3 reasons the Angels' hot start to the season is not a fluke

For a brief moment after the opening game against Tampa Bay, the Angels were sitting at the top of the AL West, half a game ahead of the Rangers with a run differential of zero. It didn’t last long - the Rangers jumped back on top the next day - but there are signs that seeing this iteration of the Angels in an unfamiliar (i.e. winning) position might not be a one-off in 2025.

The offense is only just waking up

Forget torpedo bats, it felt as if the Angels didn’t take any bats to Chicago to open the season. After scoring just 5 runs in that first series against the White Sox, things improved, but the production wasn’t coming from where it was meant to. Pre-season, the presumed lynchpins to this offense were, with varying degrees of optimism, Taylor Ward, Jo Adell and a healthy Mike Trout. All three finally showed up, in a huge way, during the getaway game in Florida, but prior to that the power had come from Logan O’Hoppe, Jorge Soler and, incredibly, Kyren Paris. The first two may not have been surprises, but the third certainly was. O’Hoppe’s breakout started last year, and Soler coming through with big swings amongst a lot of strikeouts is pretty much as expected, but Paris has given Ron Washington an enviable lineup dilemma which only got tougher after Adell’s two-homer inning against the Rays.  

It’s inconceivable that Kyren Paris will hit over .400 for the rest of the year. However, it’s equally hard to imagine Mike Trout threatening the Mendoza line for long. Shortstop has been an offensive black hole all season, but Zack Neto has been tearing it up in his rehab assignments at Double A, and could be back any day. Yoan Moncada’s nagging thumb injury doesn’t seem nearly as problematic when there’s a potential infield of Paris, Rengifo and Neto available, and Tim Anderson and Kevin Newman are where they should be – riding the bench.  

They’re pitching as a team

Thus far, every Angels starter has gone at least 5 innings. That in itself is a huge shift from 2024, where, right from opening day, short starts plagued the rotation. They haven’t been flawless; Jose Soriano has been far and away the standout, the rest have given up some hard hits and unwelcome walks. However, they’ve kept the team in every game, made noticeable adjustments along the way and gotten themselves out of as many jams as they’ve created. Importantly, they’ve pitched. With Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks having the two slowest average fastballs in the game, Jack Kochanowicz primarily a ground-ball pitcher and Yusei Kikuchi allowing both more walks and homeruns than he’d like, they’ve had to be smart.

The bullpen’s most encouraging night to date may well have been that 4-3 win to open the series against the Rays. After Ben Joyce blew a 2-0 lead, (one of those things that will happen to any pitcher, regardless of how many digits light up on the radar gun), Garret McDaniels and Brock Burke stranded runners on third in back-to-back innings, before Kenley Jansen racked up his 450th career save in phenomenal, yet also nail-biting, fashion. McDaniels summed it up perfectly:

"“We’ve just got some dogs in the bullpen, we’re never out of the fight. We’ve got a bunch of dogs here.”"

Garret McDaniels, per Brian Murphy

There are some signs that they might not have quite the expected bevy of long-relief options or, outside of Ryan Johnson, guys who can reliably pitch back-to-back days. But unlike 2024, they also don’t have any glaring holes, those moments when someone (Jose Suarez, Aaron Loup, Adam Cimber…) comes out and fans know they might as well start heading home.

They don’t give up

The Angels are 4-1 in one-inning games to start the season, and 2 for 2 in extra innings. That one close loss, 5-4 to Tampa Bay, was 4-0 after the first inning. They have won their first four series, after losing the opening game of two of them.

Before they turned George Steinbrenner field into a batting practice park on Thursday, they had scored one fewer home run than they’d conceded, but had won games on sacrifice flies, doubles and line-drive base hits – in other words, situational hitting. After that barrage, they have now scored the third most runs in the AL, behind only the Yankees and Red Sox. Mike Trout already has 11 RBI, 3 fewer than his total from his 10-home run, 29-game season in 2024.

"Normally over 162, a third of them you're going to win easy, a third of them you're going to lose easy. So the middle third are huge"

Travis d'Arnaud to Erica Weston

These are the games that can make or break a season. Last year, the Angels went 22-26 in one run games, and 8 for 12 in extras. If the Angels are to get back to the postseason, or even just to a .500 record, these close games will play an oversized part in making that happen.

As they head to Texas for their first two series against divisional rivals - a Houston Astros team far less intimidating than it has been in a decade, and the also-surging Rangers - they go riding a wave of good vibes that, for once, might not only be based on the early season blind optimism of their most ardent fans.  

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