3 Angels players who have cooled down after hot starts

The Los Angeles Angels had hovered around or slightly above .500 for much of the season before having an excellent beginning to the month of June. The Angels had a stretch where they won ten of 12 to go to as many as nine games above .500.

An unacceptable loss in Kansas City which saw the Angels blow an 8-2 lead to the lowly Royals saw the Angels begin a stretch where they'd win just five of their next 17 games. That's where we are now. The team is 45-44 and has fallen to 3.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot and 6.5 games back of the division lead.

We can point to injuries as to why the Angels have struggled, and that does make some sense, but there're some players who were great at the beginning of the season who have really struggled of late. This has undoubtedly played a role.

1) LA Angels catcher Chad Wallach has cooled down after a hot start

Chad Wallach came to the Angels with no expectations. He signed a minor league deal to be the team's third catcher but was thrust into the backup role when Logan O'Hoppe went on the IL.

Despite having virtually no offensive success in the majors, Wallach made an excellent first impression, hitting a home run on the first pitch he saw in the majors this season. Ten starts into his season, Wallach had an OPS of .933, smacking three home runs in the process.

Wallach's six home runs shattered a career-high, as he entered the season with just four MLB home runs in 273 plate appearances. He had six in his first 82 appearances of this season, including some clutch ones. The problem is, since hitting that sixth home run on June 15th, Wallach has been abysmal offensively.

Wallach is hitless in his last 26 at-bats with 15 strikeouts. For a guy who plays every time the Angels see a left-hander and every time Shohei Ohtani pitches, that's a problem that needs to be solved.

Wallach was slashing .280/.341/.547 when he hit his last home run. He's now slashing .208/.279/.406 on the season. A .685 OPS could've been seen as a reasonable expectation for Wallach entering the season, but after he swung a good bat for so long, the drop-off has been frustrating to watch.

The Angels went 18-12 in his first 30 appearances and have gone just 2-9 in the 11 since. It's not hard to see why.

2) LA Angels reliever Chris Devenski has cooled down after a hot start

It's hard to find many relievers in all of baseball who were better than Chris Devenski in his first 19 appearances as an Angel. He allowed just five runs in 24.1 innings of work (1.85 ERA). He was used in just about any situation imaginable and was pitching like the all-star he was back in 2017.

The most amazing stat from Devenski's beginning is in those first 19 appearances he stranded 82% of inherited runners. This includes a couple of bases loaded situations in key spots. He didn't even issue his first walk until his 18th appearance of the season.

Since his scoreless inning on June 15th in Texas, Devenski hasn't been close to the same guy. In his eight appearances he's allowed nine runs (eight earned) in just 7.2 innings pitched. He's walked five, and has allowed opponents to hit .378 against him.

The Angels were 15-4 in his first 19 appearances, and have gone 1-7 in the eight since. Some of them have been in games he's come in with the team already trailing, but Devenski has blown two saves in his most recent bad stretch.

He's allowed runs in six of his last eight outings, and frankly shouldn't be getting many high-leverage chances anymore.