The Angels Bounce Back Candidate Nobody is Talking About

From 2016 through 2024 Jorge Soler averaged 23 doubles and a little over 25 home runs per season while reaching base safely a third of the time. Those numbers look even better when you consider the 2020 season was truncated and Soler missed over half of 2022 due to injury.

When Angels GM Perry Minasian traded for Soler prior to the 2025 season he was hoping Soler's generally consistent production would be a solid addition to a lineup featuring sluggers Mike Trout and Taylor Ward. Instead, Soler scuffled through a really tough year before being shut down by injury.

With Taylor Ward taking his 37 home runs with him to Baltimore, a return to form from Jorge Soler is badly needed. Add in the Angels being third worst in all of MLB in on base percentage last year and Soler's ability to get on base is as important as his power.

Jorge Soler is the Angels bounce back candidate nobody is talking about.

After years of solid production, Soler fell off a cliff last season. His walk rate of 8.9% was the first time it was single digits and exactly 3% lower than in 2024. A 30% drop in walks is alarming.

On top of the lack of walks, Soler's contact was weaker than usual. His ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average) of .182 was his lowest since becoming a full time player. The drop in ISO is likely due to his average exit velocity of 89.7.

In short, Soler walked less often than usual while making weaker contact than usual.

There are reasons to believe he can recover, though.

Soler battled a lower back injury last season. At times you could see him take awkward swings at pitches down and away. The league figured this out and fed him a steady diet of sweepers and breaking balls away.

When given the opportunity to smash a fastball, he still did so with authority.

Jorge Soler with a two-run homer to left and the #Angels take a 10-8 lead in the eighth in a wild one. pic.twitter.com/l2ObHQxY4F
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) July 10, 2025

Pitchers are not going to continue to feed him high heat, though so Soler will need to be healthy. The good news is Soler was active at the Angels facility in Tempe doing baseball drills prior to the end of the 2025 season. With no word of a setback, it is reasonable to assume Soler is showing up to Tempe back at full health.

While we don't know exactly when Soler first hurt his back, the numbers indicate it was likely some time in early June. Through the first 50 games of the season Soler slashed .227/301/.407 which is not too far from his career norms. He had roped 10 doubles and 7 home runs so he was on pace to be right around his normal season. From that point on, Soler nose dived to a .193/.281/.355 over the next 35 games while striking out about a third of the time.

Although age is not on the 34 year old's side, Soler's value has never been with his feet. He's a masher who works walks and parks a couple of balls over the fence each year. Given the fact he was essentially his normal self last year prior to getting hurt, it is not unreasonable to think he can get back there.

Soler's OPS+ from 2016 to 2024 was 117, meaning he was 17% better than the average MLB hitter. Last season it was 88. Even if Soler loses a touch as he gets older, a return to 110 would be a major boost to the Angels lineup and help mitigate the loss of Taylor Ward.