ANGELS’ 2022 SEASON
FIRST-HALF REVIEW
HOW THEY GOT HERE: It’s been quite a rollercoaster. The Angels started off 27-17 and had visions of ending their playoff drought, but since then they went 12-36, firing Manager Joe Maddon along the way. A little of everything has gone wrong. Third baseman Anthony Rendon and outfielder Taylor Ward missed time with injuries. Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout has been in two significant slumps and also dealt with a few nagging injuries. The top seven relievers going into the season (Raisel Iglesias, Ryan Tepera, Aaron Loup, Archie Bradley, Mike Mayers, Austin Warren and José Quijada) have all struggled, been hurt or both. The starting pitching, which has been their biggest issue in the past, has actually been passable, with Shohei Ohtani, Noah Syndergaard and Patrick Sandoval all performing well for most of the season, and Michael Lorenzen and Reid Detmers showing impressive flashes. SECOND-HALF PREVIEW KEYS TO SUCCESS: The Angels are going to have to hit better than they have, pretty much at every spot in the lineup. There’s certainly reason to believe they can do that because just about everyone is hitting below his expected level. The return of infielder David Fletcher, who had hip surgery, could help. Fletcher is due back on July 28. Although Fletcher hasn’t been a great offensive player, he puts the ball in play and offers an upgrade on what they have been getting out of the middle infield. They also need to get their bullpen in order, with Iglesias, Tepera, Loup, Quijada and Warren all pitching well. And they’ll need to keep the starters healthy and performing well all season.
BIGGEST CONCERN: The lineup might not get any better. Players like Brandon Marsh, Jo Adell and Michael Stefanic don’t have a track record of success in the big leagues, so it’s mostly projection that has us believing they should be better in the majors. Even players like Jared Walsh and Ward might not actually be better than their current performances, because the sample size of being at an elite level in the past is too small to know if it’s repeatable. If the holes in the lineup remain, the Angels are going to be hardpressed to win with any kind of consistency.
TRADE POSSIBILITIES: The Angels have 10games left before the Aug. 2trade deadline, and unless they win nine or 10 of those, it’s hard to imagine they would feel good about giving up any prospects to add reinforcements for this year. They could still try to swing a trade for someone who would be under control beyond this year, but players like that come at a price that the Angels’ thin farm system might be unable to meet. If they’re going to be sellers, Syndergaard would seem to be the most valuable trade chip. However, even he won’t net a gamechanging return, because he’s only signed through this season, and owed another $7 million. Also, he barely pitched over the past two years because of Tommy John surgery, and this year the Angels have used him with extra rest in a six-man rotation, so other teams might be skeptical of how he would fit into a five-man rotation and how effective he’d be deep into October. SCHEDULE: If you’re looking for a glimmer of hope, they will play teams with losing records in 13of their first 19 games after the break. They also play the Mariners seven times in August, which will give them a chance to make up ground on one of the teams they are chasing.