MLB Notebook: Los Angeles Angels Preview

The Los Angeles Angels have not made the postseason since 2014. They have not finished over .500 since 2015. This in spite of having one of the game’s signature players in Mike Trout and getting several years from the signature player in Shohei Ohtani before he went across town to play for the Dodgers. Angels fans have seen several MVP years from their stars over the past decade, but little in the way of victories. And their 99-loss campaign a year ago was the worst yet. Ron Washington, a pennant-winning manager in Texas over a decade ago, is in his second year trying to pick up the pieces.

Here’s an overview of what the Halos have on tap for 2025:

POWER

There is some definite promise in this area. Leftfielder Taylor Ward and DH Jorge Soler have averaged 20-plus homers over the last three seasons and Soler hit 36 bombs with Miami two years ago. Zachary Neto, a talented young shortstop, popped 23 home runs last year. Logan O’Hoppe and Jo Adell, young players at catcher and centerfield respectively, each cleared the 20-homer threshold.

GETTING ON BASE

Los Angeles needs another nice young player, second baseman Luis Rengifo to continue his growth. Rengifo batted .300 and stole 24 bases last season. First baseman Nolan Schauel doesn’t have the power you would expect from his position, but he posted a .343 on-base percentage in his first season of regular playing time. Ward and Soler can also contribute here, with OBPs in the .330 range.

What all aspects of the Angels offense ultimately revolve around is a healthy Trout. A lock first-ballot Hall of Famer, Trout has only played 111 games over the last two years. He’s got to stay healthy.

LAA could further benefit from the career resurgence of a couple of former White Sox infielders. Yoan Moncada is starting at third base, and had his last good year in 2021, when he was with a Chicago team that won the division. The same is true for Tim Anderson, who will back up Neto at shortstop—and get playing time right out of the chute while Neto recovers from an elbow injury.

STARTING PITCHING

There’s a lot of new faces here. Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks are veteran acquisitions. They join Tyler Anderson, who has been a steady starter in Anaheim for several years. There’s also promising young arms. Jack Kochanowicz made 11 starts last year and finished with a 4.00 ERA. Jose Soriano split time between the rotation and the bullpen and finished with a 3.49 ERA. There’s no one in the Angel rotation that makes you go “Wow,” but there’s no obvious disaster point either.

BULLPEN

Signing Kenley Jansen is an indication that Los Angeles is not going to write the season off. The veteran closer isn’t dominant anymore, but he’s still steady. Ben Joyce pitched extremely well in his first year getting regular work. Ryan Zeferjah and Garrett McDaniel are both young and unproven. But when you’re on a team with as much recent futility as the Angels have suffered, “unproven” isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

OUTLOOK

I think there’s reason for hope in Anaheim. While a healthy Trout is a precondition to any hope of the playoffs, there’s still a lot of worthwhile pieces in place without him. Betting markets put the Angels win total at 72.5—basically a referendum on whether they will lose 90 games. My final picks won’t come until we’ve completed all of these previews, and I can get everything in context. But I’m comfortable saying this right now—I think the Halos will go Over and win at least 73.