Throughout the decades of professional baseball, fans have learned one thing: never take spring training seriously.
Promising games from promising players isn’t indicative of things to come. Analysts, coaches, and fans tend to use the preseason as a way to somehow gauge and project how good their teams are.
As of this moment, the Los Angeles Angels are in the middle of their training in the hot desert of Arizona.
The Angels’ 2019 season was riddled with injury as they lost 2018 American League Rookie of the Year Shohei Ohtani’s pitching as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. They also lost Tommy La Stella, who got his first All-Star nod last year, to a leg injury.
Things are looking up for the Angels, however. With the addition of former manager Joe Maddon and recent World Series champion Anthony Rendon, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the upcoming season.
Spring Training has been going well for the team so far, and here are three things we have learned about the Halos.
Their pitching staff isn’t that bad
This past off-season, the Angels were one of two contenders for Houston Astros’ starting pitcher Gerrit Cole. The Angels were desperate to add Cole to the roster as they were in dire need of some stable pitching. Of course, in the end, the Cy Young finalist agreed to terms with his childhood team the New York Yankees leaving the Angels with no starting pitcher in sight.
Wanting to form some sort of semblance to a rotation of pitchers, the team made their move for Dylan Bundy and Julio Teheran. These two are not exactly household names, thus leaving fans with more pitching questions than answers.
Well, if spring training is anything to go by then it seems as though the Angels aren’t as bad as the fans thought they’d be. In his debut with the team, Teheran threw two perfect innings against the Chicago Cubs. His fastball touched 93 miles per hour while showing good command of the baseball.
“I’ve been working hard on my fastball, my spin rate and getting my arm in the right position and after that, I know my slider is going to be there,” Teheran said.
Bundy, on the other hand, had almost an equivalent outing in his second game with the team. The former Baltimore Oriole retired all six batters he faced including three by strikeout against the San Francisco Giants. He also discussed how he liked his four-seam fastball that particular day and how it will be key to his success in the regular season.
“It’s a tough pitch to hit because it looks good to hit, but it’s hard to catch up to,” Bundy said.
There are plenty of questions left for the Angels and their pitching. Can Ohtani make the leap as a pitcher after a year of absence from the mound? Can Griffin Canning return after his recent elbow injury? Can their bullpen sustain them throughout the year?
All of this will be answered in a few months but for now, it looks like they have a good core to work on with Bundy, Ohtani, and Teheran.
Jo Adell is the real deal
Highly touted prospect Jo Adell has been turning heads this spring training.
The 20-year old outfielder has shown that he is eager to start this year in the Major League as he has swung for the fences every time he makes an appearance at the plater. While the numbers aren’t eye-popping (four hits, seven strikeouts in 15 at-bats) the potential as a five-tool player has certainly been on display.
In his final at-bat against the Colorado Rockies, Adell grounded out to third but the speed he possessed was evident as he darted down the line before getting called for the out.
Manager Joe Maddon has been impressed by the Angels’ number one prospect as well.
“Whether it is running, hitting, hitting with power, the whole defensive gig, he’s got it all going on and he’s really young”, Maddon said. “When you look at him, you don’t realize that. He’s 20? Maybe 21? He’s going to keep getting better. He’s really eager. He wants to learn. He’s got a lot of great qualities. The sky’s the limit, absolutely.”
While an Opening Day roster spot is not guaranteed, it is certainly possible for Adell. If he continues to impress in the Cactus League then his dream of playing in the Majors may come sooner than later.
The team is going to score… A lot…
The signing of third baseman Anthony Rendon was done after Cole chose the bright lights of New York.
Unlike Cole, Rendon was not a pitcher so questions flooded the Angels and their front office. Amidst the questions was one truth Angels’ fans came to realize; they might need to score 10-13 runs a game to have a chance.
As of today, the Angels’ batting lineup might consist of David Fletcher batting first, Mike Trout second, Rendon third, and Ohtani as their cleanup. Not bad considering they still have former MVP Albert Pujols and all-star La Stella to follow.
Maddon seems to agree with the notion of his team having star power as far as hitting goes.
“It’s a nice group. It’s a nice bevy of hitters right there. Yeah, nice bevy” said the manager.
In their first 10 games in the Spring Training, Los Angeles is averaging 5.1 runs per game. This includes a 10-run game against the Giants and two separate seven-run games against the Colorado Rockies and the Cincinnati Reds. Had the Halos averaged 5.1 runs per game last season, it would have put them 11th in the entire Major League.
With Trout and Rendon as the backbone of their offense, there will be games where the team just explodes for an inning. In fact we saw an eight-run inning against the Giants on Sunday, March 3.
Teams will expose the Angels for their below-average pitching staff but scoring won’t be an issue in 2020 for Los Angeles.
