The 3 candidates for the Angels' best hitter in 2025

By way of his frequent absences, down-tick in on-field performance and some other members of the team looking fantastic in a not-so-small sample size, the days of Mike Trout being the Angels' best hitter appear to be done. Trout is definitely the most intimidating and best theoretical hitter on the team, his Baseball Savant page is still insane like always. His OBP is surging right now thanks in large part due to 14 base on balls in his last 12 games, which points to how scared opposing hitters still are of Trout here in the year 2025.

Trout's main issue at the plate is the same as the Angels' as a whole: he does not record extra base hits that are not home runs. The future Hall of Famer has 12 homers, one triple and just two doubles on the year. The Angels have 112 non-home run extra base hits...so yes, doubles and triples...which ranks last in baseball. It's either a single, an occasional homer or a walk for Trout. Which is really good! The Angels just have more productive and consistent hitters right now.

However, Trout's knee inflammation that cost him all but two games in May, coupled with some relatively up-and-down results all season, have opened the door for a few other position players to potentially take the mantle as the team's no. one guy. It seems that the three players who could make a serious claim for Trout's vacant title (for now, he could easily take it back soon). Let's dive into them.

Zach Neto

Ding, ding, ding! We have ourselves a winner!

In terms of pure value now and moving forward, Neto is the guy. How about a team-leading 8.0 offensive fWAR? Are you into more traditional stats? Neto leads the Angels in runs scored and batting average! There's really not much to be said about Neto, when the guy plays he performs really well (remind you of Trout at all?). He did it last year, he is doing it again this year and he will keep doing it so long as he stays healthy. Neto has Trout's blend of insane peripherals and actual production on the field.

Nolan Schanuel

Schanuel is Sam Blum's pick as the team's best hitter. Blum pointed to the 23-year-old's 115 OPS+, 12.6% strikeout rate and .416 xSLG. The Angels definitely have the best first baseman in the division, but the stats that Blum pointed to do not exactly show him being better than the rest of his teammates at the plate this season. Blum might have been talking about Schanuel being the best holistic hitter on the team, as he does not go for broke every at bat like everybody else.

Schanuel does lead the Angels in OBP, with a stellar .363 mark, that 12.6% K%, total hits and he is the most clutch player on the most clutch team in baseball. Despite being drafted a couple years ago, he looks like a savvy veteran whenever he's in the batter's box. He is developing at an insane pace, but he is not the best hitter on the team despite looking like it at times.

Jo Adell

Adell is doing his best impression of Trout this season. Trout leads the Angels with a .566 xSLG, and Adell is second with a .556 mark. Trout leads the Angels with a .398 xWOBA, and Adell is second with a .380 mark. Trout leads the Angels with a 115.4 MPH max exit velocity, and Adell is second with a 112.9 MPH max speed. Promise this is the last one: Trout leads the Angels with a 108.8 MPH 90th percentile exit velocity, and Adell is second with a 108.6 MPH max speed. Both have the most elite of the elite bat speed, and it's showing.

Adell took over Trout's old position and is basically morphing into him. His historic amount of home runs this month is literally Troutesque. Clearly Adell has all the potential to be the best Angels hitter in a post-Trout world, but the consistency is not there. He was damn near a DFA candidate a little over a month ago!

Honorable Mentions: Mike Trout, Taylor Ward, Yoán Moncada, Logan O'Hoppe

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