Projecting the Los Angeles Angels 2023 Opening Day roster 4.0

Angels 2023 Opening Day roster predictions: Starting lineup (8 +Ohtani)

Taylor Ward, Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Hunter Renfroe, Jared Walsh, Brandon Drury, Gio Urshela, Max Stassi

The top seven of this lineup remain unchanged, but for the first time in these roster projections, I have changes in the starting lineup.

Gio Urshela has looked much better at shortstop than I anticipated, and I feel more comfortable with him starting games at that position now. Originally I had David Fletcher starting at short because of his defense, but his bat is the worst by far of every shortstop candidate. Urshela is arguably the best hitter of the three options, and with me being more comfortable with his glove I think he should be there. He'll bat anywhere from 6-8 if he is, the Walsh, Drury, Urshela trio is pretty interchangeable in my eyes.

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for, I do have Max Stassi as the catcher with Matt Thaiss. alongside him. This means Logan O'Hoppe will begin the year in AAA. I have Stassi listed as the starter because I believe he'd get the Opening Day nod but believe there will be a timeshare, at least until one does more than the other offensively or defensively.

I don't agree with this decision, as I'm extremely high on O'Hoppe's bat and think his glove has been solid as well. It's just what I think the Angels will do.

Like Davidson, Thaiss is out of options. As much as they want to say they'll take the best 26, it doesn't always make sense to do that. They won't want to lose Thaiss for nothing, and with a nice spring, Thaiss would likely get claimed off of waivers.

They'll have O'Hoppe begin the year in AAA to get more experience and come up if/when they need a punch offensively. While Thaiss has performed well in the spring, I'm not a believer in him being anything more than a backup catcher. The Angels won't want to give up on him, so I believe he's going to be on the roster.

Angels 2023 Opening Day roster predictions: Bench (4)

Matt Thaiss, David Fletcher, Luis Rengifo, Brett Phillips

As I said prior, I believe Stassi and Thaiss will be more of a tandem splitting time. I have Thaiss listed as the bench guy, but believe both will play a lot to begin the year. Now onto the rest of the bench.

The Angels have versatility all over the diamond with Fletcher and Rengifo. Fletcher is more of a glove guy while Rengifo is known for his bat.

I believe Rengifo will start virtually every day the Angels face a lefty replacing Jared Walsh. They'd have Drury or Urshela play first with Rengifo playing second or short. Rengifo should also see time in both corner outfield spots.

Fletcher will get his playing time when ground ball pitchers are on the mound like Tyler Anderson or Patrick Sandoval. Get his glove ready to make plays when needed.

The consequential one is Brett Phillips. I don't want to keep repeating myself, but this will happen. Phillips fits the role best of a guy whose sole purpose is to run and play defense. He will rarely play. This is why Moniak should not be on the roster. This roster is a hard one to predict, but the last bench spot really isn't hard to predict in my eyes.

Angels 2023 Opening Day roster predictions: Bullpen (8)

Carlos Estevez, Jimmy Herget, Matt Moore, Aaron Loup, Ryan Tepera, Jose Quijada, Jaime Barria, Andrew Wantz

The first six spots of this bullpen are locked up completely. Even with Jose Quijada's disastrous outing against the Rockies he'll still start the year on the roster, he's too talented not to and is out of options.

The question about those six is who will be the closer? Estevez is probably the front runner still, as despite a rough spring he has looked better and feels the most suited for that role.

This bullpen is deeper than it has been in a long time, especially if Loup and Tepera can have bounce-back seasons. Loup has looked excellent this spring and pitched really well when called upon for Team USA in the WBC.

Onto the last two. I don't think Jaime Barria is an absolute lock, but he's like 95% on the roster. He was good in his role last season and again, is out of options. The Angels likely wouldn't have tendered him a contract if they felt he'd have a shot at being DFA'd.

The last spot is where things get interesting. It's really between Andrew Wantz and Ben Joyce. As much as I want to say Ben Joyce because he truly has been awesome, we saw him struggle a bit in his last outing and I just can't see the Angels taking this kind of risk.

Joyce is an unbelievable story being drafted in the third round in 2022 and even having a shot at an Opening Day spot, I just think Wantz has been really good in the spring as well and was good in the MLB last season. That combined with Joyce having 13 innings of professional experience makes it hard to justify rostering him.

This, once again, is a god problem to have, The Angels could have more than eight options to turn to for relievers which is something they couldn't realistically say for years.

Joyce will get his shot, and I bet it's sooner than later. That right arm of his is special, and I can't wait to see it in Anaheim when the time comes. I just don't see that time being Opening Day.