3 Angels players who won't be on the roster by June 1st

Los Angeles Angels v Cleveland Guardians
Los Angeles Angels v Cleveland Guardians | Lauren Leigh Bacho/GettyImages
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Midway through the month of May, the Los Angeles Angels have remained painfully average. At 22-21 the Halos are still in the thick of both the division and Wild Card races, but find themselves on the outside looking in.

The Angels have had to already make some roster changes in the month of May. Ryan Tepera is gone, Jake Lamb was sent down, and Anthony Rendon is on the IL. There're plenty of fresh faces in Anaheim.

By the time the calendar turns to June, the roster will again look different. By the time June 1 arrives, expect these three players to be off the roster.

1) LA Angels outfielder Mickey Moniak will not have a role for very long

In his three games with the Angels since his recall, Mickey Moniak has done everything in his power to prove he belongs at this level. He has five hits in 11 at-bats including two leadoff home runs, two stolen bases, and a walk. He's fit in quite nicely at the leadoff spot and from the beginning of Spring Training has looked like a potential everyday player.

The problem with Moniak is he's just not better than the starting outfielders on the Angels roster. Hunter Renfroe leads the team in home runs and is one off the team lead in RBI. He's not going anywhere. After a slow start, Taylor Ward is hitting .315 in the month of May. He's not getting benched. Mike Trout is, well, Mike Trout.

The Angels outfielders will get days off once in a while as we've seen in this road trip, but other than that, you can expect Ward, Trout, and Renfroe to be in there virtually every day. With Shohei Ohtani being the team's DH, at-bats will be few and far between with Moniak. This is why he didn't make the Opening Day roster, and it's why he won't last long even with his good performance barring injury.

While Moniak is a better player than Brett Phillips, nobody serves the Phillips role better in this organization than Phillips. He's a terrific defensive replacement and pinch runner. Moniak is far more than that, and shouldn't be limited to that kind of role. Getting at-bats every day in AAA remains the best course of action for him until an everyday spot opens up.

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