With four weeks left in the season, the Los Angeles Angels are staring at something no version of this franchise has ever had to absorb: a 100-loss year. Entering Monday at 52-85, they’re sitting on a .380 winning percentage and tracking toward a 63-99 finish, which would put them uncomfortably close to a first in franchise history.
That history matters here. Since the organization first came into existence in 1961 under different names, the Angels have never lost 100 games in a season.
The low-water mark until now was 99 losses in 2024. Before that, the worst seasons were 95-loss campaigns in 1968 and 1980.
So if the Angels are going to avoid that kind of embarrassment, they need better production from a few specific places down the stretch. Three names stand out.
Mike Trout is the obvious one. Over the last 30 days, he’s hitting .232 with a .685 OPS, and he’s been in the lineup for 26 of the last 27 games.
In that span, he has only two home runs, five doubles and eight RBI. Nobody is expecting a full-blown throwback version of Trout at this stage, but the Angels could use something closer to the month he put together in May, when he posted a .793 OPS, nine extra-base hits and 10 RBI.
If they’re going to squeeze out the 11 wins they need, that kind of stretch would go a long way.
Jose Fermin is a less glamorous name, but his role matters just as much. A middle reliever may not feel like a central figure in the race to avoid a franchise record, but late-game stability can be the difference between winning and losing a bunch of close ones.
Angels relievers have a 4.00 ERA over the last 30 days, which ranks 20th in baseball. Not disastrous, but not good enough if the goal is to stack wins fast.
Fermin has been part of that recent slide, posting a 5.23 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in the last 30 days, with opponents hitting .318 against him. That’s a sharp drop from his season as a whole.
In 46.2 innings, he has a 3.28 ERA with 55 strikeouts and 21 walks, and before this last month he owned a 2.67 ERA. He’s been used nearly evenly in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, and a return to the form he showed before August would help steady things, especially with Ben Joyce back in the fold.
Then there’s Vaughn Grissom, whose season has gone from promising to frustrating in a hurry. He was viewed as a sneaky-good offseason addition and has had some useful stretches, but the last month hasn’t been one of them.
Grissom has appeared in 24 of the last 27 games and is batting .200 with a .561 OPS. He’s managed just six extra-base hits, three walks and 24 strikeouts in that span.
That’s the kind of slump that can cost a player opportunities, especially now that the Angels are clearly in audition mode and roster spots are about to open up with September 1 approaching. Still, the talent has shown up before.
In the 24 games before this recent stretch, Grissom hit .321 with an .839 OPS and drove in 19 runs. If he can find something in between those two versions of himself, he could still help the Angels get across the finish line.
In Other News...
Angels May Have Found A Bullpen Answer Nobody Saw Coming
Ryan Watson arrived in Anaheim in early August as a waiver claim from the Red Sox, the kind of low-profile move that usually only matters if a club is trying to patch together the back end of a bullpen. For the Angels, though, the pickup has turned into something more than a depth add. In 16 appearances since joining the team, Watson has given them steady late-inning work and quickly become one of the more effective arms in a relief mix that has struggled for much of the season.
The appeal is obvious for a club searching for reliable outs after the starters hand over the lead. Watson has trimmed his numbers sharply since the move, posting a 1.88 ERA and 0.98 WHIP, and he has earned a bigger role in the process. The larger question for the Angels is whether this is the start of a real bullpen answer or just a late-season burst from a pitcher who was barely on the radar a few weeks ago. [Read more 🡒]
Angels Still Have One Roster Problem New Ownership Could Finally Address
Catching has quietly been one of the Angels nagging roster issues for years, and it has become even more pronounced with the recent trade of Logan OHoppe. For a club trying to stabilize its lineup and give its pitching staff a steadier target behind the plate, that makes the position one of the more obvious places to look if new ownership wants to make an immediate imprint.
One possible fit is Brandon Valenzuela, whose strong defensive season for the Blue Jays has put him on the radar as a trade candidate. Toronto already has Alejandro Kirk locked in on a long-term extension, which could make Valenzuela available if the Angels decide catching needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. The question is whether this front office sees him as the kind of upgrade worth pursuing, or whether the search for a long-term answer at the position continues into another offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Angels Face A Tough Reid Detmers And Walbert Urena Decision
Reid Detmers and Walbert Urena have given the Angels something they havent had often enough this season: two young arms worth building around. Both pitchers have already established new career highs in innings, and each has helped steady a staff on a last-place team that has spent too much time trying to piece things together. Detmers has been especially sharp since the break, working to a 1.65 ERA with strong strikeout-to-walk numbers, while Urena has emerged as one of the clubs most encouraging breakout stories.
The challenge now is less about what they have done and more about how much the Angels should ask them to do from here. Urenas rise has put him in the mix for AL Rookie of the Year consideration, and Detmers has looked like a pitcher the organization can lean on for years to come, but both are also carrying more innings than they have before. For a team not playing for a postseason chase, the balancing act is clear: keep the development momentum going without pushing either arm too far. [Read more 🡒]