3 Angels players who need to get off to a strong start in the regular season

If the Los Angeles Angels want to get back to the postseason, getting off to a good start is crucial. They did get off to a good start last season, but it's pretty hard to win games when a large portion of your team is injured and you have no real depth options to replace them. I digress.

The Angels obviously have players like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani who will carry a massive load, but they'll need their surrounding pieces to contribute for them to win games.

The Angels are in arguably the toughest division in baseball and the American League as a whole has a plethora of teams eyeing playoff contention. Here are three players who the Halos must get good production out of to begin the season.

1. The Angels need something out of Anthony Rendon eventually

I understand if hearing about how crucial Anthony Rendon is to this team is annoying, but it's very true. When he last played a full season, Rendon was an MVP finalist and a World Series champion with the Nationals. He even looked really good in his first season with the Angels, but that was a short season.

Unfortunately, the last two seasons have been nothing less than a disaster for Rendon. Injuries and underwhelming performance have him in just about every Angels fan's doghouse. It's hard to blame them. Their $245 million dollar player earned nearly $1 million per game played last year as he earned $36 million and played in 47 games.

Rendon is going to be the cleanup hitter on Opening Day behind Trout and Ohtani. Having Rendon be closer to his MVP-caliber form he was in during his final year with Washington and his first year with the Halos is critical. Pitchers need to fear Rendon so they give Ohtani something to hit.

Angels fans really just need to see something out of this guy. It's been too long.