Constructing the ideal LA Angels lineup ahead of Opening Day and the regular season

While it's not been announced by the team so it's not 100% official yet, the Angels have made clear who their 13 position players on the Opening Day roster will be. The lineup itself will be unveiled on March 27th before they play the Chicago White Sox, but the pieces are all there ready to be moved around the board.

The only hold-up for now is the status of Yoán Moncada, but Ron Washington stated that the third baseman will be ready for the beginning of the regular season (per Michael Huntley who was filling in for Jeff Fletcher of The OC Register). He will not require a stint on the Injured List to begin the season. The corresponding moves will be to option down Matthew Lugo, Christian Moore, Ryan Noda, J.D. Davis, and Chuckie Robinson, but those are also yet to be finalized.

Washington has threatened (at least it feels like it) to go all old-school with his lineup and deploy a Tim Anderson or Kevin Newman in the 2-hole often, which feels archaic and insane. Moving Mike Trout out of the no. 2 spot in the batting order feels like over-thinking and meddling, as he has hit second for the vast majority of his Hall of Fame career. To replace Trout at no. 2 with Anderson and Newman, who were bad at the plate during spring training, adds insult to injury.

Furthermore, Washington announced that Kyren Paris will only play twice a week, making him a bench player and late-game substitute after demolishing pitchers in spring training. He is 23-years-old and developing rapidly, so not playing him every day seems counter-intuitive if he does not play every day. There are other nitpicks with Washington's plans, including who bats leadoff, so let's dive into what the ideal lineups would look like if the Angels are to improve their run production in 2025.

vs. RHPs:
1. Soler—DH
2. Trout—9
3. Schanuel*—3
4. Ward—7
5. O’Hoppe—2
6. Moncada**—5
7. Paris—8
8. Anderson—4
9. Newman—6
Bench: Lopez*, Adell, Rengifo**, d’Arnaud
* -- left-handed hitter
** -- switch-hitter

vs. LHPs:
1. Soler—DH
2. Trout—9
3. Ward—7
4. d’Arnaud—2
5. Rengifo**—5
6. Adell—8
7. Paris—4
8. Schanuel*—3
9. Anderson—6
Bench: Lopez*, Newman, Moncada**, O’Hoppe
* -- left-handed hitter
** -- switch-hitter

Off the bat, Soler is a better hitter than Ward and has performed much better as a leadoff man in recent years. It's not a massive nitpick, but it feels like the evaluators are overlooking Soler's comfort with leading off and his ability to see a lot of pitches when he's in the batter's box.

Moncada will likely play one game at most against his former team in the opening series, but he should be the every-day third baseman against right-handed pitchers. A platoon of Moncada and Rengifo at third base maximizes their talents at the plate, with Moncada being much better against righties and Rengifo much better against lefties. The same goes for the catchers, as O'Hoppe is better against righties, and d'Arnaud against lefties. Platooning those four at those two positions best equips those players at succeeding at the plate and could keep them healthy and fresh the whole season. Moncada and O'Hoppe should be the primary starters (there are more right-handed starters out there) and d'Arnaud and Rengifo should be in backup roles.

An underrated storyline from spring training was Kevin Newman's underwhelming statistics at the plate. If he is going to hit like that than he simply cannot play shortstop every day, even while Zach Neto remains out. It felt crazy putting in Tim Anderson in every day (as well as Kyren Paris), but he was better overall than Newman. Anderson and Newman likely provide the same defensive value, with Anderson more able to make the flashy play and just as able to make the routine ones too.

Even with Mickey Moniak getting released, Jo Adell should not play every day in centerfield. He also struggled at the plate this spring and is not the most durable athlete. Paris is not a natural centerfielder, but he crushed righties at the plate in spring and the bottom 3 of the order against RHPs would be much weaker if it went Adell-Anderson-Newman.

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