FIRST HALF REVIEW
HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Angels lost two of their best hitters to injuries for a month – Mike Trout in May and Yoán Moncada in June – but the emergence of Jo Adell (.243, .800 OPS, 19 home runs, 54 RBIs) and the consistent production of cleanup man Taylor Ward (.224, .765 OPS, 21 homers, 65 RBIs) and leadoff man Zach Neto (.279, .818 OPS, 15 homers, 35 RBIs) have helped keep them afloat amid a season marked by up-and-down stretches. All-Star left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (4-6. 3.11 ERA) has been a rotation rock, and hard-throwing right-hander Jose Soriano (6-7, 3.90 ERA) has shown flashes of dominance. Veteran closer Kenley Jansen (3.38 ERA, 16 for 17 in save opportunities) and left-handers Reid Detmers (1.24 ERA over his past 28 games) and Brock Burke (4-1, 3.65 ERA in 44 games) have steadied a bullpen that went from having a major league-worst 7.06 ERA in mid-May to a 5.02 ERA – the 17th best in baseball – at the break.
SECOND HALF PREVIEW
KEYS TO SUCCESS: Trout, a three-time American League MVP, has been solid since returning from a knee injury in late-May, batting .283 with a .911 OPS, eight homers and 23 RBIs in 41 games, but he needs to be more of a force at the plate. A return to right field, which would improve the defense and free up DH at-bats for Soler and others, would also help. Tyler Anderson (2-6, 4.34 ERA) and Kyle Hendricks (5-6, 4.88 ERA) need to provide more quality starts, and a replacement must be found for Jack Kochanowicz, who was demoted to Triple-A with a major league-worst 6.03 ERA last week. A return of right-hander Robert Stephenson would be a huge boost to a bullpen that seems one injury away from disaster. Stephenson looked dominant in his first appearance after returning from elbow surgery in late May but returned to the injured list because of a stretched nerve in his right biceps shortly thereafter.
BIGGEST CONCERNS: Moncada returned from a right knee injury in early July but admitted he is not 100%. The switch-hitter has not been able to hit from the right side, and his lack of mobility has been costly in the field – one of his two errors led to four unearned runs in Sunday’s 5-1 loss to Arizona. There are no obvious in-house choices to replace Kochanowicz, so General Manager Perry Minasian will likely need to fill his rotation spot from the outside. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe has regressed badly at the plate since his hot start, when he hit .294 with a .902 OPS, nine homers and 16 RBIs in his first 29 games. O’Hoppe hit .191 with a .572 OPS, eight homers, 21 RBIs, 62 strikeouts and eight walks in his last 48 games. Travis d’Arnaud (.305, .944 OPS, five homers, 13 RBIs in 18 games since June 3) should play more, but the Angels need to be careful not to wear down the 36-year-old backup catcher.
TRADE POSSIBILITIES: If they remain in the hunt, the Angels could pursue veteran starting pitchers such as Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly (Arizona), Andrew Heaney (Pittsburgh), Germán Márquez (Colorado) and Aaron Civale (Chicago White Sox). Relievers such as Dennis Santana and David Bednar (Pittsburgh), Jake Bird (Colorado), Kyle Finnegan (Washington) and Shelby Miller (Arizona) would be attractive trade targets. Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who has 31 homers and an NL-leading 78 RBIs, might be available. If they fall out of contention, the Angels might get decent returns for Jansen and switch-hitting utility man Luis Rengifo, who hit .292 with a .785 OPS, three homers, five doubles and 10 RBIs in 29 games before the break. The Angels could get maximum value if they traded Detmers, and Hendricks and Anderson might be attractive to contenders looking to plug rotation holes.
SCHEDULE: The Angels will face an immediate challenge coming out of the break with six games on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets, the top two teams in the NL East, and they’ll return home for seven games against Seattle and Texas, the two teams ahead of them in the AL West. How they fare against these contenders will determine their course of action at the trade deadline. But beginning with a July 24 game against the Mariners, the Angels will play 22 of 28 games at home through Aug. 24. The September schedule features 15 games against the sub-.500 Kansas City Royals, Athletics and Minnesota Twins and 11 games against the playoff-contending Houston Astros, Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers, including a season-ending three-game set against Houston.
