The Los Angeles Angels are seeking an end to their 11-year playoff drought in 2026 but it won’t be easy.
It goes without saying that Major League Baseball is a tough league and hard to win. It’s even harder to win consistently enough to make the playoffs. The biggest reason why the Angels haven’t been able to make it into October is pitching.
Los Angeles had Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Albert Pujols on the same team for multiple seasons and still couldn’t get to the dance. Even with a good offense, the pitching staff always brings the team down.
That was the case again last season, although the offense wasn’t special. The team was winning games early and was even in contention for an American League Wild Card spot around the trade deadline, which prompted the team to add depth instead of sell.
The Angels fell out of contention and finished 72-90. The starting rotation has lost right-hander Kyle Hendricks to retirement and left-hander Tyler Anderson to free agency but has already made moves to address those losses.
Los Angeles traded left fielder Taylor Ward to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for high-upside righty Grayson Rodriguez as well as sign former All-Star right-hander Alek Manoah to a one-year prove it deal. Will these additions be enough to change the organization’s fortunes? Probably not, but it’s a start to fixing a humungous problem that has plagued them for far too long.
“[6.4] That's the FanGraphs WAR from the pitching staff. Since 2000, only three times have the Angels had a lower WAR -- and one of those was the shortened season of 2020. So that really leaves only 2000 and 2024,” ESPN’s David Schoenfield wrote Monday.
“What about 2026? Kyle Hendricks has retired and Tyler Anderson is a free agent and while they weren't great, they did combine for 57 starts. They traded for Grayson Rodriguez, who missed the entire 2025 season. Drew Pomeranz and Jordan Romano have been signed for bullpen depth. They drafted Tyler Bremner with the second overall pick in the 2025 draft, a bit of a surprise, and hopefully he'll fare better than some of their recent pitching first-rounders. Let's hope they don't do anything weird with him like what they did with Ryan Johnson, a second-round pick in 2024 who inexplicably started the season in the majors without any minor league experience (he eventually went back to A ball, where he pitched well in 12 starts).”
The Angels need to strike out more batters. According to Schoenfield, the team ranks 29th in strikeout rate over the past two seasons. In a league where strikeouts are crucial on both sides of the ball, the pitching staff doesn’t generate enough and the offense does it too much (1,627, second-most ever).