Expert Reveals Detailed Plan to Rescue Angels 2023 Season
The 2023 season for the Los Angeles Angels is only going to come with more pressure with the passing of every game. Anything other than a historic trip to the playoffs will likely result in Shohei Ohtani rocking a new uniform next season, Arte Moreno possibly selling the team, and another year of Mike Trout heading to vacation early.
It really is an unfortunate situation for the franchise because they've have a number of bright spots this year, so many more than those prior. A pretty solid pitching rotation and bullpen is starting to form with numerous prospects finding their way in the big leagues and Reid Detmers and Carlos Estevez shining. Mickey Moniak and Zach Neto have defied a number of their doubters and both forged out consistent roles.
However, this is not an experiment year nor one that will be measured just by how much this group grows. Maybe if Shohei Ohtani was four years younger, he'd be willing to stick around and develop with these guys but that ship has sailed. He already got a taste of winning some championship hardware in the WBC and his legacy is all that's on his mind right now.
What Needs To Change For LA?
Luckily, we are still just a little over two months into the new season and the Halos have not fallen out of the playoff race. Losing that series against the Houston Astros definitely hurt but a lot of issues that the squad needs to work on were evident in those losses.
MLB's Rhett Bollinger certainly paid close attention to the mishaps that have been committed by the Angels and a number have been on defense. They do have a lot of green players out there right now and Bollinger believes they'll improve once Anthony Rendon is back.
"The Angels have committed the sixth-most errors in baseball, although advanced defensive statistics, such as defensive runs saved, have them more in the middle of the pack. Rookie shortstop Zach Neto has solidified the defense and his absence was felt on Saturday when he was out after being hit by a pitch on his left foot on Friday. And the return of Anthony Rendon on Tuesday or Wednesday should also help."
(Via MLB.com)
LA's recent failures when it comes to bringing in their runners on base have also hurt them tremendously. Those matches against Houston could've been much closer and even possibly would've went in their direction had they capitalized on certain opportunities.
Bollinger urges the squad to clean that up as well.
"It was an issue against the Astros, when they batted only .167 (6-for-36) with runners in scoring position in their four-game series. They went 2-for-12 in those situations on both Thursday and Friday, went 2-for-10 on Saturday and 0-for-2 on Sunday."
(Via MLB.com)
LA is in the midst of a new series against the Cubs and hopefully these needs will be addressed.
