4 Angels' spring training busts fans wish they could forget

As the Los Angels Angels head to Tempe, Arizona for spring training, the team has a bleak outlook for 2026. Not many around the big leagues expect much out of the Halos this season and, based on how the offseason has gone, there is good reason for that.

Nonetheless, a number of names (including a handful of top prospects) are going into camp hoping to make a strong impression and change the team's fortunes. But with every breakout comes a bust, and players will want to avoid the type of performances the following players put up in their respective treacherous preseasons.

4 spring training performances Angels fans wish they could forget

Caden Dana, 2025

With an open competition to fill out the rotation or, at the very least, serve as a bullpen arm going into camp last season, Caden Dana had every chance to make the Opening Day roster. Dana had put together some solid work to end the 2024 season, but definitely needed to show he was building off of that going into the 2025 season if he wanted a spot.

Dana instead did the exact opposite, posting a 15.88 ERA in his three appearances for the Angels. He was hit hard and hit often, giving up eight hits in 5.2 innings of work to go along with six walks and only six strikeouts. He erased any momentum he had, and was sent down to the minor leagues to start the season. He has a similar opportunity in camp this year and Dana (and fans) are hoping for a 180 from the former top pitching prospect.

Patrick Sandoval, 2024

After a promising start to his MLB career, Patrick Sandoval saw a step back in production during the 2023 season. After two seasons with an ERA under four in 2021 and 2022, the streak ended. Going into camp in 2024, Sandoval was a player fans were watching in hopes of seeing his old self. Sandoval failed in that capacity, posting a 7.15 ERA in his 11.1 innings of work that preseason. That bled into the regular season, where Sandoval's ERA rose above five. It was the end of his time with the Angels, as he was non-tendered following the regular season.

Keynan Middleton, 2020

After showing the ability to serve as a legitimate shutdown closer for the Angels in 2018 and 2019, Keynan Middleton fell apart during the 2020 preseason. After allowing ERA's of 2.04 and 1.17 in the past two seasons, Middleton came into spring training and posted a 7.20 mark in his five appearances. He was absolutely ineffective, and it was a hard for Angels fans to stomach given his previous track record.

Middleton was a homegrown player, and the 2020 regular season proved to be the end of his time with the Angels after he posted an ERA of 5.25 and was promptly grabbed by the Mariners in the following free agency period.

Shohei Ohtani, 2017

Every Angels fan remembers the feeling of watching Shohei Ohtani's first spring training in the U.S. The stats do not matter - yes they are as bad as you remember - but having to immediately defend the new crown jewel of Anaheim from all 29 fan bases was a brutal draw for an Angels fan base that finally had hope again.

Disastrous on the mound and clueless at the plate, Ohtani immediately seemed like another Angels bust - and Halo fans knew it. He is the only player here who turned his career around, obviously, and gave Angels fans some of the best individual seasons of all time. But nevertheless, Halo faithful cannot forget the horrors of the 2017 Shohei Ohtani spring training.