3 LA Angels musts for the team to take a step forward in 2024

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The Los Angeles Angels finished the 2023 season with an identical record to the one they had in 2022. 73-89. This is obviously not what they had expected after seemingly pushing all of their chips in for one final run with Shohei Ohtani, but their second half collapse is one fans will remember for a long time. Especially if Ohtani leaves.

Now, all eyes are on 2024. The Angels hope to bring Ohtani back, but the franchise can still show signs of progress if these things happen during the 2024 season.

1) Young position players must continue to develop into building blocks of the team

It's not unfair to say that the chances of the Angels having success hinges on their young players improving. It might be unfair to expect that from them, but that'll be the difference for this team.

The Angels obviously had a ton of moments to forget in 2023 but also had some impressive debut seasons from rookies. Zach Neto looked like the spark plug this team was missing at shortstop. Nolan Schanuel got on base at a historic clip down the stretch. Logan O'Hoppe looked like baseball's next well-rounded catcher. That's just the position player side of things.

Chase Silseth looked like he could be a legitimate rotation piece in the second half of the season. Ben Joyce, Sam Bachman, and Jose Soriano all showed flashes of brilliance in the bullpen and can help the Angels a ton late in games.

The Angels also have several younger players who aren't considered rookies like Mickey Moniak who broke out in a huge way in 2023. How about Jo Adell? Can he take a step forward in 2024 and earn an everyday role?

Of course, the Angels are built around Mike Trout and hopefully Shohei Ohtani in 2024 and beyond. Outside of Trout, they have a team full of young guys with few exceptions. If those guys take meaningful steps forward who knows what the ceiling is on this team? If they don't, it'll be another long year in Anaheim.

2) The LA Angels must improve their pitching

The Angels went from a team with an extremely promising rotation in 2022 to one that could be a disaster in 2024. The Angels had pretty much every starting pitcher take a step back in 2023 leading to their rotation having the 19th-best ERA in the majors. They went from sixth last season to below-average in 2023.

Griffin Canning had a decent year in 2023. Patrick Sandoval and Reid Detmers had good moments, but overall most would say they regressed. Tyler Anderson was a disaster. Even if Shohei Ohtani does stay put, he's not pitching in 2024.

The Angels need to go out and sign at least one big-time starting pitcher in free agency. The chances of them doing this are pretty slim if they do bring back Ohtani as it'd almost certainly put them over the luxury tax, but this team really needs starting pitching help.

They can hope guys like Sandoval, Detmers, and Anderson bounce back in 2024 but with Matt Wise still here (at least for now) I'm not sure how realistic that is.

The Angels bullpen could also use some reinforcements. They do have promising young guys to go along with Carlos Estevez, but the losses of guys like Matt Moore and Reynaldo Lopez in late August really hurt the depth of the bullpen. The Angels need a late-game arm or two that they can rely on in a close game. Investing in good pitching isn't cheap, but it's what must be done if this team wants to take a meaningful step in 2024.

3) LA Angels players must find a way to stay healthy

Health wound up playing a huge role once again for this Angels team this past season. It's not the only reason they finished with a losing record and missed the playoffs once again, but the injuries certainly did wind up hurting this team.

Of the players who began the season on the Angels' 26-man roster, only Reid Detmers and Carlos Estevez wound up lasting the entire year with the team. Two out of 26. Some players were sent down and DFA'd, but a vast majority of the 26 players spent at least some time on the Injured List. That's a major issue.

For the Angels to have success in 2024, they're going to need Mike Trout to find a way to play a lot of games. 150+ feels unrealistic, but can he get to the 119 games he played in 2022 at least? He's played in 100 games once in the last four seasons. Can Anthony Rendon play in more than 60 games for the first time as an Angel? Hopes are low, but they're going to need him to do something too.

Perry Minasian did his best to go out and get as much depth as possible, but there's only so much he can do when literally everyone misses time. The Angels ended this season with 11 guys on the 60-day IL. That's not even including guys like Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, and C.J. Cron who were hurt.

Depth is important, but depth isn't meant to carry you through an entire season. The players who are expected to contribute have to find a way to stay healthy to avoid another majorly disappointing season.

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