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 All-Star break couldn’t have come at a better time for the Angels.

The Angels ended the first half of the season in a free fall, losing five straight and nine of 10 to drop to 45-46 entering the All-Star break. It's their first time under .500 since they were 11-12 on April 24.

The Angels are still in contention. They are five games behind the Astros and Blue Jays for the third AL Wild Card spot, but they’re also behind the Yankees, Red Sox and Mariners and are tied with the Twins. They were in a good spot, but lost ground over the last two weeks with the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline looming.

The Angels could still be aggressive at the Deadline. Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is in the last year of his contract and they are looking to make the postseason for the first time since 2014. But it might depend on where they are in the standings. They need to play well out of the break to put themselves in a better spot.

“We've had our share of injuries, but we just have not played well recently,” manager Phil Nevin said. “We’re better than this. Even with the bodies we have we need to pitch better, play better defense and have better situational at-bats.”

What we learned in the first half
The Angels are better equipped to deal with injuries than last year but their rash of injuries late in the first half proved to be too much for them to handle. Losing Mike Trout for four to eight weeks with a left hamate fracture is a huge blow. While the Angels also have several other key contributors on the injured list such as shortstop Zach Neto, infielder Brandon Drury and relievers Matt Moore and Ben Joyce. And that doesn’t count Anthony Rendon, Taylor Ward and Jo Adell, who are all injured but not on the IL. Neto, Drury and Moore should return soon, which should help, but the Angels are in a tough spot after their recent skid.

Likely Trade Deadline strategy
The Angels were thought to be obvious buyers, especially after trading for infielders Eduardo Escobar and Mike Moustakas to help with their infield depth. But the Angels need to play better out of the All-Star break to guarantee that general manager Perry Minasian will be aggressive and continue to add pieces. With their injury issues, the Angels have a lot of holes, but adding a starter would make the most sense. No matter their record, however, they aren’t expected to trade Ohtani. Angels owner Arte Moreno has made it clear he doesn’t intend to trade Ohtani and will try to do whatever it takes to re-sign him this offseason. It’s just going to be up to Ohtani on if he believes the organization is on a winning path going forward.

Key player
Could it be anyone other than Ohtani? He’s the runaway favorite to be the AL MVP for the second time in three seasons and has been having another otherworldly year. If the Angels are going to make a run, Ohtani is going to have to carry them, much like he did during his epic June during which he hit 15 homers and also posted a 3.26 ERA in five starts. It could also be the final two months for Ohtani in Angels uniform if they can’t re-sign him in the offseason.

Prospect to watch
Catcher Logan O’Hoppe has retained his prospect eligibility because he played in just 16 games before he suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder on April 20. O’Hoppe is ranked as the club’s No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline and the No. 30 overall prospect. He’s been making solid progress in his rehab from his shoulder surgery and has been taking dry swings without any issues. He’ll continue to progress from there, working his way up to hitting off the tee, taking soft toss and eventually facing live hitting. There was a chance he could be out for the season when he first sustained the injury, but now it looks like he could return at some point in August.