The Los Angeles Angels have been a study in baseball team futility over the past few years. Since acquiring Shohei Ohtani back in 2018, they have had two of the greatest players to ever play the game on their roster at the same time. It has resulted in next to nothing in terms of team success, as they haven’t finished with a winning record since 2015.
Los Angeles Angels Have Won 7 Of 10
Angels since the All-Star break: 7-3.
+9 run differential.
Currently 3 1/2 games behind in the Wildcard race.
Per Fangraphs, chances for making the playoffs: 16.7%.
Only Shohei Ohtani knows what the Angels’ chances are of re-signing him to a deal after he reaches free agency.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 26, 2023
Things looked a bit better to start the current season. While Ohtani has been solidifying himself as the most skilled player of our generation and running away with the MVP race, the Angels have been hovering around .500 for much of 2023. On June 16th, they were just 3.5 games back of the AL West leader, and tied with the Houston Astros for second place.
It looked as though the season might slip away from them just before the All-Star break. Playing primarily against some of the top teams in the NL West, the Angels went 1-9 in their final 10 games before the break. They dipped to below .500 for the first time since April 20th, and were 5 games back of the final wild card spot in the American League.
The rest must have helped. The Los Angeles Angels have been one of the hottest teams in baseball over the last couple of weeks, having won 7 of their last 10 games. They swept the Yankees to start off last week, which they followed by taking 2 out of 3 from the Pirates. They have a +9 run differential in that span, and are up to +19 on the year, and more importantly, have clawed their way back into playoff contention.
Trout Could Be Returning In August
Shohei Ohtani is simply incredible.
I don’t know how he does it. pic.twitter.com/HdwQu33m3Q
— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) July 18, 2023
As it stands on Wednesday morning, the Angels are just 3.5 games back of the Blue Jays for the final wild card spot, and have a favorable matchup this week against the Tigers. They have a chance to make up some serious ground this weekend, though, as they’ll head to Toronto to take on those idol Jays.
One even further bit of good news is the potential return of Mike Trout. He has been out of the lineup since July 3rd after having surgery on his hand, and the team has missed having his bat in the lineup. There is still no timetable for when he might be back in action, but the reports from his recovery have thus far been positive.