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3 reasons to be excited about the 2023 Angels

By Zachary Rotman |
Sep 6, 2022; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) wears a
Sep 6, 2022; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) wears a / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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The Los Angeles Angels stumbled to the finish in 2022 after a very promising start. At one point, the Angels were flying high, competing for a playoff position and having fun doing it.

The Angels celebrated a no-hitter, watched Anthony Rendon hit a home run left-handed, and got to witness the greatness of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani every night.

Unfortunately, the Angels won just 73 games and enter an offseason full of question marks. Who will own the club? Will Shohei Ohtani still be here? How much money can the Angels spend? While these are questions I cannot answer, I assure you there are reasons to be excited about the 2023 Angels.

1) Reason to be excited about the 2023 Angels: We still have Mike Trout

Shohei Ohtani's future in Anaheim is uncertain. He signed a $30 million dollar deal to avoid arbitration but he's going to be a free agent after the 2023 campaign. Ohtani has expressed some frustration with how the 2022 season went and if he won't extend this offseason, the Angels might have to strongly consider trading him just to assure they get a haul back and don't lose him for nothing.

While Ohtani's situation is very much up in the air, Mike Trout will be the center fielder come Opening Day. He's locked up through the 2030 season and will be here for the foreseeable future.

Despite only playing in 119 games, Mike Trout was still unreal in 2022. He slashed .283/.369/.630 with 40 home runs and 80 RBI. Trout didn't even qualify for the batting title but he still hit 40 home runs. That's the kind of show he put on.

Angels fan can enjoy watching a future first ballot Hall of Famer play center field. They can watch him be the five-tool player he's always been. He just has to stay healthy, of course.

2) Reason to be excited about the 2023 Angels: The young rotation

The Angels have a very young rotation with some arms we should be really excited about. Of course, Shohei Ohtani leads the way as the young ace of this staff but as mentioned prior, his future is uncertain. Even with that, the Angels have some quality young arms that you should be excited to watch develop.

Patrick Sandoval has turned into a possible frontline starter with the season he had in 2022. He had a 2.91 ERA in 27 starts. He had a 3.09 FIP which suggests the ERA wasn't a fluke.

Sandoval allowed a lot of base runners as he surrendered 8.6 H/9 and walked 3.6/9. Those numbers are too high, especially the walks. However, he did a great job at limiting the long ball, as he allowed just eight home runs in 148.2 innings pitched (0.5 HR/9). This allowed Sandoval to limit the big inning which is always crucial for a starting pitcher. At 26 years old, his future is very bright.

The second southpaw Angels fans should be excited about is Reid Detmers. The 23-year-old made 25 starts for the Halos in 2022. He had some great ones including a no-hitter and some bad ones. Detmers' performance in the second half is what should give Angels fans lots of optimism.

Detmers went 5-3 with a 3.36 second-half ERA in 11 starts. His strikeouts ballooned from 7.3/9 in the first half to 9.9/9 in the second half. After allowing 11 home runs in 70 first-half innings, he allowed just two longballs in 59 innings in the second half.

Detmers can build off of a strong second half and hopefully entrench himself in the middle of the Angels rotation for years to come.

Jose Suarez is the third southpaw the Angels fans should be excited about. He's another guy who settled in quite nicely in the second half after a shaky first half. Suarez had a 5.60 first-half ERA and that dropped down to 2.81 in the second half.

Suarez averaged nearly six innings per start in the second half and was consistently great. He allowed more than three runs in just one start after the all-star break.

The 24 year old should only improve as he gets comfortable in the rotation.

The Angels have those three young quality lefties in the middle of their rotation that they can enjoy watching grow into even better pitchers.

3) Reason to be excited about the 2023 Angels: The offense should be much improved

The 2022 Angels were 25th in runs scored. They were in the bottom half in baseball in runs scored during Jeremy Reed's tenure as hitting coach. The Angels will have a new hitting coach in 2023 and should hopefully have better results.

While I believe the Angels could've had a better hitting coach, it's unfair to pin all of the Angels' struggles offensively on Reed. The Angels dealt with a bevy of injuries to their position players which made them use guys like Andrew Velazquez and Matt Duffy much more than they should have.

Guys like Jared Walsh and Max Stassi took massive steps back offensively, while Anthony Rendon missed most of the season with injury.

I expect better health and a big Walsh bounce-back in 2023. If that happens, this offense should be better.

The Angels have several young players who can potentially break out as well. Logan O'Hoppe is the top prospect in the Angels system and projects as a great hitter. If he wins the catcher job he has a chance to make a big impact.

Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak haven't panned out offensively in the bigs but they're still young and have plenty of raw talent. Maybe with a new hitting coach they'll strike out less and produce better results.

The Angels do have a hole in the outfield that they can fill in free agency or via trade.

I believe this Angels offense led by Trout and hopefully Ohtani will be much improved. At least it can't get much worse.

Next. 3 biggest areas of need for the Angels to address this offseason. dark

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