Angels' breakout player is struggling but Ron Washington should not keep benching him

To nobody's surprise, Kyren Paris is coming back down to earth after an absolutely scorching start to the 2025 campaign. At one point this year, Paris led all of baseball in OPS and bWAR (to just name a couple statistical categories). Paris is assuredly proving he has a major league career ahead of him...but he's not THAT kind of player.

In his 12 games from March 27th to April 11th, Paris was slashing .419/.514/1.000/1.514 with 13 hits, five home runs, 13 RBIs, four stolen bases, and a 7:5 K:BB. He was playing exceptional defense at both second base and in centerfield all the while. In his seven games from April 12th on, Paris is slashing .095/.174/.095/.269 with a .000 ISO (0 extra base hits), two hits, and a 12:0 K:BB. Part of that is due to the Angels facing stiffer competition in that time in the Rangers, Astros, and Giants, and another part could be organizations starting to build a better game plan for Paris.

Kyren Paris is struggling but Ron Washington should keep starting him

It's a game of adjustments, and Paris needs to be afforded the opportunity to make them. Ron Washington, who is as old-school as managers come, did not start the 23-year-old in the Angels' rubber match against San Francisco in a mark of what might come moving forward. Giving struggling youngsters a day to clear their head is a standard practice in baseball, but the hope is that Washington does not move Paris into a part-time role permanently.

The concern for Paris' playing time will arise once Yoán Moncada returns from the injured list. Washington will likely make Moncada the starting third baseman, Luis Rengifo the starting second baseman, and Jo Adell will continue to start every day in centerfield (especially after his epic walk off against the Giants). Wash always opts to play the more veteran players, and constantly refers to Paris as a kid whenever he talks about him publicly.

With Zach Neto back in the lineup, Paris should be able settle into the bottom of the order well and should be able to find himself some meatballs over the middle of the plate. In terms of who loses playing time, how about revolving Moncada, Rengifo, and Adell around? They all are injury prone players who would benefit from more days off. This lineup would work well regularly against right-handed starters once Moncada returns from the shelf:

1. Ward—7
2. Neto—6
3. Trout—9  
4. Soler—DH
5. Schanuel*—3
6. O’Hoppe—2
7. Moncada**—5
8. Adell—8
9. Paris—4
Bench: d’Arnaud, Anderson, Rengifo**, Newman

Paris' .288 batting average, .383 OBP, and 1.2 fWAR lead the team (his fWAR by a WIDE margin). His metrics are also still off the charts, including a batting run value in the 96th percentile of hitters, a baserunning run value in the 92nd percentile, and a fielding run value in the 97th percentile. He's already come so far, the Angels simply must keep giving him playing time.

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