Seven of the final 16 games on the Los Angeles Angels’ schedule for the 2024 season are against the Houston Astros. Despite an incredibly slow start to the season, the Astros are 83-70 entering play on Friday with a spot in the postseason all but locked up. The seven games against the Angels are being seen as an opportunity by Ron Washington.
The Angels are at the other end of the spectrum, with a 62-91 record at dead last in the American League West and the fourth-worst record in Major League Baseball. They have been eliminated from postseason contention for weeks, and outside of Houston, play some meaningless series’ against the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers.
This emphasizes the importance of the games against the Astros for Washington. He wants the Angels to soak up everything they can from playing against a postseason team in September, as he hopes L.A. will be in that position very soon, according to Ben Dubose of The O.C. Register:
“You get the experience,” Washington said. “They need that experience, because in the future – and soon – we expect to be in the playoffs. So, they get to have that experience of what it’s like, and just prove to ourselves that we can compete.”
Third baseman Eric Wagaman, called up to the Angels on Sep. 10, shared a similar sentiment when discussing the chance to face the Astros this late in the year.
“Any time you get an opportunity in a game where it does mean something, it adds a little something to it,” said Wagaman, who hit three doubles against Houston pitchers in Anaheim. “It’s a fun environment. I know technically we’re out of it, but we still want to win these games and maybe make it harder on them to make the playoffs.”
The Angels are 0-4 against the Astros thus far in this stretch with three games to go on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But wins and losses are not the measure of success for the Angels this season, it’s about the growth and learning opportunities that come with each game.
Caden Dana bringing learning lessons to 2025 after Angels demotion
The Angels called up their No. 1 prospect, starting pitcher Caden Dana, at the start of September. Despite having never pitched at a higher level than Double-A, the Angels felt confident in the tools he displayed with the Trash Pandas. And he showed them in his Major League debut on Sept. 1.
Dana tossed six innings and allowed two earned runs to earn a victory in his first ever start. However, he allowed four walks in that game, signaling potential trouble ahead. Over his next two starts, he gave up 10 earned runs in 4.1 total innings, bringing his three-start ERA to 9.58 and his WHIP to 2.032.
The Angels didn’t want Dana to get discouraged with repeated bad results at the Major League level, so they sent him back down to Double-A to regroup, ending his 2024 campaign with the Halos. But he goes back to Rocket City with some important learning lessons, focusing specifically on free passes.