Ward heats up with crucial grand slam ahead of Trade Deadline

ANAHEIM -- With the Angels out of contention and sellers ahead of Tuesday’s 3 p.m. PT Trade Deadline, outfielder Taylor Ward has heard his name bandied about in potential trade rumors.

But Ward has done his best to block out the outside noise and has been displaying signs of snapping out of a lengthy funk. He delivered hugely on Sunday, crushing a go-ahead grand slam to help the Angels erase an early six-run deficit in an 8-6 win over the A’s in the series finale at Angel Stadium.

Ward, who remains under team control through 2026, leads the team with 16 homers and 51 RBIs in 103 games, so he’s drawn interest from contenders. But he said he’s not dwelling on it right now, even though there’s at least a chance Ward played in his last game with the Angels.

“I haven’t really thought about it,” Ward said. "I just come in here every day and do the best I can to get better. Whatever happens, happens. I can’t control it. So I’m not really thinking about it.”

Ward has started to heat up offensively over the last week, and it was a welcome sign on Friday when he connected on his first homer since June 25, snapping a stretch of 24 straight games without going deep. He kept it going by coming through in a critical situation on Sunday with the bases loaded, two outs and the Angels down by three runs, driving in a 1-2 slider over the left-field fence for his fourth career grand slam.

It was the Angels' fourth grand slam of the year and their first go-ahead grand slam when down by three runs since Mike Trout did it against the Twins on Sept. 17, 2015.

“I think I’ve just gotten more pitches over the middle of the plate,” Ward said. “Moving forward, I’ve preached it for the last few years, that’s where I need to be getting it and swinging it. So looking for it there and not missing it.”

Ward has endured a bit of a rollercoaster of a season. He started strong, much like in 2022, only to struggle in June and July. Things seemed to go south after he was hit on the helmet by a pitch from Detroit’s Shelby Miller on June 30. It appeared to take him a while to get over that mental hurdle because he suffered multiple facial fractures after being hit in the face by a pitch by Toronto’s Alek Manoah last year on July 29, ending Ward's season.

However, Washington said Ward’s at-bats improved in late July. Ward fell behind in the count against right-hander Osvaldo Bido but didn't miss when he left his slider over the heart of the plate. It capped the Angels' comeback as the team scored three times in the third and four more in the fourth.

"You sit there and you hope that it happens," Washington said. “And today, he made it happen and got us back in the game to give us the lead. And we were able to just continue to shut it down. It's what it took. It took the swing he gave us for us to have the opportunity to do what we did.”

Ward, 30, is hitting .227/.309/.401 with 16 homers, 18 doubles and 51 RBIs in 103 games, which is down a bit from his breakout year in 2022 and even last year. He slashed .281/.360/.473 in 135 games in '22 and .253/.335/.421 in 97 games in ‘23. His defense has also graded out worse, especially his left-field throwing.

That’s why Ward might not be traded ahead of Tuesday’s Trade Deadline. His value has dropped since his solid start to the year, and the Angels could look to reevaluate things with Ward in the offseason.

Reliever Luis García, who picked up the save on Sunday after closer Carlos Estévez was traded Saturday, remains the most likely candidate to be traded because he’s set to be a free agent after the season.

They’re not in any rush to move Ward because he remains arbitration-eligible next season and in ’26. But they’d love to see him finish the season strong and build on his recent success at the plate.

“His at-bats have been quality [recently],” Washington said. “When you have 600 at-bats, you go through [slumps]. But each time he walks up there, we know something big can happen. And today, he did it.”