Who will win the final few roster spots for the LA Angels?

Going into Spring Training the LA Angels had a pretty good idea who 80 percent of the roster would be for Opening Day, but the other 20 percent are always interesting battles and with opening day less than two weeks away let’s look at who could fill the final five roster spots.

Before we start let’s look at those players who are pretty much locks to be on the Opening Day roster for the LA Angels.

1B – Albert Pujols, Luis Valbuena.

2B – Ian Kinsler

3B – Zack Cozart

SS – Andrelton Simmons

C – Martin Maldonado, Rene Rivera

OF – Justin Upton, Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun

SP – Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney, Matt Shoemaker, J.C. Ramirez

RP – Cam Bedrosian, Blake Parker, Kenyan Middleton, Jim Johnson, Noe Ramirez

These players despite a few of them, mainly the pitchers, struggling will almost for sure be on the roster when the Angels play Oakland on March 29th.

So let’s look at the candidates for the final five spots in no particular order.

The Fourth Outfielder – 

The battle for the fourth outfielder spot is pretty much a two-man race.  The winner will be someone with the last name of Young, but what the first name will be remains to be seen. Eric Young Jr. and Chris Young both have some good reasons why they should win this spot.

Eric Young Jr. Is a defensive specialist with tremendous speed and decent power.  When Mike Trout was out for close to seven weeks in 2017, Young Jr. Filled in admirably and became a fan favorite in Anaheim with his balls to the wall mentality both in the field and on the bases.

More from Halo Hangout

• New York Post columnist has LA Angels bringing veteran starter back to LA
• Dodgers make wild mistake signing failed LA Angels starter
• Why LA Angels’ Qualifying Offer to Raisel Iglesias could become historical
• Both Gold Glove finalists for LA Angels getting snubbed is a complete joke
• Marcus Stroman definitely appears to be interested in the LA Angels

In 47 games last season Young Jr.hit .264 with four homers and 16 runs batted in with 12 stolen bases.  He seemed to have the flair for the dramatic with three game-tying or game-winning homers and numerous clutch hits.

Chris Young on the other hand is a bonfire power bat who has 185 home runs and 577 RBIs in 11 seasons in the majors.  Young can also play all three outfield spot and is an above average defender with a career fielding percentage of .990.

This Spring Young Jr. has hit .324 with two RBIs and Young is only hitting .167 in limited action due to an injury.  If I were a betting man I would go with Chris Young as he has been signed to a major league contract by the Angels and Young Jr. Does not have that same situation.

Sentimentally I would like to see EYJ win the spot as he is a true underdog and that could happen especially if Young is not at full strength, but we will see.  I think the Angels should keep both of them especially if Shohei Ohtani does not make the opening day roster.

Utility Infielders –

The Angels have a plethora of options for extra infielders and the more versatility a player has the better chances the player will have of earning a spot. The candidates are Jefry Marte, Colin Walsh, David Fletcher, and Kaleb Cowart.

Just like in the competition for the fourth outfield spot, each player has some good selling points. The first player in this list is Jefry Marte. Marte should be no stranger to Angel fans as he has played parts of the last two seasons with the Angels.

Marte had a nice first season with the Angels in 2016 hitting 15 homers and driving in 44 runs with a .249 average.  However, in 2017 Marte slumped badly hitting only .173 with four homers and 14 runs batted in. The upside for Marte is that he can play both first and third base as well as left field.  He is tearing up the Cactus League hitting .474 with a homer and five RBIs with a 1.331 OPS.

Want your voice heard? Join the Halo Hangout team!

Write for us!

Marte is versatile, but with Luis Valbuena under contract and having the same defensive spots minus left field and being a left-handed bat will make it tough for Marte to win a spot, but if Ohtani goes to the minors his chances will increase.

Kaleb Cowart is another familiar name to Angel fans and he can play pretty much anywhere in the infield for the Angels over the past two seasons, but he is also a long-shot as he has Beverly proven to be able to hit major league pitching on a consistent basis.  Cowart can play shortstop,second base, and third base is a plus, but a career .197 average will make Cowart’s chances of gaining a spot on the roster a long shot at best.  Cowart is also only hitting.212 this Spring.

