The Los Angeles Angels came to New York City in rainy August weather. They fought through postponements, delays and the harsh New York Yankees fanbase cheering for one of baseball’s best teams. And they came out of it with a massive 2-1 series victory, led by manager Ron Washington’s youth movement.
Thursday’s 9-4 series finale victory was the culmination of everything Angels fans could ever want to see out of the team’s young pieces. Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto, Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak went a combined 10-for-18 with a home run and seven RBI. The same quartet went 7-for-16 with a homer and eight RBI on Wednesday in the second game of a doubleheader.
Only Logan O’Hoppe struggled to get things going in the harsh environment — although he grew up in New York — but it was a triumphant week for the rest of the young core. And Washington was ecstatic to see the progress, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“I don’t think they knew where they was,” manager Ron Washington quipped. “They just went out and played just like they’ve been doing all year. Just play. I wish the weather would have been nicer so they could have really found out what Yankee Stadium is like. The conditions, we couldn’t do anything about it, but I’m so proud of the way they handled themselves.”
Adell, who played a massive role in the Angels’ series win, loved what it showed about the team and their prospects moving forward to next season.
“It’s huge,” Adell said. “It shows we can be competitive with anybody. With the circumstances sitting around with the rain, we could’ve folded. But we went out and did our jobs. At-bat to at-bat, we were on top of it and the pitching was great.”
The Angels being able to get wins against elite teams like the Yankees on the road and in harsh elements shows that, at their best, L.A. has potential to do something special. As their young players grow and become more consistent, series’ like these could become the norm instead of the outlier.
Angels remain 30th in Baseball America farm system ranking
The Angels’ farm system is objectively better than it was in the days prior to the deadline. As they’ve refreshed their top 30 and added some intriguing prospects at multiple positions. But Baseball America doesn’t feel it was enough to lift them out of a deep hole.
The prospect-rating website put together a post-deadline ranking of all 30 farm systems, and the Angels found themselves in a familiar place all the way at the bottom of the list.