The Angels didn’t exactly go shopping for Wade Meckler, and that’s part of what makes this such a useful find. They claimed the outfielder off waivers in January after the San Francisco Giants designated him for assignment, and he arrived as more of a curiosity than a sure thing. Now he’s looking like a real answer in left field.
Meckler’s route to the majors has been anything but smooth. After that waiver claim, he went through a second DFA and spent time in the minors, mostly with AA Rocket City.
He hit .347/.450/.525 there after a week in AAA Salt Lake before getting the call back to the big leagues. Since then, he hasn’t let go of the job.
The first impression helped. In his debut against the Rangers, he went 2-3 with a home run, and the Orange County native has stayed relevant ever since.
Through his first 17 games, he was sitting on a .340/.417/.547 line. He hasn’t kept that exact pace, but he’s settled in as a regular.
One of the biggest moments of his young run came against the Tampa Bay Rays, when he hit a grand slam in Tampa that helped the Angels blow them out. That was the kind of swing that turns a nice story into a real headache for an opponent.
Even after cooling off from that early burst, Meckler’s .307/.376/.417 line still looks like the kind of production a team can live with from an everyday player. That’s not superstar territory, but it absolutely works for a club that entered the season without a settled option in left field.
The fan response has followed the production. In All-Star Game voting, Meckler climbed as high as 13th among American League outfielders and finished ahead of teammate Jo Adell, even though he had played less than a month of baseball when the voting took place. That says plenty about how fast he’s connected with the fan base.
There was a brief scare in early June when he collided hard with the wall against the Rays and left the game as a precaution. He cleared all concussion protocols and was back in the lineup soon after. Since then, he’s hit .318/.384/.364, which eased any concern about lingering effects and only reinforced how quickly he’s become a player the Angels can’t really afford to lose.
The bigger question is whether this holds over 500-plus plate appearances. The underlying numbers aren’t exactly loud: an average exit velocity of 86.7 MPH and a barrel rate of just 5.2 percent don’t scream breakout star. But Meckler doesn’t chase, and he puts enough balls in play to make this feel at least somewhat sustainable.
The Angels saw him as a possible roster answer when they first claimed him, and that view hasn’t changed. If he keeps producing like this, they’ll have found more than a good story. They’ll have a cost-controlled piece in left field from a player who’s been discarded more than once.
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Kurt Suzuki Gives Maui Little Leaguers A Special Angels Stadium Welcome
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For Suzuki, the gesture was rooted in a desire to give back to the community he still calls home. The Maui team was in Southern California after qualifying for a major tournament, and the trip turned into more than just another baseball stop once Suzuki stepped in to make sure the players had a special welcome at the ballpark. [Read more 🡒]