1 positive spin and 1 negative spin after the Angels' first series

The Angels are over .500 for roughly the first time in a calendar year -- pop the champagne! They were able to escape the weekend in Chicago with a 2-1 record, despite a -5 run differential. They had two 1-run victories against the lowly White Sox, so the series win will not necessarily make anybody start believing in a drastic turn-around for the Angels anytime soon.

The opening series against the White Sox was truly a mixed bag of emotions towards the team. There was plenty of content for the true believers and the naysayers. Let's say something positive about the 2025 Angels, then critique them after what we've seen so far.

A Positive Spin: The run prevention!

How about 0 errors after the opening weekend, huh? Not too shabby! Shoutout to you, Ron Washington.

On a serious note, the Angels' infield defense simply must hold up like it did over the weekend if they are to actually contend this year. When you sport José Soriano, Jack Kochanowicz, Tyler Anderson, and Kyle Hendricks in your rotation, your infield will be awfully busy during games. Returning Zach Neto should help, and the new additions in Kevin Newman, Tim Anderson, Yoán Moncada, and Nicky Lopez should help in that regard.

Yusei Kikuchi, Soriano, and Kochanowicz surely inspired hope in fans with their mighty outings against Chicago. Soriano especially, who was sitting 96.5mph in his 7 flawless innings.

A Negative Spin: Poor situational hitting, overtaxing Jansen and Joyce

Yes, the Angels only recorded 5 RBIs in their first 3 games. Not a great sign, especially when they recorded 19 hits and even stole a base (shoutout Kyren Paris, who's on track for a 40/40 season!) in the series. They failed to record a run off a starting pitcher in their first two games of the year, making their relatively suspect lineup look even more questionable. On the whole, Angels hitters slashed .202/.276/.287/.563 against White Sox pitching and the bottom-3 in their lineup looks far from formidable right now.

Who had Kenley Jansen and Ben Joyce pitching on back-to-back days on opening weekend on their bingo card? This was truly troublesome that they needed to burn Jansen and Joyce already, especially since they play the next day! The bullpen is a solid, relatively well-rounded unit, but Washington chose to pitch their most important, yet injury-prone, relievers on consecutive days. If that is to continue, Wash will be playing with fire. They got the job done, and should continue to do so, but it will come at a cost if they do not tune them down some moving forward.

Also, let's refrain from any Mike Trout slander after a rough first series at the plate for the now right fielder, O.K.?

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