3 bold predictions for the 2025 Angels season

It’s that time, baseball fans. The regular season is starting, every team still has the same record (well, apart from the Cubs and Dodgers) and therefore the same chance to win it all in 2025. That also means it’s bold prediction season, and Halo Hangout isn’t immune to the appeal of throwing a bit of wild soothsaying into the pot. So here we go:

The Angels Will be a .500 team in 2025

After avoiding the first 100 loss season in franchise history by the narrowest possible margin, it’s almost inevitable that things will improve in 2025. Going from 99 losses to 81 might seem like a stretch, but it wouldn’t actually require as much improvement as it seems. In 2024, the Angels blew a lead in 29 games. They went 22-26 in one-run results, and only had a single winning month, in June. Many of those blown leads came from a combination of erratic starting pitchers handing over to an over-extended bullpen.

A season-long inability to hit with runners in scoring position was a major factor in the close games, particularly losing 8 from 12 in extra innings. It all added up to the team being incapable of getting on the kind of roll necessary to swing things their way on a day-to-day, never mind month-to-month, basis. The first month of the 2025 season is an opportunity to change that narrative.  

Simply replacing Sandoval and Canning in the rotation with Kikuchi and Hendricks should extend how long the starters stay in games, whilst the bullpen, already a strength, is deeper with the addition of Kenley Jansen and the removal of José Suarez. The offense has been worryingly quiet in the last days of spring, but at least on paper they have more veteran pop in Jorge Soler, Travis d’Arnaud and Yoán Moncada to mix in with a bevy of youngsters entering the season with more experience. And that’s not even factoring in whatever they get from their new right fielder, Mike Trout.

Would an 81-81 record be enough to end the Angels playoff drought? Probably not. But it would make the 2025 season a lot more fun to watch than 2024 was.

Ron Washington will be a Manager of The Year candidate

If our first prediction comes true, that would have meant 18 extra wins from a team who most predict are mainly in a race to finish at the bottom of the AL West. Barring some miracle on Chicago’s South Side, no other team looks likely to make that kind of leap, and automatically a lot of the credit would land on the manager. With more pitching depth than the Angels have had in a decade, a queue of veterans looking to prove they’re still major leaguers, and top prospects like Christian Moore knocking at the door, the juggling act that Ron Washington has ahead of him is daunting, but welcome. If he can push this team even a fraction past their low expectations, or make an unlikely run at either the division or a wild card berth, the appeal of a well-respected elder statesman leading an unpredictable roster will likely be catnip to BBWAA voters.   

There will be more than one Angels All-Star

When the 2025 MLB All-Stars are introduced at Atlanta’s Truist Stadium, thankfully once again wearing their team uniforms, there will be more than one reason for Angels fans to cheer. In 2024, Tyler Anderson was the lone Anaheim representative, and he didn’t end upthrowing a single pitch. This year is likely to be different, although one obvious candidate will have a tough road to make the cut.

Zach Neto was the Angels best player in 2024, but he’ll start this season on the injured list. Even if he returns as quickly as is hoped, the American League is packed with star shortstops, with the likes of Bobby Witt Jnr, Gunnar Henderson and Corey Seager undoubtably ahead of Neto in the pecking order. At the other end of the spectrum, Mike Trout is almost a shoo-in, if he’s playing at all. The AL lost both Kyle Tucker and Juan Soto from its list of All Star quality outfielders, and on name recognition alone any return to form for Trout should equally lead to a return to the All Star game. But it’s the pitching that might bulk up the invitation list. Jose Soriano is widely predicted to have a breakout year, Ben Joyce seemingly makes headlines every time he throws a fastball and if Yusei Kikuchi can continue the form he showed in his time with the Astros he could be a darkhorse candidate for all kind of awards. Logan O’Hoppe has a chance too, although like Joyce, it’s possible that his first half playing time gets diluted by the veteran brought in to support him.

In opening week, hope springs eternal, and for Angels fans optimism hasn’t been exactly a default setting over recent years. But if even one of these predictions turns out to be true, then 2025 might be just a little brighter under the Halo.

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