3 Angels hitters who will be on a short leash this season

3) LA Angels player on a short leash: Max Stassi

I really liked Max Stassi in his first two seasons as an Angel. He was rock solid defensively and his offense was good enough to make him a viable option at catcher. This past season his defense regressed and his bat was so bad to the point that he was worth -0.5 bWAR.

No matter what the catching situation is for the Angels Stassi is going to get a chance to play at least a couple of games a week. We all know Shohei Ohtani likes to throw to him, and he is under contract so the Angels will want to play him regardless.

If the Angels have Logan O'Hoppe on the roster, there's a good chance he splits time evenly with Stassi until one of them, for better or worse, gives them a reason to play the other more. If they sign Gary Sanchez I assume Sanchez will play more but Stassi would still get his starts. If they opt to go with a Stassi/Thaiss tandem, Stassi will be starting five or six games per week.

Stassi had a .571 OPS and a 62 OPS+ last season. The Halos cannot afford to have that kind of black hole in their lineup. It'd be hard to move Stassi because of the contract he's on a short leash heading into 2023. If he gets off to a rough start the Angels will have to look elsewhere whether that's internally or externally.