10 former Angels players who have opportunity to make impact during the 2025 playoffs

The Los Angeles Angels, in a time-honored tradition, missed the postseason but have a handful of former players who will likely make an impact on who wins the World Series. Many of these players were massively inconsequential during their time with the Angels, and were cast-off without a second thought. Then there's Shohei Ohtani, of course.

10 former Angels players who have opportunity to make impact during the 2025 playoffs

Shohei Ohtani

Ohtani will be making his postseason pitching debut at some point, barring the Cincinnati Reds sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in two games -- Blake Snell is expected to start Game 1, and perhaps Dave Roberts opts for Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Tyler Glasnow in Game 2. That's just conjecture, Ohtani will definitely be pitching in the postseason and it's just a matter of when. As Ohtani proved during the last World Baseball Classic, he can pitch out of the bullpen quite effectively.

On the hitting side, Ohtani will be looking for a bounce-back performance during this postseason. For his standards, his 2024 postseason was incredibly lackluster -- in 16 games, Ohtani slashed .230/.373/.393/.767 with three home runs (zero in the World Series), 10 RBIs (zero in the World Series), 22 Ks, 13 BBs, 0 stolen bases and was caught stealing twice.

Lucas Giolito

Giolito, who would have started a potential Game 3 in the Red Sox-Yankees Wild Card series, will actually miss the series due to an elbow injury. If the Red Sox can advance to the ALDS, it is speculated that Giolito could make his return though.

Losing Giolito for the Wild Card series is a devastating blow for the Red Sox, but losing Giolito was a relief for the Angels. When the Angels traded Edgar Quero and Ky Bush for Giolito and Renaldo López in 2023, things went horribly, horribly wrong immediately for the Angels and Giolito. Giolito's complete resurgence this season for Boston, after missing the entirety of the 2024 season with an injury, was relatively ignored by Angels fans. Nonetheless, he has returned to peak form and could be heard from as the playoffs roll along.

Brandon Marsh

Marsh is about to embark on his fourth postseason for the Philadelphia Phillies, and has cemented himself as an irreplaceable member of their lineup. Much like Ohtani, the Phillies outfielder needs a bounce-back performance given his .077/.077/.077/.154 slashline in four NLDS games last season. That is not an unreasonable request, given that Marsh had a combined .260/.337/.468/.805 playoff slashline from 2022-2023 in 28 games.

The Phillies, who received a first-round bye, are certainly a top-two favorite to win the National League pennant. They will likely need to topple the reigning defending champs in the NLDS, but whoever wins that matchup will undoubtedly be viewed as not only the favorite to win the pennant...but the favorite to win the World Series. Marsh will be relied upon heavily if the Phillies take on the Dodgers, given the right-handed heavy pitching staff the Dodgers employ between Ohtani, Yamamoto, Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan, Roki Sasaki, etc.

Jahmai Jones

Jahmai Jones, who was traded from the Angels to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Alex Cobb before the 2021 season, has become an invaluable member of the Detroit Tigers. Jones had all the potential in the world with the Angels, bounced around baseball for several years, and has now settled into a near-full-time leadoff hitter role for Detroit. Jones often hits first in the Tigers' lineup when they face a left-handed pitcher.

The Tigers were completely free-falling in September, but were able to sneak into the playoffs in the final Wild Card spot thanks in part to Jones' heroics. In the game where the Tigers clinched a playoff spot on September 27th, Jones hit a go-ahead two-run single that wound up being the difference in the game.

Runs will come at a premium in the Guardians-Tigers matchup, so if Jones can set the tone and/or come up clutch as a pinch-hitter (Jones is on the bench in Game 1 vs. CLE with Gavin Williams toeing the rubber) then that could make all the difference in the series.

Jose Iglesias

Iglesias is slashing just .229/.298/.294/.592 for the Padres this season, but has remained on the roster the entire season despite playing in just 112 games. Due to his defensive versatility, which will be huge for San Diego given Ramón Laureano's recent injury, Iglesias will assuredly be seen during the Padres-Cubs Wild Card series.

Rob Zastryzny

The southpaw reliever has been more than serviceable for the Milwaukee Brewers thanks to their pitching factory. Zastryzny had a cup of coffee in the majors with the Angels, but has been almost invaluable for Milwaukee's bullpen. That being said, he could easily be left off their playoff roster thanks to Milwaukee's enormous depth and the potential of playing the matchup. Both the Cubs and Padres have fairly right-hand dominant lineups, so Zastryzny's value might not be needed in the NLDS.

Ryan Brasier, Andrew Heaney, Kirby Yates, José Quintana

Brasier, who was drafted and made his MLB debut with the Angels, is no stranger to the postseason since departing the organization. The relief pitcher is a two-time World Series champion, who collected a ring with both the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, will be trying to add a third with the Chicago Cubs. He has not pitched for Chicago since August 21st and could be out for the season with a groin strain, but he pitched for the Iowa Cubs on a rehab assignment on September 19th and maybe could return if the Cubs go deep?

Heaney, like Zastryzny, might be left off the Dodgers playoff roster. However, if the Dodgers move onto the NLDS then they might use him to provide length out of the bullpen rather than using the soon-to-be retiree Clayton Kershaw. Probably not, but Angels fans would be delighted if they saw Hean-Dog win his second World Series ring (he was on the Rangers 2023 team).

Yates, who many forget actually pitched for the Angels once upon a time, is injured right now and was highly ineffective in his first season with LAD. The veteran reliever will likely not be seen in the postseason, but if he can recover from his hamstring strain and the Dodgers are still in the playoffs...then he makes too much money to be ignored.

Quintana is also injured right now, but has begin a throwing program and definitely has a chance to return given Milwaukee's first round bye. Quintana has been nails in the playoffs throughout his career, which was punctuated last year during the New York Mets' run to the NLCS.

10 former Angels players who have opportunity to make impact during the 2025 playoffs