David Fletcher is an interesting player and has been rated in the Angels top 10 prospects the past couple of seasons and has made a great showing this Spring.  Fletcher can play both shortstop and second base, and in a pinch can probably play third base as well.

More from LA Angels News

• New York Post columnist has LA Angels bringing veteran starter back to LA
• Dodgers make wild mistake signing failed LA Angels starter
• Why LA Angels’ Qualifying Offer to Raisel Iglesias could become historical
• Both Gold Glove finalists for LA Angels getting snubbed is a complete joke
• Marcus Stroman definitely appears to be interested in the LA Angels

Fletcher is hitting .350 with one homer and five RBIs with two stolen bases.  He may not win a spot out of Spring Training but you will likely see him in the majors before the season is done.

The final player on this list is Colin Walsh.  Walsh is a true underdog as pretty much an unknown coming in, Walsh has played his way into contention for a roster spot this Spring.  Walsh has hit .290 with three homers and five RBIs and a .934 OPS.  He has shown the ability to play shortstop, second and third base which would be valuable for the Angels and he has a decent chance of gaining a spot due to his versatility and ability to hit so far

If I had a pick here I would give it to Walsh with Fletcher being a close second for the spot.  We will see what the last two weeks do to strengthen or weaken each player’s case for a roster spot.

Filling out the staff –

The Angels have talked a lot about a six-man rotation mostly to accommodate Shohei Ohtani.  With Ohtani struggling and in danger of not making the opening opening day roster what will the Angels decide to do for their rotation is anyone’s guess. This decision will determine the fate of a couple of Angels starters as well as relievers.

As of right now it is looking like Nick Tropeano and Parker Bridwell are the odd men out in the race for a six-man rotation.  If it turns out the Angels go to a five-man rotation they both will almost definitely be on the outside looking in.  Both have options for the minors and with the way Bridwell has pitched (0-1, 9.22 ERA and a WHIP of 1.90). Tropeano on the otherhand had not logged many innings so far (3.1 IP in two starts) lead most people to believe that will not be in the Angels plans at least initially.

However, on Sunday Tropeano made a strong case for himself to be in the starting rotation talk as he was lights out throwing 81 pitches in 5.1 innings of shutout baseball allowing only two hits and striking out nine batters. So the jury is still out on Tropeano.

Whoever does not make the starting rotation Bridwell, Tropeano, etc. will be ready to come and fill-in if anyone goes down with an injury from the rotation this could change. As for the rest of the staff there a few pitchers vying for two bullpen spots. There is a plethora of left-handed relievers with major league exprience the Angels.

The left-handed specialist spot is a three-man race as Ian Krol, Greg Mahle, and Jose Alvarez all are vying for one spot.  Alvarez is the incumbent and has pitched very well this Spring throwing 8.1 innings giving up only one run with 8 strikeouts with a 1.08 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP.

Ian Krol is a non-roster invitee and has done well in most outings going 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA in 7.2 innings pitched with seven strikeouts.  The only negative is a 1.57 WHIP, but with Alvarez pitching well it may be hard for Krol to break through.  Greg Mahle on the otherhand has been great in limited action pitching in 2.1 innings and giving up only one hit not giving up a run and striking out one batter.

Mahle had a golden chance two years ago, but could not sustain after a stellar Spring and was subsequently sent down.  He most likely will not be able to unseat Alvarez this Spring unless he falters.  We will just have to wait and see.

Other pitchers that have an outside chance to make the roster are Felix Pena and Blake Wood. Pena has looked good this Spring pitching 7.1 innings with a 3.68 ERA and 12 strikeouts with a 1.50 WHIP.  The high WHIP looks bad, but the strikeout numbers put Pena in the conversation.

Next: What are the odds of the Angels making the playoffs and beyond?

As for Blake Wood he probably had a spot coming in this Spring, but he has not pitched well at all.  Wood has posted an 8.10ERA in 6.2 innings with a 2.55 WHIP so his chances of making the roster are now slim at best.

There maybe a surprise addition or omission to the roster at the end of the Spring, but more than likely the players that have been mentioned in this article is where the 25-man roster will be formed from.  Feel free to comment and give your dark horse candidates for the roster.  We will find out in less than two weeks.