The 2024 season went far from expected within the Los Angeles Angels organization. The Halos were hopeful that their blend of high-potential youth and stars like Mike Trout — along with a new manager in Ron Washington — would lead them to, at the very least, contention for a postseason spot.
But Trout got hurt less than a month into the season. Anthony Rendon followed suit. The starting rotation was a mess with injuries and underperformance all season long. And the result is a 2024 campaign in which the Halos are going to finish in dead last in the American League West with somewhere between 93 and 99 losses.
But if there are any positives to take away from a season like this one, it’s that the Angels may have found themselves a steady and reliable young core of possible stars. Zach Neto, 23, led the Angels in games played with 152 and had an above league-average OPS+ in his first full MLB season.
Nolan Schanuel, 22, finished third with 145 games in his first season as a pro. And Logan O’Hoppe, 24, finished fourth with 132 games. All three had ups and downs, but made it through the year healthy with plenty of growth. And Washington believes that might be the biggest takeaway from the 2024 season, via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“It’s something that they have to go through to understand how to get through it,” Washington said. “We started in February with a vision of who we thought was going to be out there and what we expected, and Schanuel, O’Hoppe, Neto and Taylor Ward, they showed up every single day and posted. That means a lot. That builds character, and it means a lot to their teammates. You know to know that they’re dependable, and they all dealt with issues throughout the year.”
Washington believes that had the Angels not gotten so injured — Trout, Rendon, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Soriano and many more missing significant chunks of the season — they could have contended for the postseason. However, he’ll absolutely take the development of his young players as a consolation.
The Angels have some work to do as a franchise this offseason if they want to contend for the postseason in 2025. As constructed, they are not built to win 90 games in a crowded American League. But general manager Perry Minasian gets to build his roster knowing that Neto, Schanuel and O’Hoppe are capable of providing full seasons at above-average play at the very least, with significant room to grow.
Zach Neto’s one-man rally lifts Angels over Astros
The Angels trailed the Houston Astros 4-0 through five innings on Sunday afternoon. A loss would have resulted in a four-game sweep, the team’s first against the Astros since 2013. But Neto had different plans for the series finale in Houston.
Neto stepped up to the plate in the sixth inning, worked an eight-pitch at-bat and ended it with a two-run home run to make it 4-2. In the eighth, Neto broke a tie with a go-ahead solo homer. Then in the ninth, with the game tied once again, Neto hit a bases-clearing double off of close Josh Hader to take a 9-6 lead and ultimately secure the victory for the Halos.