Ranking the three most memorable Jared Walsh moments with the Angels

The Los Angeles Angels officially announced that they have outrighted six players ahead of the 2023 offseason. These players will all officially be free agents, free to sign with any other team (including the Angels). One of the six players the team outrighted was Jared Walsh, whose Angels career feels over.

At one point, Jared Walsh looked like a piece the Angels would use to center around the likes of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. He was an all-star in 2021, hitting 29 home runs with 98 RBI. Struggles in 2022 and 2023 highlighted by a multitude of injuries led to him being demoted multiple times. When the Angels sent him down in late September that really felt like the end for Walsh in Anaheim.

The Angels letting Walsh go makes sense, as there really is nowhere to put him. Nolan Schanuel has earned the job at first base, and the Halos already have a multitude of outfielders who'd rank ahead of him on the depth chart. They could've kept him around, but that would've meant tendering him a contract and with him in arbitration, he'd be making more than the minimum.

With Walsh's time with the Angels all but complete, let's revisit some of his best moments with the only franchise he's known.

3) Best Jared Walsh moments: Hitting for the cycle

Jared Walsh had one prolonged hot streak in the 2022 season. He had a rough April but played well in May, and took that hot streak into an early June matchup at home against the New York Mets. The Angels were debuting their city connect uniforms that Saturday night, and Walsh had one of the best performances of his career.

He began his night in a disappointing way, striking out with a runner in scoring position in the first. That strikeout must've really gotten him fired up as Walsh would reach base in each of his next four at-bats.

First, he'd hit an single to right with a runner in scoring position, but Shohei Ohtani was thrown out at the plate, robbing him of an RBI. His next at-bat saw Walsh hit a two-out double which got New York's starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco pulled from the game.

In the bottom of the seventh, Walsh would go deep to give the Angels an 8-1 lead. The notable thing about that longball was it came off of left-hander Chasen Shreve. Walsh had notoriously struggled against southpaws, so seeing him go deep against one was encouraging. He was a triple shy of the cycle, but expecting Walsh, a player with minimal speed and just four career tripled heading into the season to hit one would've been a difficult ask.

Despite seemingly all of the odds stacked against him, Walsh would hit a two-out two-run triple to complete the cycle. It was his first career cycle and the ninth in Angels franchise history. He was the eighth player to accomplish the feat. To be fair, the triple was aided by poor defense in the outfield, but it looks like a triple off the wall in the box score.

2) Best Jared Walsh moments: The walk-off home run vs. the White Sox

The best season Jared Walsh had for the Los Angeles Angels was undoubtedly the 2021 season. He slashed .277/.340/.509 with 29 home runs and 98 RBI, making the all-star team and taking over as the team's primary first baseman and middle of the order bat.

While Walsh would earn regular reps thanks to his outstanding bat, he wouldn't begin the season as the starter. He didn't start a game until the third game of the season, but he went 2-for-4 that day and earned another start the next night because of that. Walsh made a statement on Sunday Night Baseball against the White Sox to wrap up the first weekend of the season.

Most fans remember that ESPN game for Shohei Ohtani's mammoth home run in the first inning having Matt Vasgergian on the call saying "And that ball is absolutely crushed!" Ohtani started the home run barrage, Walsh would finish it.

He drilled a home run to right against new pitcher Codi Heuer to give the Angels a 4-3 lead. The game remained 4-3 until the White Sox evened the score in the top of the ninth to tie the game. This set up a chance for the top of the Angels order to try and win the game in the bottom half in dramatic fashion.

Two of the first three hitters reached for the Angels, giving Walsh the chance to win it with a base hit. Turns out he had something else in mind, as he wound up launching a three-run homer to the opposite field to win the game 7-4. It was his second home run of the night, and Walsh drove in four runs in the victory.