Angels starting lineup: 2 encouraging, 1 discouraging takeaway this season

Encouraging: The LA Angels young players continue to shine

Experts go on and on about how awful the Angels farm system is, and to a certain extent I agree, but the young players they've called upon this season have blown me away.

Zach Neto has a .798 OPS since starting his career with one hit in 16 at-bats. That combined with his elite defense at shortstop will play. He takes professional at-bat after professional at-bat and looks like a staple at shortstop for a long time.

Mickey Moniak has come up and set the world on fire. He's slashing 419/.438/.935 with four home runs and seven RBI in his first 10 games of this season. Of course, he won't be a .400 hitter all season, but Moniak looks like a legitimate MLB player. With his number-one overall pick ceiling, Angels fans should be really excited to watch him play for the rest of the year.

It's easy to forget about Logan O'Hoppe with him being injured, but what he was doing to begin the season put him on the Rookie of the Year track that Neto is pushing his way towards. He slashed .283/.339/.547 with four home runs and 13 RBI in his first 16 games before going down with injury. O'Hoppe was among the team leaders in virtually every offensive statistic as the number nine hitter before being sidelined.

These players are all 25 or younger, and not only have a spot on the roster right now, but look like they will in the future. O'Hoppe and Neto are huge foundational pieces to build around, and if Moniak continues to hit, he might push his way into that same category.