The Angels Finally Have the Pitching to Make Playoffs—Maybe

Yes, the Halos lost to the Astros on Opening Day, but there was something different about the way in which it happened.

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ANAHEIM — In the end, the result was more of what the Angels have known all too well during their seven-year playoff drought. But the route the team took during Thursday’s 3–1 Opening Day defeat against the Astros could provide hope that this year, finally, maybe, could be different.

There was certainly something different about reigning American League MVP Shohei Ohtani. After averaging 95.6 mph on his fastball in 2021, he topped out at 99.8 on Thursday and never threw a fastball slower than 95. If that’s the new normal for baseball’s two-way sensation, opposing hitters would be wise to take notice.

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Ohtani said after the game when asked whether his added velocity was sustainable. “It’s going to be a long season, so I don’t know how fatigue is going to play into it, but I’m going to try to pick my spots and throw hard.”

Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports

Ohtani lasted just 80 pitches and 4 2/3 innings, giving up one run with nine strikeouts, but it’s what transpired after he left the mound that should give the Angels some belief that 2022 could mark a return to the postseason.

The persistent theme throughout the club’s struggles over the better part of the last decade has been pitching: namely, the Angels have not had enough of it. In each of the past three years, the Angels pitching staff has finished no better than 22nd in team ERA. Their rotation, in particular, has been abysmal, ranking second to last in ERA in 2019 and ’20 before improving marginally last season.

The front office added just two starters—Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen—to the mix but invested more prominently in the bullpen, signing free agents Ryan Tepera, Aaron Loup and Archie Bradley and re-signing star closer Raisel Iglesias to a four-year deal. The result is a bullpen that appears to be deeper than it has in years, with all three newcomers debuting on Thursday (though Tepera did falter by allowing two solo homers in the eighth inning).

Still, the reinforcements offer a glimpse at what the Angels might look like with more viable options than they’ve had in years past.

“I thought it was great tonight. I didn’t want to have to figure out that many innings, but early on we may have to, more consistently,” Maddon said about deploying five relief pitchers. “I loved it, I loved everything about it tonight. [Tepera] had a tough night, but this guy’s really, really good. That’s not gonna happen [often].”

Offensively, Los Angeles was stymied by Framber Valdez, who needed just 84 pitches to get through 6 2/3 shutout innings. Yet even with the quiet night, there was hope for the lineup just based on who took the field. For the first time in 325 days, Ohtani, Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon all played in the same game. Only Trout reached base among the three, but it’s hard to overstate the importance of the trio’s presence after they appeared in the same game together just 17 times in 2021.

The injuries to Trout and Rendon played as big a role in the team’s struggles as the struggling pitching did in 2021—particularly against division foes. The Angels went a paltry 29–47 against AL West teams last season.

“In my mind’s eye, we have not done well in this division primarily because we haven’t hit well in this division against good pitching,” Maddon said. “That’s the one area we have to get better with.”

Because baseball always has a sense of symbolic timing, Thursday’s game drove home the notion that this game is one of inches: Rendon nearly hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh that went just foul down the left-field line. In the next half-inning, Jo Adell overran a ball hit by Alex Bregman that landed in the first row of the left-field stands, which appeared to be catchable at the wall. Such is the life of a team that’s made a habit of operating on the periphery of playoff contention.

The Angels might not have the depth of other contenders, which is why those close-call plays are fitting of a team for which the margin for error will likely be razor thin. Maddon probably does not want to use six pitchers nightly, but the fact that he was able to against one of the league’s best offenses and keep the score manageable is a sign of progress compared to where this team has been in the recent past.

It’s not the level of progress for which the Angels are looking, but it’s a start. A deeper, more reliable pitching staff has been the missing link for a club in desperate need of something new to talk about besides its lengthy postseason absence. With more nights like Thursday—at least from a run prevention standpoint—perhaps that talking point will begin to fade into the background.

“It’s every year. I hear it all the time,” Trout said before the game. “I’m tired of hearing it. I’ve talked to the other guys, we’re all tired of hearing it. We’re eager to go.”