5 former Angels players whose playoff hopes are still alive

2) Michael Lorenzen, Philadelphia Phillies

Michael Lorenzen is another member of the Phillies this season but he's played a much smaller role than Brandon Marsh. The right-hander was an Angel in the 2022 season and they helped him get his career back on track with a solid year in the rotation. He only made 18 starts for the Halos, but he was good enough to earn a chance with the Tigers in 2023.

While in Detroit Lorenzen broke out and made the all-star team as a starting pitcher. He was pitching so well that he was a popular name in trade talks. The Phillies were the winners of the Lorenzen sweepstakes, and it looked like they were geniuses when Lorenzen threw a no-hitter in his second start with the team.

Unfortunately after that masterpiece Lorenzen had an 8.01 ERA in his next nine appearances (five starts) to finish out the regular season. Lorenzen's struggles not only knocked him out of the rotation, he wasn't even on the Phillies roster for the Wild Card round. He did make it back for the NLDS and threw a scoreless inning to close out a 10-2 victory against the Braves.

Lorenzen is on the NLCS roster as well, but has yet to make an appearance. His role will really only be to provide innings if needed, or pitch in a lopsided game. Acquiring Lorenzen was Philadelphia's big trade deadline move, yet they haven't needed him at all to be two wins away from a World Series berth.