LA Angels: 3 areas of strength Halos can enter 2022 with

No. 2 area of strength the LA Angels can enter 2022 with: Outfield

The LA Angels already have a strong outfield. Mike Trout is the best player of the past 10 years, and he will be back next year.

So will Justin Upton, and while Upton has been down the past few years, he looked great before his injury last season. In the month before he was injured, he hit .326/.420/.600 (1.020 OPS) to go along with six home runs, 15 RBI, and 25 runs scored in 25 games. Once he finally came back from his injury, he was visibly hindered by it in his play and he had to just eventually shut it down.

He’ll be 100% next year, so expect strong play from him.

Next, we’ll likely be bringing up Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell again. Marsh showed a lot of promise in his athleticism and showed that he has the makings of a good leadoff hitter in the near future. Adell was an RBI machine (26 in 35 games) and made significant improvements in his defense.

To have those four manning the outfield next year is going to be huge. We can also throw in Jared Walsh when we need to, as he can play well in the grass too. Taylor Ward and Juan Lagares (if we bring him back) are solid backups for a crew that shouldn’t need much help anyway.

There’s a lot to like about what this outfield will be bringing to the table.

No. 1 area of strength the LA Angels can enter 2022 with: A complete lineup

This is what the LA Angels lineup may look like next year:

1. Brandon Marsh
2. Shohei Ohtani
3. Mike Trout
4. Anthony Rendon
5. Jared Walsh
6. Trevor Story
7. Justin Upton
8. Max Stassi
9. David Fletcher

If that lineup could stay healthy, it’s going to be scoring so many runs. There’s one of the top up-and-coming prospects in the AL hitting leadoff. There’s two MVPs in there at the second and three hole spots.

The middle of that order is pretty stacked too. A doubles machine who practically willed a Wild Card team to a World Series Championship in 2019 is hitting cleanup, an All-Star is batting behind him, and a two-time All-Star who’s a lock for an .800+ OPS is hitting in the sixth hole.

Of course, that’s if we sign Story, but we’ll probably acquire somebody similar to play shortstop this year. Story’s not even the best shortstop available.

The bottom of the order isn’t too shabby either. Batting seventh is a three-time silver slugger who was raking when healthy this year, a solid hitting catcher when healthy in the eight hole, and a lifetime .281 hitter is hitting second leadoff.

That lineup is stacked, and the baseball world is going to take notice. That’s a lineup that can at least make it to the ALDS with even just decent pitching. If we stay healthy next year, we are going to make moves in this league.