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

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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.

2. A healthy Jared Walsh is a big-time difference maker for the Angels

When Jared Walsh was healthy in 2021, he was an all-star. He hit 29 home runs, drove in 98 runs, had a 127 OPS+. He was a monster at first base.

Through the first three months of the season Walsh wasn't performing at an elite level, but a .765 OPS certainly isn't awful by any means. The problem is, once the calendar turned to July Walsh became an absolute shell of himself. He had 20 hits in his final 150 at-bats of the season with just two home runs and four RBI. He had a .421 OPS in that span.

Walsh obviously was playing hurt, and was shut down in late August. He underwent thoracic outlet surgery, and is healthy now. He's swung the bat well thus far in the spring, which is definitely encouraging.

A healthy Jared Walsh makes a real difference in the lineup. The Angels add a guy who can hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs. Having this guy hit sixth or seventh in your lineup is absurd, and can make the Angels the offensive powerhouse they're capable of being.

Having Gio Urshela here is nice insurance, and Luis Rengifo can spell Walsh at first against southpaws. There aren't many Angels hitters better than Walsh against righties, and he is a key piece to this lineup when healthy.

3. Jose Suarez needs to prove his second half wasn't a fluke

This might be an odd choice, but I think it's one that fans need to hear. The Angels have four slots in their starting rotation solidified with Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, and Reid Detmers. The fifth spot will be occupied by Jose Suarez, and the sixth spot remains to be seen at this point.

Suarez had a 2.81 ERA in the second half and allowed more than three earned runs just once in his eleven starts after the break. He was spectacular. He still wasn't great facing hitters for the third time, but he was really good for the first five or six innings of a game.

The caveat to this performance is most of his starts came against some bad teams. Starts against teams like the Athletics, Rangers, Tigers, and Royals don't move me much.

I have hope that the 25-year-old figured something out but will need him to prove it. Suarez needs to make sure the Angels only have one rotation spot in flux, not two. With a lack of viable trade assets and a need for stability, Suarez getting off to a good start is key to the Angels success in 2023.

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