The Anaheim Angels. Do people still go to games? Actually yeah, they still draw. Is Mike Trout sticking around? Probably, out of necessity at this point. Is there anything else really going on with this team this year? Not really.
The Angels are currently tied for the worst record in baseball with the Royals, with the Rockies a half game ahead. I'm kinda relieved this season isn't gonna have a mega-loser getting the bottom spot. Maybe some teams will lose 100 games, and it wouldn't shock me if the Angels lose 41 more games, but it's not like a 'worst ever' thing is happening this season. Then again, 'best ever' isn't exactly a competition either, as a lot of teams are more middle-of-the-road than anything. So what does that make the Angels? Just a regular bad team, I guess. Not painfully bad, not franchise-endingly bad. Just bad. And that's alright.
The Angels are led by three halfway decent rotation pieces, one of which is probably getting traded, one of which could potentially be traded, and the other is far too young and controllable to be traded but nothing's counted out. Reid Detmers is probably on the way out, he's pitching too well for his 3-6 record. Soriano maybe as well, he had a Cy Young case going but has evened out. But look at Walbert Ureña underneath them. 22 years old, brand new to the league, given a starting spot a month in, now he's got a 2.88 ERA, 78 Ks and a 1.6 WAR. His WHIP's a little high at 1.316, mostly from all the walks he gives up, but he's a pretty smooth, trustworthy young kid that could be a foundational piece for this Angels team. Then again I thought David Fletcher was gonna be a foundational piece for these teams and look how well that turned out.
The current incarnation of this lineup is actually a working model, and everybody who's stayed in this roster has a reason to be there. Denzer Guzman's getting starts at third, he's not terrific yet but the production's beginning to pop a bit. Wade Meckler's a decent depth outfield piece, and he's a .307 hitter with some random, Tristan Peters-esque everyman quality. Schanuel and Neto are the pillars, they're doing pretty well. Soler's past his prime but still hits the odd home run. Adell's good for cheap thrills. And Mike Trout still has a .863 OPS, 18 homers and 39 RBIs. It's not quite 2012 numbers but he's still more active than he's been in a while, and that's worth a lot to this team.
There really won't be much for this team to accomplish for the rest of the season sadly, other than some stuff for Trout's highlight reel and perhaps some previews for, hopefully, a fuller youth-decked version of this team next year. Grayson Rodriguez is gonna get more starts, but will they be closer to his Baltimore prime? Caden Dana will get another shot, but will this time be any different? Christian Moore will be back, but will he hit well against teams that aren't the 2025 Yankees? It'll all get figured out, and even if it doesn't, Angels fans will still flock to games.
Coming Tonight: He made it out of Arizona, and now in Denver he's somehow even more integral.
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