The Los Angeles Angels enter the week with a .500 record, and even though they dropped in the power rankings, there is still hope.
The Los Angeles Angels have been one of the more pleasant surprises at the early stages of the 2026 MLB season.
Nobody expects the Angels to make the playoffs this season, but nobody expected the Angels to have a .500 record going into April 13.
The Angels took two out of three against the Seattle Mariners, then won just once in three games against the Atlanta Braves, but they responded with two wins in three days on the road against the Cincinnati Reds.
CBS Sports' Matt Snyder had his new power rankings, and the Angels were at No. 19 a week ago. This time, Snyder dropped them down to No. 21, but it is still worth mentioning the hot start for Opening Day pitcher Jose Soriano.
"There was never any question about José Soriano's stuff. He might well be putting it all together this year at age 27," Snyder wrote.
Soriano has been one of the best pitchers in all of MLB this year. Through four games, he has a 4-0 record with a 0.33 ERA, 31 strikeouts and just nine hits in 27 innings.
Soriano has back-to-back games with 10 strikeouts, and half of the Angels' wins this season have come with Soriano on the mound.
The offense has done surprisingly well, with Zach Neto leading the way with five home runs and Jorge Soler clubbing four home runs with a team-high 16 RBIs.
One concern is the team batting average, which is at .210 overall, although they have hit 19 home runs. The power is there, but the batting average has been a bit of a disappointment.
Nonetheless, there is some hope in Anaheim, even with the team having low expectations entering this season with Kurt Suzuki as the new manager.
This week, the Angels begin a four-game series on the road against the New York Yankees on Monday and then travel to face the red-hot San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Friday, so that will be a tough test for this team.
The Angels are two spots behind the Mariners in these power rankings, but the Houston Astros are near the bottom after a disastrous start to the season, so things look different early on in the American League West than they did prior to the start of the season.
Let's see if the Angels can keep the momentum rolling with some tough games coming up.