The Angels have spent plenty of time this season looking like a club still climbing out of the basement, and the record says as much. But buried inside a near-100-loss year are a few signs that point toward something better for 2027.
One of the clearest bright spots has been the team’s work with runners in scoring position. That matters, because the Angels have found a handful of hitters who have handled those moments well even while the overall team numbers have dragged. Six current Halos have more than 50 at-bats and a WRC+ above 100 in those spots this season, and that kind of production should give fans something real to hold onto.
Zach Neto and Wade Meckler have been the headliners there, with each posting a WRC+ above 150 with runners in scoring position. Neto is hitting .327 with a .922 OPS in that situation. Mike Trout, Jose Siri, Denzer Guzman, and Vaughn Grissom are the other Angels on that list.
Those six should all factor into the Angels’ plans next season. Not all of them need to be everyday players for the idea to work; some could fit into platoon or bench roles. The bigger point is that they’ve shown they can deliver when the game is on the line and traffic is on the bases.
The team numbers, though, don’t make that easy to see at first glance. As a group, the Angels own a 93 WRC+ with runners in scoring position, which ranks fourth-worst in MLB this season.
Their .690 OPS in those situations is third-lowest. That poor overall mark has been dragged down by a few hitters who likely won’t be around next year, including Oswald Peraza at -19 WRC+ and Josh Lowe at 13 WRC+.
That’s what makes this stretch so important. Getting runners home is one of the fastest ways to turn a close loss into a win, or at least give a team enough cushion to breathe. The Angels may not have a full lineup built for that yet, but they do have pieces that have already shown they can do the job.
The hope is that, with new Stan Kroenke coming in, things will finally start to look better next season. Having these players around will only help the Angels finally start their march back towards the top of the mountain.
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Angels Roster Reset Could Claim 3 More Notable Names This Winter
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Schanuels place in the lineup, Rodriguezs fit after the earlier moves, and Joyces arbitration status all feed into a broader question about what kind of team the Angels want to be next season. They can keep pressing forward with a current core, or they can keep stripping the roster down and lean into something closer to a rebuild, and the way those three cases are handled may say plenty about which direction they choose. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Yates Season Took A Sudden Turn Angels Fans Will Notice
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Yates final ledger showed a 32-29 record, a 3.35 ERA and 101 saves, a resume built over years of late-inning work and frequent movement. After being traded to the Pirates during the season, he said his decision was tied to wanting more time with his family, leaving his next chapter clear even as his last major-league one closed without much warning. [Read more 🡒]
Zach Neto And Christian Moore Are Giving Angels Fans Real Hope
The Angels have spent plenty of time trying to find signs that their young core can carry them somewhere sturdier, and lately Zach Neto has given them a pretty good one. His recent run at the plate has paired with extra power, the sort of stretch that reminds a club why it has been so patient with player development and why competitive daily habits matter so much over a long season. Christian Moore has also started to settle in after a rocky opening to his major league career, giving the organization another name to circle as it looks ahead.
For an Angels team still trying to steer clear of a 100-loss season, the appeal of Neto and Moore goes beyond the box score. They represent a possible in-house answer at a time when the franchise needs reasons to believe the next phase can be better than the last, and their progress has at least made that conversation feel legitimate. The larger question now is whether these encouraging stretches become something more lasting as the season goes on. [Read more 🡒]