Reasons for Hope: Uncharted Waters for Angel fans
Anaheim needs to experience October baseball; They're closer than you think!
Over the past decade, no team has had it worse than the Angels. Unable to play a single playoff game during Shohei Ohtani’s tenure with the team, they now own the longest playoff drought in MLB (last app. 2014).
The Angels are low on the industry’s consensus for upcoming World Series winners, but they’re closer than many think.
What much of the industry is sleeping on, and what we’re going to dive into, is the young core within the Angels org, either in the bigs, or on the cusp of cracking the MLB roster. Now let’s get into it.
Logan O'Hoppe
O’Hoppe was the key piece coming to Anaheim in a 2022 trade with the Phillies that saw Brandon Marsh swapping the Pacific Ocean for The City of Brotherly Love. While the Phils were more than happy with JT Realmuto catching the bulk of their games, the Angels were ecstatic to finally have their franchise catcher. While playing in 136 games caught up to him by the end of the season, O’Hoppe still managed to bang 20 home runs (first Angels catcher to do so since Mike Napoli in 2009), and also boost his DRS from -9 in 2023 to +1 in 2024. What is even more encouraging is that O’Hoppe simply crushes the ball, and is in the 100th percentile across the league in Launch Angle Sweet Spot %.
Others leaders in LA Sweet Spot %: Trout, Judge, Betts.
Zach Neto
Putting Neto’s career year aside for a moment, the significance of the manager/protege relationship between Angels manager Ron Washington and infielder Zach Neto cannot be forgotten. Washington has had high expectations for Neto, and Neto has shown he is up for the challenge. “I think on the baseball field we are the same person, we have the same qualities” said Neto on manager Ron Washington in a podcast interview with
. Numbers that matter: Neto notched a ridiculous 114 wRC+ (9th highest among SS with 400+ ABs in 2024). His DRS improved from 3 to 11 in 2024, and he stole 30 bags. Neto is a leader of the club, and his improvements as a player and leader will play a pivotal role in the Angels snapping the league’s longest playoff drought.
Christian Moore
In layman's terms, Christian Moore is the most promising impact bat drafted by the Angels since a guy by the name of Mike Trout (I didn’t forget about him don’t worry). Moore followed up an incredible collegiate career at Tennessee with a monstrous debut in professional baseball. While AA pitching is not the same as MLB pitching, in Moore’s 98 at-bats in AA: 169 wRC+. If his bat translates to the MLB, Moore could be the AL 2B Silver Slugger rather quickly. He has 50/50 speed per Fangraphs, and if his defense continues to improve, a tandem of Neto and Moore up the middle gives me early-days Correa/Altuve vibes. Call me crazy.
Ben Joyce
Joyce has the livest arm in baseball. He ranks in the top percentile in Fastball Velo, he limits barrels, and when the ball gets hit, it's on the ground. While his strikeout numbers look a little lackluster, there is reason to believe those numbers will only improve. In Joyce’s first season throwing 30+ innings in the bigs, he added a disgusting Splitter, added an extremely effective Sinker, and refined his Slider to get some rather foolish swings and misses. It’s rare to see a 24 year old with pure closer stuff have the maturity, coachability, and adaptability to make these improvements on the fly, all while finding his first taste of success in the big leagues.
Caden Dana
As a 20 year old, Dana has already gotten his feet wet with the big league roster. He has a legitimate feel for four pitches, and his poise and maturity on the mound is clear. While he continues to make adjustments and find what works for him, he’ll only continue to improve as the Angels most promising young starting pitcher. Dana only threw a handful of cutters in his three big league starts, but if he can get a feel for that as his fifth pitch, he’ll be getting the ball in game one when the Angels reach the promised land.
Mike Trout
If you forget just how good Mike Trout is, refer to this visual from Sports Illustrated from April 2024.
If Trout can stay healthy, he is as much of a game-changer as adding Soto or Judge to a lineup.
Highest Draft Pick Since Troy Glaus (3rd overall 1997 Draft)
This is the most important draft pick for the Angels arguably ever. The Angels need another impact bat to lead them into their next competitive window alongside Trout, O’Hoppe, Neto, and Moore. The Angels own the 3rd highest odds (17.96%) of securing the 1st overall pick in the 2025 MLB Amatuer Draft. The odds would suggest the Angels will hopefully land a top 5 selection, if not a better one. A few impact bats that stand out in draft boards:
Ethan Holliday: (OF / Prep) Yes, that Holliday. Some say he has a better bat than his brother, Jackson. It’s hard to top his lineage with his father Matt (44.5 career WAR) and his brother Jackson (who went 1st overall in the 2022 draft).
Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images Jace LaViolette (OF / Texas A&M) LaViolette went toe-to-toe with 2024 1st-rounder Braden Montgomery. As a sophomore in 2024 hit: .305/.449/.726 with 29 homers. If the Angels land his talents, LaViolette can play RF and bat in the meat of a lineup the very next month, and knowing the Angels, that might be the plan.
Credit: Bart Boatwright / Upstatetoday.com Cam Cannarella (OF / Clemson) I’ll leave this one to MLB writer Jim Callis, who had this to say about Cannarella: “One of the best hitters and center-field defenders in the Draft, Cannarella slashed .337/.417/.561 with 11 homers as a sophomore while playing with a torn labrum in his right (throwing) shoulder that required surgery in July. A top-of-the-order catalyst, he has a quick left-handed swing and plus speed but will need to add strength and learn to lift more balls to get to average power”. If there is another great Angels CF after Trout, Cannarella could be that guy.
The Angels have a real young core for the first time in recent memory. If Mike Trout can stay healthy, the young bats continue to make an impact, and young arms find some success, the Angels may find themselves in a true competitive window for the first time in some years.