Angels' status report at the one-third mark

This story was excerpted from Rhett Bollinger’s Angels Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ANAHEIM -- The Angels are about one-third of the way through the 2024 season, as Tuesday’s series opener against the Yankees will be their 54th game of the year.

After getting swept by the Guardians over the weekend, the Angels are 20-33. They’ve strangely played much better on the road than at home. They’re 14-14 away from Angel Stadium but just 6-19 in their home ballpark.

Here’s a look at how they’ve fared in several key facets so far:

Pitching

The Angels entered Monday with a 4.64 team ERA, the fourth-worst mark in the Majors. Their peripheral stats are also rough, as their 4.39 FIP is the fifth worst. The starters have fared better with a 4.53 ERA (25th), while the relievers have posted a collective 4.81 ERA (26th).

Despite constant preaching about getting ahead of hitters and not issuing walks, the Angels have struggled in those areas. They've walked 9.9 percent of batters they've faced, tied for the fifth-worst mark in the Majors. Their first-pitch strike percentage of 58.3 percent is the third worst.

There have been some positives, such as lefty Tyler Anderson posting a 2.52 ERA in 10 starts, and Griffin Canning has 1.99 ERA in four May starts. Right-hander José Soriano has incredible stuff, including a four-seam fastball with a 99.1 mph average velocity. He is learning how to harness it and pitch deeper into games.

Soriano has a respectable 3.61 ERA in 52 1/3 innings. The Angels will be careful with him because he's had Tommy John surgery twice and threw 65 1/3 innings last year as a reliever between the Minors and Majors. They need to get lefties Patrick Sandoval and Reid Detmers on track, as both have struggled this year.

Offense

The Angels rank in the middle of the pack when it comes to the offense, as they’ve scored 230 runs, which is tied for 15th in the Majors. They've actually showed some surprising power; their 64 homers are tied for fifth. But they're not a patient bunch, as their walk rate of 7.6 percent is the fifth worst in MLB.

The Angels have had countless injuries to key players, such as Mike Trout (torn left meniscus), Anthony Rendon (left hamstring strain) and Brandon Drury (left hamstring strain), so they’ve had bring in several veterans from other clubs, including Kevin Pillar, Cole Tucker and Luis Guillorme. They simply don’t have the depth to absorb the number of injuries they’ve had this season.

It’s more about developing several of their younger players, such as Zach Neto, Logan O'Hoppe, Jo Adell, Nolan Schanueland Mickey Moniak. Adell is having a breakout season, and Neto, Schanuel and O’Hoppe have started to pick it up offensively lately. But it’s been a rough go for Moniak after his strong showing last year. Manager Ron Washington said Moniak needs to tweak his approach and stop trying to hit home runs.

One aspect the Angels also need to improve upon is their baserunning. They’ve been aggressive, but it’s come at a cost. They have been successful on just 69 percent of their stolen-base attempts, which is the third-worst mark in the Majors and below the league average of 78 percent. They've also made 25 outs on the bases, most in the Majors and almost as many as they made last year (29).

The Angels' extra-base percentage, which tracks how often a runner takes an extra base on a single and two extra bases on a double, is much improved from last year. It's at 44 percent this season, which is tied for eighth best in MLB, and much higher than their 38 percent that was tied for the second worst in 2023.

Luis Rengifo, who has been the club’s best hitter, has made several baserunning miscues, and Adell has made too many outs on the bases as well. It’s something they need to get better at going forward.

Defense

Despite Washington’s reputation as a defensive guru, the Angels' defense is a work in progress. But it hasn’t helped they’ve had to move so many players around because of injuries. The Halos are tied for 16th in the Majors in Defensive Runs Saved, according to FanGraphs. They've fared well at pitcher, first base, third base, shortstop and center field, but they have struggled at catcher, second base, left field and right field.

O’Hoppe and Matt Thaiss are still gaining experience as catchers, and second base has been a bit of a merry-go-round this year, with five players seeing time there. It’s a bit surprising left fielder Taylor Ward hasn’t fared better, given his strong defense in the past. Adell is improving in right field, including robbing José Ramírez of a homer on Sunday. The Angels are not particularly error-prone; they've made 27 this season, ranked 12th in the Majors.

The defense should continue to get better under Washington and infield coach Ryan Goins. Neto has the potential to be a star defensively at shortstop, and Schanuel is already above average at first base. Drury has had trouble with his range but has dealt with several injuries this year, including his current left hamstring issue that he had been trying to play through and a previous neck injury.