Mederos the latest young Halo to cash in on opportunities

KANSAS CITY -- The Angels didn’t do enough to win Monday, but they continued to prove they have the pieces for a potential rebound in 2025.

Victor Mederos struck out three in his season debut, Zach Neto homered and Jo Adell drove in a pair in the Angels’ 5-3 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Los Angeles (53-72) dropped to a season-high 19 games under .500, but that doesn’t tell the full story.

There’s the obvious problem -- the Angels have been without Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Luis Rengifo and Patrick Sandoval for much of the season -- but it’s come with one positive: opportunities.

Young players such as Mederos coming in and showing ability to help the team win -- even if it comes up short on that particular night -- is one of the main reasons why the Angels have been able to pick up the pace after a disappointing first two months. Since dropping to 21-38 on June 2, the Halos have played around .500 baseball (32-34).

Mederos, who made his MLB debut last season, came in and threw scoreless frames in the fifth and sixth innings to keep the Royals’ lead at 3-0. The 23-year-old righty has started all 47 games over his three seasons in the Minors, but came in relief and attacked the heart of Kansas City’s order.

“Honestly, just going out there and being aggressive and letting [them] hit it,” Mederos said. “I talked to [pitching coach] Barry [Enright], and one thing he told me was to just go right after them and let them put the ball in play. Just go out there, execute, hit the glove and that was my mindset today.”

Carson Fulmer, who gave up three runs over four innings, added: “He picked me up. That’s our job here, is to pick each other up. For him to come up and do what he did, that’s pretty special. I hope he gets more opportunities and continues to showcase his stuff.”

It wasn’t until he faced AL MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr., MLB's second-half RBI leader, Vinnie Pasquantino and Royals captain Salvador Perez that Mederos ran into trouble. Perez smacked a double down the left-field line on a ball up and out of the zone that plated both Witt and Pasquantino, ending Mederos’ 2024 debut.

“I saw him throwing the ball very well, moving his fastball around, dropping some good breaking balls off in there and had some good velocity,” manager Ron Washington said. “So I thought he could get through that [seventh] inning.

“I thought it was a good pitch he made to [Perez]. [Perez] has been doing that a long time. He got up on that ball.”

It was one of many instances against Kansas City that could be labeled as growing pains from a team full of young players. The Angels’ cleanup hitter, Niko Kavadas, has appeared in just three games. Nolan Schanuel, the Halos’ No. 3 hitter Monday, has played in only 145 career games over two years. Jack Kochanowicz, who started Sunday against Atlanta, has made four career starts.

Part of the young core is already here. Neto hit his 18th homer of the season in the eighth, Logan O’Hoppe had two hits and Adell drove in a pair of runs -- and all three players are under 25 years old.

And they don’t have to look far for proof it can turn around in a hurry. The Royals lost 106 games last season and are now squarely in the playoff race. Washington doesn’t want to compare his club with the team in the other dugout -- the Angels know their young players will need to make similar strides -- but it’s a testament to the process.

“The young kids we have out there, they’re performing very well,” Washington said pregame. “But if that’s going to be who they are, they’re going to have to show it to us again, and again, and again. And I think people here in Kansas City know what I’m talking about because that same group over there was getting [beat], and now they figured it out. We are going through that same process.”

For now, all the Angels can do is continue with that process. But there’s already belief it’s working.

“I’m glad to be a part of this, [what] this team [and] what this organization is trying to do,” Fulmer said. “There’s a lot of growing pains … but the one special thing we have is we have each other’s back and we play for one another. That goes a long, long way, especially when you’re trying to condition ourselves to win. We have faith in one another.”