Who Could be the Angels Drake Maye and Sam Darnold?

Not many people, if any, predicted tomorrow's big game would be a battle of New England versus Seattle. In order for that to happen, both teams needed breakout seasons from key players.

In the case of Drake Maye, he was a first round draft pick but not the darling of his draft class. Maye had shown promise in spurts but like most young players also had struggled at times. This past season, however, he put it all together and had a near MVP type campaign.

On the other side of the ledger, Sam Darnold came out of college with a lot of hype and fanfare. Probably more than Maye. After spending a few years bouncing around the league he finally found the perfect home and led his team to the Super Bowl.

Who might be the Angels version of Drake Maye?

Like Maye, Christian Moore was a first round pick in the 2024 draft. He was not the darling of the draft community but universally lauded as a player worthy of his first round selection. Like Maye, he put up solid numbers in college but scouts had some concerns.

Drake May was the second quarteback taken in his draft. Moore was the second second baseman taken in his. In each case, the top overall pick played the same position.

In the modern game, particularly in Anaheim, prospects are rushed to the big leagues and their struggles seem amplified. But there were great reasons for Moore's high draft selection and those reasons still exist. The kid hit .375/.451/.797 in by far the toughest conference in college baseball.

It isn't hard to look at this swing and footspeed and see a breakout candidate.

Officially only 1 week away from Tennessee Baseball.

#7 Christian Moore inside the park Home Run🍊🍊 pic.twitter.com/uIWWLz41Ux
— SullenSerf (@SullenSerf) February 6, 2026

And who is the Angels Sam Darnold?

People tend to forget that Nick Madrigal was the 4th overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft. He had a stellar career at Oregon State and hit .367 with an on base percentage of .428 in his final year. His slugging percentage of .511 was solid yet the weakest part of his game.

A player who makes consistent contact, gets on base, and plays a good second base is a high quality player. Pundits liked the White Sox selection and Madrigal immediately jumped to the top half of top 100 prospects lists. At one point Baseball Prospectus had him as #12.

Like Darnold, Madrigal has bounced around a little bit and shown some of what made him coveted and some weaknesses. Still, despite not living up to his draft hype Madrigal has generally been solid with the glove while producing an on base percentage of .323 at the Major League level.

He turns 29 right as the season starts so like Darnold he is no longer a prospect. But with a little better contact, he could be a truly valuable player. Sometimes it takes a player a while to find his groove. It did for Darnold. And it just might for Madrigal.