Angels' X-Factors: 2 under-the-radar players who could make a huge impact

Everybody knows that the Angels need Mike Trout healthy in order to win baseball games in 2025, even though when he was a perennial MVP candidate the team still could not crack the postseason. The Angels' have a true star as their best player, then a few upper-tier players who should be able to successfully navigate the 162-game season. However, if the team that has not made the playoffs in over a decade is to make it back to the promised land, than they need every single player on their roster to contribute in some way, shape, or form.

The Angels have two players in particular who are in line to become unsung heroes if they stay healthy and continue to do what they do best all year long.

Travis d'Arnaud

It's incredibly difficult for an opposing team to game plan when d'Arnaud is calling pitches. The epitome of d'Arnaud's spontaneous, yet brilliant, pitch calling methods occurred when he caught Jack Kochanowicz during the Angels' third game of the year. The third and last game of the Angels' opening series was the veteran backstop's Angels debut, and he could immediately tell that the White Sox were smartly keying in on Kochanowicz's sinker -- a pitch he threw a whopping 73% of the time last season. So, what did d'Arnaud do? He made Kochanowicz get out of his comfort zone and throw his 4-seam more, which he threw only 6% of the time in 2024.

On the day, Kochanowicz threw his sinker 42% of the time, his 4-seam 41% of the time, and his new-look slider 17% of the time. After an early home run and a bunch of hard contact in the first inning, the adjustments d'Arnaud forced Kochanowicz to make allowed him to go 6 innings while only needing 64 pitches. The young starter's most glaring issue last season was not generating nearly enough whiffs and strikeouts, and he was certainly missing barrels with his 4-seam in innings 2-6. His 38% 4-seam CSW% was higher than that of his sinker and slider.

d'Arnaud telegraphed his savvy pitch calling during his first spring training game when he caught Kyle Hendricks, making him throw more consecutive curveballs then he ever had before in his 11-year big league career. The catcher is a force multiplier, not just for the pitching staff but with Logan O'Hoppe, and his presence is invaluable.

Ryan Zeferjahn

Why even use a 100mph 4-seam when you have an elite cutter-sweeper combo?

Zeferjahn said before the season that he was not going to use his blistering fastball as much as his other offerings, and he showed that against the White Sox. Despite it being a small sample size, he only used his low-90s cutter and mid-80s sweeper during his first outing of the season. Unlike most cutters, Zeferjahn's has depth and actually mirrors the induced vertical break of his sweeper -- which makes the tunneling opportunities endless. Furthermore, Zeferjahn came over from the Red Sox last season, an organization that has modernized its approach to pitching in that they want their pitchers throwing their heaters less than their off-speed. Zeferjahn knows that a well-placed, well-timed, elevated 100mph heater will play better when hitters are not prepared for it.

Zeferjahn was a lock to make the Opening Day roster, but he is going to have a bigger impact than fans might think. Kenley Jansen and Ben Joyce appeared in 2 of the 3 games in the White Sox series, but do not get used to that. They will certainly be load managed (at least they should be) throughout the course of the season, and if the Angels want to contend this year than they need Zeferjahn to blossom into a bona fide late-inning stopper on the days their closer and set-up man are burned. He has the stuff to do it for sure.

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