Why the Angels should trust their young core this season

The Angels are in the midst of a youth movement at the big league level, as the franchise is attempting to maneuver through a 2025 season with little-to-no expectations to actually contend. The organization is adamant that they are looking to make the playoffs this season, but pretty much everybody in the baseball world is rolling their eyes at that notion. A successful season for fans might mean to break the longest active playoff drought in the sport, but it really means that the Angels will continue to oversee more development from their young core.

Zach Neto, Logan O'Hoppe, José Soriano, Jack Kochanowicz, Ben Joyce, and Nolan Schanuel comprise said young core. You can even throw in guys like Ryan Zeferjahn, Kyren Paris, Ryan Johnson, Reid Detmers, and Garrett McDaniels who all made the Opening Day roster as well. Then there are top prospects like Matthew Lugo, Caden Dana, Christian Moore, George Klassen, and Nelson Rada, who will all likely be called up at some point this season (Dana obviously already made his MLB debut in 2024). However, that core group of six players should absolutely be counted on to make strides this season, and right some of the easily alterable wrongs they have in their games.

Why the Angels should trust their young core this season

Neto has cleaned up the warts in his game nicely at such a young age, and it is expected that he will tear the league up once more when he is back in the lineup. O'Hoppe should have his legs under him now, and could avoid another late-season slump given the experience he gained last year and his in-house mentors. Schanuel has cleaned up his professionalism by eradicating his dumbfounding strength and conditioning tactics, and has even shown that he will barrel more balls up this year. Kochanowicz has tweaked his arsenal nicely, and should be able to diversify his pitch mix given the work he put in during the offseason and spring training. Soriano and Joyce know they just need to stay healthy, and given their ages they should be able to be trustworthy moving forward.

As Joyce put it in an interview with Sam Blum of The Athletic: "We all came up together, grew up in the game of baseball together. It would definitely be exciting to play with these guys as long as I can." Joyce was asked about signing a long-term extension with the Angels, and cited his teammates as a major reason for why he would. This group of players the Angels have all know each other and have played together for a long time, and the cohesion they have formed cannot be discounted.

The most important aspect of the Angels' core group is that they are leaders of the team. Everybody seems to view O'Hoppe as the captain, the voice of the team, and the future face of the franchise. Neto receives laudatory comments from manager Ron Washington, an old-school skipper who more often critiques than praises his youngsters. Schanuel, Soriano, Kochanowicz, and Joyce are turning into consummate pros and are seemingly beloved by their teammates as well. Even with all of the veterans added, the young core have been tenured by the Angels longer and are the heartbeat of the team.

Will the entire core group make the All-Star Game and become MVP candidates soon? No, but they can at least be counted on to develop both on and off the field based on what they have shown so far in their careers.

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