s new in 2024?
That Ohtani guy we saw with the Dodgers? Thankfully, we won’t see him again in Anaheim. Ohtani left for LAD, signing the biggest contract in MLB history. Obviously, there’s no way to replace a player who was simultaneously your best hitter and pitcher, but the Angels didn’t even try.
Their big offseason acquisition was reliever Robert Stephenson, who quietly turned into one of the best bullpen arms in baseball last year. He inked a three-year, $33 million pact with LA. Unfortunately, he hasn’t thrown an inning for the Angels and won’t for some time as he is out with a UCL injury. Beyond that, they signed a barrage of veteran pitchers to eat innings for them, including Matt Moore, Luis Garcia, Jose Cisnero, Adam Cimber, Zach Plesac, and Adam Kolarek. They also brought in old friend Aaron Hicks, who had a semi-revival with the Orioles after being cut by the Yankees.
A small slump this last week may have dampened the Mike Trout hype, but he’s still off to a tremendous start. His 10 home runs lead all of baseball and he is stealing bases for the first time in years, perhaps the best sign that he’s feeling healthy. Trout has five steals this season after having only six over the last four seasons combined.
mike trout has 10 homers and 13 rbi it’s truepic.twitter.com/kL3uVa9pXP
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 24, 2024
Beyond them, there are plenty of names you’ll recognize from years past. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe (142 wRC+) and outfielder Taylor Ward (138 wRC+) are off to hot starts, giving the lineup a bit of depth that they’ve been lacking in recent seasons.
Other Names to Know
This is where we need to talk about Miguel Sano. After sitting out all of 2023 recovering from the leg injuries that plagued him in the latter part of his Twins tenure, Sano agreed to a minor league deal with the Angels. The 31-year-old earned a spot in the Bigs out of Spring Training and has looked, not necessarily good, but competent! It’s a big step forward from the last time we saw him against MLB competition.
He’s also something of an enigma offensively. Among players with at least 50 plate appearances, Sano leads all of baseball in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate, both good things to do! He also has an unsustainably high .441 BABIP and the highest ground ball rate of his career. What does all of this mean? Honestly, probably just that the season is young and his sample size is still small. Sano can still be a good MLB hitter, but I don’t think we need to worry about him regaining his All-Star form. Also, he pitched once.
MIGUEL SANO IS PITCHING FOR THE ANGELS pic.twitter.com/OsFN4CKK2A
— Vazquez Appreciator (@Prime_Julien) April 7, 2024
TLDR
The Angels aren’t bad enough to bottom out like the White Sox, but they probably should. They’re held in mediocrity by the willpower of Mike Trout and some perfectly fine veterans, but the talent throughout the organization is severely lacking. The next version of the Angels that makes the playoffs will be post-Trout, but it’s a good test to see if the Twins have found their groove against a team that is just fine.