The Los Angeles Angels have been decimated by injuries in recent weeks, having to dig into the upper levels of their Minor League system to fill slots, even trading for veteran infielders.
Acquiring Mike Moustakas from the Colorado Rockies and Eduardo Escobar from the New York Mets are what the Angels needed to do as half of their starting infield is out due to injury. Brandon Drury, Zach Neto, Gio Urshela and Mike Trout are out, all of whom have taken a hefty toll on the quality of the rosters manager Phil Nevin is able to field.
The elephant in the room is the impending free agency of Shohei Ohtani, and as he continues his MVP-level of play, the Angels sit in fourth place in the American League West. Entering second-half play, they’re five games out of a Wild Card spot.
Various members of the Angels have had the opportunity to play at a high level and Nevin most recently coached with the New York Yankees during their franchise’s recent playoff runs. He understands where the team is at, and has an optimistic view, per Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register:
“You talk about winning a World Series or getting to the playoffs, everyone talks about a defining moment,” the Angels manager said. “This may be ours. I don’t know. We got into the break with what looks like seven of our nine starters not in the lineup, we can look back at this point and say, ‘We weathered the storm. We got through it. We got hot at the right time and we’re playing in October.’”
Jacob Webb was with the Atlanta Braves in 2021 when their club stormed back from both a rough start in the standings and the loss of Ronald Acuña Jr. at the midway point:
“We just kept believing,” Webb said. “The biggest thing was we never gave up hope and we knew that every guy in the clubhouse, we all have a job to do. You’ve got to take care of your job and when your time comes, your opportunity comes.”
The Angels have had to rely on secondary options with Trout out for at least another month. Calling up Jo Adell was nice until he recently injured his oblique, and using Mickey Moniak for extended time is the likeliest of routes for Nevin, who also has a plus-view on the team’s current status:
“Just keep going, taking it one day at a time,” outfielder Mickey Moniak said. “I’ve said it a million times, even despite the injuries that we’ve sustained, we’ve got a good group in here still. I think that we’re a team that can compete with anybody.”
However it shakes out, Nevin and the Angels need to come together to find some sort of positive stretch to do one of two things, keep pace with the other contending teams, while also keeping morale high.
The Angels are in trouble as it stands, which doesn’t bode well as the front office decides which route to take their franchise for the foreseeable future.
Shohei Ohtani on the Angels current situation
As Ohtani looks to win another MVP award, he doesn’t want to change anything as he enters the second half of the season and the Angels look to get healthy so they can remain competitive.
“I’m not really going to change anything personally, just keep it the same,” Ohtani said. “I know we have a lot of injuries right now and we’re in a tough spot, but we need to hang in there because we got guys coming back soon. So try to hang in there and get as many wins until all the guys come back.”
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