Many fans of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim held low expectations for their team going into the season, more as a result of prior disappointments than future potential. On paper for the last few seasons, the team has appeared formidable but failed to even reach the postseason. The Angels are once again hovering just above .500 going into the All-Star break in 2023, and a slate of injuries could complicate things further as time runs short.
In the span of two games against the Padres Monday and Tuesday, Los Angeles stars Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon all exited early with injuries. Ohtani and Rendon sustained short-term setbacks and should return shortly, but Trout had to receive surgery to treat a wrist injury and will not return for four to eight weeks.
Trout’s injury, suffered after he hit a foul ball Monday, comes at a crucial point for the Angels, who soon need to assess their current standing and future needs at the trade deadline. With a 45-44 record, the team is third in the AL West and four games out of the final Wild Card spot. Though Trout has not quite lived up to his typically outstanding production this year, he remains a key contributor and veteran leader on the team, one that likely only has one more opportunity to win with its current core.
Trout, 31, is already regressing from his generational numbers earlier in his career for the Angels, but the most urgent issue in Anaheim is the impending free agency battle for Ohtani. Arguably the most versatile star in the history of the sport, the two-way phenom will leave the Angels at the end of the season to pursue a massive contract. The Dodgers, Mets and Yankees will all reportedly pursue him.
For all of the Angels’ failures to miss the postseason with Trout and Ohtani in the lineup, making a run in 2023 could have absolved those past sins. The team has been far from perfect in that effort but did just enough in the first half of the season to make it possible. There’s no more room for error, however, nor time to tread water, and other players will have to step up in Trout’s absence in order to finally validate the team’s star power with a playoff berth.
