Los Angeles Angels
2024 record: 63-99
Fifth place, AL West
Team ERA: 4.56 (26th in MLB)
Team OPS: .671 (28th in MLB)
What went well
Well, expectations weren’t terribly high after Shohei Ohtani left for greener deferred pastures, and perhaps the best news is that Ohtani’s historic season wasn’t wasted on a team as bad. Sorry, I know this is the positive section, but yeah. In positive news, Zach Neto took a big step forward in his first full MLB season with 23 home runs, 30 stolen bases and a .761 OPS while also playing solid defense up the middle. Logan O’Hoppe managed to deliver 20 home runs behind the plate, and while it was far from the most consistent season you’ll see, there are flashes that suggest he can be a solid fantasy catcher in the future. Jo Adell easily had his greatest success at the highest level finishing with 20 homers and 15 steals, and a few other young hitters like Nolan Schanuel and Luis Rengifo showed talent that suggests they can be regulars – maybe even fantasy players –. in the years to come. The pitch will be highlighted in the section below, with a few exceptions. Jose Soriano played the role in his first year as a starter before dealing with arm fatigue with a 3.42 ERA in his 113 innings. Ben Joyce also impressed before his injury with a 2.08 ERA and four saves in his 34 2/3 innings of work.
What didn’t work
The Angels managed to avoid losing games by triple digits – the only team that hasn’t lost 100 games in a season in baseball – and were never close to the playoffs. Mike Trout was limited to 29 games with a torn meniscus in his left knee, and the rest of the Los Angeles roster, with all due respect to the names above, was as bad as it gets in the West from Chicago. Anthony Rendon continued his downward trend and was – once again – limited by injuries. Taylor Ward was the only hitter to show any semblance of consistency, and anyone who has followed Ward’s career knows how frightening that notion is. Mickey Moniak hit just .219 and struck out in 114 of 418 plate appearances, and the team was so desperate for offense that it sometimes gave retreads like Keston Hiura, Niko Goodrum and Miguel Sano a chance .
These two pitchers listed in What Went Right and half a season of Tyler Anderson (more on that later) were exceptions to what was one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball. Reid Detmers was a disaster. He spent much of the season in the minors and finished with a 6.70 ERA in his 17 starts. Patrick Sandoval and Griffin Canning both finished with ERAs above 5.00, and Sandoval won’t be back until mid-July after undergoing surgery to repair the UCL in his left elbow. It was a disaster for a baseball team, and they’re looking years away from being in contention at this point.
Fantastic inclinations
– Trout only made 126 plate appearances, and while he wasn’t a big factor in the middle category with a .220 mark, he hit 10 home runs with a .541 slugging percentage at during this period. On top of that, the 32-year-old made an impact in the goals with six interceptions in seven attempts. That total equals his last steals in the previous four seasons, but it seems a risky assumption to believe he would run that much after a serious knee injury. There’s already talk of Trout moving to the corner outfield and DH in hopes of keeping him healthy, but the potential reward in the future Hall of Fame profile comes with a lot of risk.
– Anderson was an All-Star for the Angels in 2024 and his 3.81 ERA is far from an obnoxious number. It’s worth pointing out, however, that after the break the ERA was 5.43 over 12 starts with a WHIP of 1.51; and hitters posted a .777 OPS in the second half, up from a .662 mark previously. The veteran southpaw was able to avoid hard contact at an elite level (33 percent hard hit percentage, 87.2 average exit velocity), but he was well below average at avoiding bats. mouse (18.6 percent strikeout percentage) with a walk rate close to 10 percent. (9.6). Anderson makes for a solid streaming option against weaker lineups, but shouldn’t be a highly targeted player in drafts entering his age-35 season.
-Joyce is one of the hardest throwers in baseball and has averaged just under 100 mph with his fastball, but he has become a much more complete pitcher in recent years. Despite his heater, his strikeout rate of 23.2 was just average, but his barrel rate allowed of 4.4 percent and his ground ball percentage of 59.3 would have been among the best if he were He was qualified. The Angels won’t be good enough to give Joyce a ton of save chances, but his stuff is good enough to make him one of the best closers in 2025 and beyond.
– Adell isn’t far from being considered a top prospect in the sport, and it’s worth pointing out that he won’t turn 26 until April. The positives are a player who has one of the best bat speeds in the sport and has thrown the baseball very solidly 11.7 percent of the time, and his 44.7 percent hard hit percentage will come into play. What won’t work as well is a 29.8 percent whiff rate and strikeout percentage not far behind (27.9), and righties have blocked it to the tune of a .621 OPS versus .877 against lefties. Still, there’s reason to be optimistic based on the body of work, and Adell just might put it all together one day — perhaps even in 2025.
– Jack Kochanowicz was called upon to finish the year in the Angels’ rotation, and he held his own. He finished the year with three consecutive seven-inning outings, and his 3.99 ERA at age 23 is nothing to sneeze at. That number seems a little hard to repeat considering how much he struggled to miss at bats with just 25 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings – he was dead last in baseball in whiff percentage and strikeout – but he beat the strike zone with a 3.8. walk percent, and he had a sensational ground ball rate of 56.5 percent. It’s absolutely fair to be skeptical of this type of profile, but Kochanowiz is one of the few pitchers on this team worth considering.
Key free agents
Brandon Drury, Kevin Pillar, Hunter Strickland, Matt Moore
Team needs
Ohtani would help. Sorry. The Angels have the “privilege” of being able to really improve anywhere offensively, with catcher, shortstop, and first base being the positions they should feel most confident in. The closer position should also go to Joyce if he is healthy and it seems likely that the Angels have the majority of their starters under contract, the question is simply how many of them, if any , are good. The Angels appear to be engaged in a rebuild that was desperately needed, so don’t expect Los Angeles to become a major player in the free agent market. This will take a bit.
