Could the Angels raise hell in the American League? Back at .500, Halos find themselves in playoff contention
Just 1 ½ games out of a wild-card spot, the Angels aren't going quietly
By
Mike Axisa
•
5 min read
For the first time since they were 25-25 on May 23, the Los Angeles Angels are a .500 team. The Angels completed a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday (LAA 5, BOS 2) thanks to 12 strikeouts in seven innings from free-agent pickup Yusei Kikuchi. The win was the seventh in the last 10 games for the Halos, and their 14th in 23 games in June. They are 40-40.
"Obviously it's been up and down to this point, but here we are at .500," Kikuchi said through an interpreter following Wednesday's win (via MLB.com). "Hopefully we can keep it going. We're halfway through and hopefully we can take that next step."
The Angels swept the Red Sox, took three of four from the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium last week, and swept three games from the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium last month. The 40-40 record comes with an unsightly minus-46 run differential, third worst in the American League overall, but the Angels are 23-15 with a plus-21 run differential since May 15.
This seven-week stretch of strong play has moved the Angels back into wild-card contention. Here are the American League wild-card standings entering play Thursday:
- Tampa Bay Rays: 45-35
- Toronto Blue Jays: 42-37 (+1 GB)
- Seattle Mariners: 41-38 (0 GB)
=============================== - Cleveland Guardians: 40-38 (1 GB)
- Los Angeles Angels: 40-40 (1 ½ GB)
- Texas Rangers: 40-41 (2 GB)
Last year, the Angels lost a franchise-record 99 games and they weren't expected to seriously contend this year, nor have they earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to exceeding expectations. For the Angels, playing .500 ball halfway through the season qualifies as being better than expected. Perhaps much better, depending who you ask.
Only the Rays (26-12) and Houston Astros (25-13) have better records among American League teams since May 15. What has led the Angels to their recent success? Here are three reasons they've put themselves in the wild-card mix.
1. Their first-round picks are clicking
On any given night, the Angels have six of their own first-round picks in the starting lineup: Mike Trout (2009), Taylor Ward (2015), Jo Adell (2017), Zach Neto (2022), Nolan Schanuel (2023), and Christian Moore (2024). Moore on Tuesday hit a game-tying home run in the eighth and a walk-off homer in the tenth. It was his 13th career MLB game.
Those six first-round picks are leading the way for the Angels offensively. The six players are hitting a combined .242/.318/.454 with 69 home runs this season, and this isn't a case of Trout propping up the players around him. Remove Trout, and the other five guys are hitting .244/.314/.457 with 57 home runs, or 48% of the team's total in 41% of the plate appearances.
Adell, who is still only 26, has 11 home runs in his last 26 games. He's teased us before, so I hesitate to call this a breakout, but what he's done these last few weeks is in the bank and has helped the Angels win games. Schanuel is unconventional as a low-power first baseman, but it's hard to argue with a .363 on-base percentage. Ward is third in the AL with 19 homers.
The Angels are not shy about rushing their prospects to the big leagues. Neto and Schanuel were the first players from their respective classes to reach the show and Moore was called up less than a year after being drafted. To their credit, it's working. The Angels have a lineup built largely around their own high draft picks. This is the goal of player development.
2. They have a stable rotation
The Angels are the only team in baseball to use just five starters this year. Every other team has used at least six starters and 24 other teams have used at least eight. Kikuchi, Tyler Anderson, Kyle Hendricks, Jack Kochanowicz, and José Soriano have started all 80 games. No one's gotten hurt, had to be demoted, etc. For a half a season, the Angels have had no rotation worries.
Kikuchi (2.79 ERA in 96 ⅔ innings) and Soriano (3.39 ERA in 93 innings) are a strong and underrated 1-2 punch. The other three guys have been up and down (combined 4.90 ERA), though Hendricks has a 4.12 ERA since May 1, and Kochanowicz has the kind of power arm you don't give up on. The Angels rank fifth in baseball with 7.3 WAR from their starting pitchers.
There is something to be said for stability and not having to dip into your organization for a sixth, seventh, or eighth starter. The Angels are not blessed with great depth -- top prospect Caden Dana (6.23 ERA in Triple-A) is probably next in line on the rotation depth chart -- and haven't had to use it yet. Their five starters have been their five starters. No replacements needed.
3. And also a suddenly reliable bullpen
Earlier in the season, the Angels had arguably the worst bullpen in the baseball. Veteran closer Kenley Jansen was steady in the ninth inning, but the rest of the relief corps was a mess, letting leads slip away and deficits get bigger on the regular. Lately though, the bullpen has been much more reliable, if not legitimately great. The in-season turnaround has been enormous.
The Angels have played 80 games this season. Here are their bullpen numbers if we split their season in half:
| First 40 games | Last 40 games | |
|---|---|---|
ERA | 6.94 (29th in MLB) | 3.38 (6th in MLB) |
Strikeout rate | 21.3% (22nd) | 23.4% (8th) |
WPA | -2.37 (29th) | 4.15 (1st) |
That's almost a six-win swing in win probability added (WPA) and it happened in-season, not from one year to the next. It happened from the first 40 games to the second 40 games. Things weren't working, so changes were made. Only four of the eight relievers on the Opening Day roster are still with the big-league team (Jansen, Brock Burke, Reid Detmers, Ryan Zeferjahn).
Detmers, another recent first-round pick (2020), has emerged as a high-leverage weapon, striking out 30 and allowing only two runs (one earned) in his last 19 ⅔ innings. Hunter Strickland and Héctor Neris were signed in-season and Sam Bachman and Connor Brogdon were called up. Those four have combined for a 3.72 ERA in 55 ⅔ innings, which is a huge upgrade in middle relief.
Their starters never miss a start, the bullpen has been so much better than it was earlier this year, and the offense has hit the third-most home runs in baseball thanks to all those successful first-round picks. The Angels remain a flawed team, no doubt, but they have been one of the league's better teams the last seven weeks. They've played their way back into the postseason race.
