The Los Angeles Angels have had an up-and-down season in what could be one of the most crucial years in franchise history, and they now find themselves on the outside looking in for a playoff spot.
The Angels have been incredibly aggressive since the start of last off season, whether it’s between subtle trades, or calling up top prospects for a hint of upside. Their newest additions in Eduardo Escobar and Mike Moustakas have already contributed to their new teams.
Angels manager Phil Nevin was at the helm last season when things began to go downhill, and the front office retaining him proved their continued faith in him. At 50-48, with some hot stretches in recent weeks, their skipper likes where the team is at and wants to continue winning with them, per Sarah Valenzuela of the L.A. Times:
“I think we’ve played better from Day 1 until now,” Nevin said before the game. “If you would have told me standings-wise where we’re at, I would have been very happy…
“There’s always games you’re gonna look back at and say, ‘We should have got this one or that one.’ There’s a lot of things we need to get better at if we want to get to where we want to be or where we think we’re gonna be. But overall, the consistency’s been there. More for me is the attitude and how we’ve gone about it. I love the way this room has shaped up. It’s a group you just want to win with.”
Heading into play on July 22, the Angels have produced at an elite rate on offense, but their starting rotation has continued to be a problem despite that being an expected strength for the club. Their surprise bullpen success and scrappy offense have carried their success, with an extra large helping of MVP front-runner, Shohei Ohtani.
Angels team “very resilient”
The Angels have made an interesting case for themselves coming out of the All-Star break, which included three dominant outings from their starters against the New York Yankees.
With a looming cloud of whether the Angels will sell at the trade deadline, Nevin’s team rallied around each other to close the gap between them and the Yankees. Griffin Canning posted a 12-strikeout performance on Monday, Patrick Sandoval followed up with 7.1 innings of one-run ball, and Chase Silseth punched out 10 over 5.2 innings.
The series sweep washed away the woes of losing 2-of-3 to the Houston Astros a few days prior, providing a boost to the clubhouse that Nevin gave a good amount of credit to.
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