Fansided

3 factors that made August of 2023 the worst month in Angels franchise history

The Los Angeles Angels just wrapped up what might have been the worst month in franchise history.

By Zachary Rotman |
Los Angeles Angels v Philadelphia Phillies
Los Angeles Angels v Philadelphia Phillies / Tim Nwachukwu/GettyImages
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The Los Angeles Angels entered the month of August with a lot of hope. They were 56-51 at the end of July, and were right in the thick of postseason contention.

Perry Minasian showed that he believed in this group of players by going all-in at the trade deadline. Several of this team's top prospects were traded in exchange for players that were to help the Angels win right now. It's safe to say that didn't happen.

The Angels ended the month by winning a wild game in Philadelphia, but the rest of the month was so disastrous to the point where it can be argued that it's the worst month in the history of this franchise. Here are three reasons why.

1) The LA Angels run differential was laughably bad as they played uncompetitive baseball for much of the month

The Angels attempted to go on a run this month, yet managed to play completely uncompetitive baseball for much of it. Not only did they lose a lot, they lost badly.

This month included an 18-4 loss, a pair of 11-3 defeats, a 12-0 loss, and a 12-5 loss. These losses came against quality opponents like the Braves, Astros, and Rays, but it once again proved the Angels were completely outclassed.

Their -74 run differential in the month of August was the worst of any month in franchise history. Think about that. This team that had just gone all in expecting to win, had a month worse than every Angels team ever.

They went from five games over .500 and 3.5 games back of a postseason spot (4.5 back in the AL West) to a team that ended the month six games under .500, 11.5 games back of a playoff spot (12.5 back in the AL West), and completely out of contention.

The Angels entered the month with a +28 run differential after beating the best team in baseball in Atlanta, and have seen that number dip to -46. Eight of the nine series they had this month came against winning teams. They lost seven of the eight, only taking two of three from the Giants. This was the time for them to prove they could beat good teams, but they fell flat on their faces.

2) The LA Angels didn't do anything well in the month of August

The Angels were a team carried much of this season by their offense. They were among the league leaders in home runs, and thanks to Shohei Ohtani, they've spent much of the year in the top-ten in runs scored. This past month was a whole other story.

The Angels slashed .222/.279/.378 with just 29 home runs and 105 runs scored. They were tied for 28th in batting, 24th in home runs, and 25th in runs scored. The team ranked 29th in the majors with a 75 WRC+ and -0.6 fWAR for their position players. Only the Rockies were worse in both categories.

Only three players on the Angels had a WRC+ over 100, and one of them was Nolan Schanuel who played just 10 games. Shohei Ohtani and Luis Rengifo were predictably those two hitters, as they had great months individually. Everybody else had miserable months and that's why the team managed to score more than four runs just eight times.

The pitching wasn't any better. In fact, it was worse. Angels pitchers had a 6.14 team ERA this month, by far the worst in baseball. They allowed their opponents to reach double figures six times in their 27 games in the month. They allowed at least seven runs a whopping 13 times this month. It's very hard to win when you allow seven runs or more every other game.

Angels starting pitchers had a 5.70 ERA in August which was good for 28th in baseball. Their bullpen had a 6.69 ERA, good for 29th in baseball over the month. Just about everyone struggled.

The only pitchers with an ERA below 4.00 for August included Shohei Ohtani who pitched just 11.1 innings in the month due to injuries. It also included Griffin Canning who missed time due to injury himself and made just one start (three appearances). It included Victor Mederos who had one inning of work. It included Reynaldo Lopez and Jose Soriano, two relievers who were barely below 4.00 (3.60 and 3.86 respectively). Lastly, it included Patrick Sandoval who had some good starts, but also allowed a bunch of unearned runs.

To sum up, the Angels couldn't hit and they couldn't pitch. It's very hard to win baseball games when you do neither.

3) None of the players the LA Angels acquired to help them win actually did that

The narrative of this month was supposed to be how the new guys helped the team flip the script and get back to the postseason. The Angels were right there, they just needed a push from the new guys to get them over the top. Virtually all of the players the Angels acquired in trades flopped.

Lucas Giolito was the biggest piece acquired by the Angels. He had a 6.89 ERA in six starts and the team went 1-5 in his starts. His ERA sat over 7.00 in his five August starts. Obviously, the ERA is bumped up a little bit from that awful Atlanta start, but he didn't pitch like a frontline starter in any of his starts, really.

The player the Angels acquired alongside Giolito was Reynaldo Lopez. The right-hander was their best deadline pickup but even he had his struggles. Lopez took two losses in 13 appearances with the club thanks to some of his late-game blowups. He also blew a save when he gave up a go-ahead home run against the Phillies in his final appearance with the Angels. The Angels won that game, but that was in spite of him. He had good moments, but struggled at the end.

The other big trade the Angels made saw them acquire Randal Grichuk and C.J. Cron from the Rockies. Grichuk had a .470 OPS in his first 26 games as an Angel before immediately having a monster game after being placed on waivers. Grichuk went unclaimed so hopefully he can have a good month of September, but his struggles didn't help. He was supposed to be the Taylor Ward replacement.

C.J. Cron had struggles of his own, posting a .563 OPS as an Angel before landing on the IL. His biggest contribution was making room for Nolan Schanuel. Cron is still with the team, but who knows if he'll play another game this season.

Dominic Leone had some good appearances for the Angels, but his ERA sat at 5.54 for the Angels. Even some of the players the team acquired earlier this season in Eduardo Escobar (47 WRC+) and Mike Moustakas (49 WRC+) didn't do much in August.

Players not acquired in midseason trades obviously didn't play well either, but the guys the Angels brought here specifically to win all struggled. That's just unprecedented stuff right there.

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