Which Angels received passing or failing grades in 2020?

With the Angels missing the postseason for the 6th  straight season, we will look at how each individual player did at their respected position.

The Los Angeles Angels finished off another disappointing season in which they failed to reach the postseason. Despite a high profile addition during the offseason and a 50/50 chance of making the playoffs, a slow start and consistent issues on the mound send the Halos home in October once again.

In Angels manager Joe Maddon’s first season, the Angels offense finished 13th in batting average, 9th in OBP, and 12th in OPS among the rest of the American League, right in the middle of the pack. Pitching wise, the Angels finished towards the bottom in mostly all categories, they finished 25th in ERA, 3rd in runs given up, and 17th in opponents batting average against. The clear problem was in the pitching department as the stats have shown and the grades will most certainly reflect that.

This season saw the Angels become sellers and ship off what value they had in players on one-year deals and Angels former general manager, Billy Eppler, reloaded the Angels for the future. It was a season that saw the best player in baseball do continue to do what he does best and a rookie that had an incredible bounce-back month in September. It is also a season that saw woes for the team that already had pitching concerns and poorly addressed them this season.

With that in mind, let’s hand out some player grades for 2020:

Angels: 2020 Season Grades – Designated Hitter

Shohei Ohtani: D-

Part of me wanted to leave Shohei Ohtani with an incomplete grade. His struggles on the mound were troubling to behold and his long-term future on the bump is in question. Over two starts, he recorded just five total outs out of the 16 batters faced. While he was returning to the mound for the first time since 2018, his inability to locate pitches in the strike-zone ultimately hurt him, first figuratively and then literally.

While the pitching was an adventure,  Ohtani’s two-way status gives the Angels some flexibility and hope to get something out of him on the offensive side of the ball as well. Unfortunately, the struggles extended to his bat as well, as he looked lost at times and ultimately sat during a five-day stretch against lefties. Ultimately, he hit just .190/.291/.366 with seven home runs and 24 RBI on the season.

One way or the other, Ohtani was a big disappointment for the Angels this season.