Mike Trout’s status leads list of Angels questions for 2023; Some answers will be given through the rest of 2022
ANAHEIM — For the Angels, 2022 ended in July. So 2023 begins in August.
The Angels were just four games under .500 at the end of June, just one hot week from being back in the thick of the playoff race. They then lost eight of nine games on a trip through Houston, Miami and Baltimore. That started them on their way to a league worst 6-18 record in July.
Now, the Angels are 43-59, and they are 11 games out of the third wild card spot, with six teams to leapfrog.
In other words, it’s time to look forward to 2023, with Tuesday’s trading deadline signaling the last breath for teams like the Angels in 2022. They’ll then be able to use the final 60 games of this season to paint a picture of what they need to do to prepare for 2023.
How is Mike Trout?
Trout has missed most of July with a back issue given the ominous-sounding label, costovertebral dysfunction. Depending on who you ask, it’s either a career-threatening condition or no big deal. Trout is expected to start swinging a bat later this week, and he could be back soon after that.
How all of this goes could have major implications for the Angels.
If Trout, who turns 31 next week, comes back and plays well over the final six weeks or so, the Angels can have some confidence that he’ll be fine in 2023 and it’s OK to build the team as if they will have a healthy, productive Trout.
If he doesn’t, the organization might decide that the rebuilding they could never do when they had Trout in his prime can now begin, because Trout’s prime is over.
Obviously that could have a major impact on what they do with Shohei Ohtani, who has one year left before free agency. It also could affect how Ohtani feels about the Angels’ future.
Who is going to be the manager next year?
Phil Nevin has said often in the past month, as players have been released or demoted, that “this is a results-based industry,” and that applies to him as well.
The Angels are 16-30 during Nevin’s tenure as the interim manager (including a 3-7 mark while he was suspended). That doesn’t seem to bode well for the Angels bringing him back as the manager in 2023.
Still, he’s got 60 games. If the Angels show signs of life, and if some key players improve and indicate that they like his leadership style, he could earn the right to stick around in 2023.
Which starters can they trust?
Last season, Patrick Sandoval and José Suarez pitched well enough when the Angels were playing out the string that both locked up spots in the 2022 rotation. Sandoval (3.61 ERA) has pitched as expected, but Suarez (5.01) has not.
Barring a collapse, Sandoval has probably done enough to win his spot for 2023, but Suarez is going to have to show something over the next two months. Although he’s had a bad year, he just had a scoreless outing in his last start, while using a new pitch mix. Suarez has two months to show whether those changes have legitimately made him a reliable starter.
Reid Detmers has also had a rollercoaster season, including a no-hitter and then a stretch so bad that he was sent back to Triple-A. Since Detmers has returned, with a mechanical tweak that revived his slider, he has a 1.13 ERA in four starts. If he keeps that up over the next two months, the Angels can confidently place him in the 2023 rotation as well.
Assuming the Angels have Ohtani back, that means they have between two and four members of the 2023 rotation. And there’s a big difference between two and four.
Performances over the last two months for pitchers like Janson Junk and Chase Silseth could also help determine where they fit on the 2023 depth chart.
Which position players can rebound?
The Angels’ expectations for a strong lineup in 2022 included first baseman Jared Walsh and catcher Max Stassi being above average hitters, and they certainly assumed that at least one of their two young outfielders, Jo Adell or Brandon Marsh, would take a step forward to become average, at least.
None of that has happened.
Over the final two months, the Angels need to see improvement from all four of those players to be confident that they have some building blocks to a decent lineup.
Simply getting average production from those three lineup spots — with Adell or Marsh — along with Trout, Ohtani, a healthy Anthony Rendon and Taylor Ward — would give the Angels a much better lineup.
If they don’t see signs from those players in the final two months that they can rebound, it might push the Angels to realize that they have too many holes to fill for 2023, so a rebuild might be the best move.
They’d also like to see Luis Rengifo keep doing what he’s doing over the final two months, and David Fletcher return to his pre-2021 form to feel good about having some useful pieces for the middle infield in 2023.
Is their bullpen this bad?
The Angels invested heavily in the bullpen last winter, and the result has demonstrated why many general managers don’t believe in investing heavily in the bullpen.
Relievers are too volatile.
Raisel Iglesias went from a 2.57 ERA in 2022 to a 4.04 ERA this year. Aaron Loup (0.95 to 4.71), Ryan Tepera (2.79 to 4.26), Archie Bradley (3.71 to 4.82) and Mike Mayers (3.84 to 5.40 and a trip to the minors) have all gotten worse.
Other than Bradley, all the rest are still under control to the Angels in 2023. Over the next two months, the Angels would love for at least a few of those pitchers to figure out what’s gone wrong and fix it, so they could be trusted to be part of the 2023 bullpen.