Angels News: Biggest Storylines to Watch as They Look to Win Another Series

What to watch out for as the Angels face another divisional opponent.

The Angels played the role of spoiler this weekend, taking three of four against the Mariners during their fight for a Wild Card spot.

Shohei Ohtani continued his two-way dominance, while Luis Rengifo locked up his spot as the everyday leadoff hitter.

The biggest story of the series, however, may have been 22-year-old SS Livan Soto, and his impressive debut in the Majors.

The first career home run for Livan Soto! 👏#GoHalos pic.twitter.com/ZbenToWBhw

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) September 18, 2022

The Angels will look to continue building upon this success, as they get set to face the Rangers in a three-game series in Texas.

Here are the biggest things to watch out for:

1. More Livan Soto

After being ranked as high as No. 12 in the Angels' organization in 2021, Soto's struggles kept him outside of the top 30 in 2022. The Angels elected to call him up straight from Double-A this weekend, and he silenced any doubters pretty quickly.

In his first career start on Sunday, the young shortstop collected his first career hit, run, RBI and home run, as he helped the Angels secure the series win with a 5-1 victory. Soto became the first Angel since Francisco Arcia in 2018 to homer in their first career start.   

He followed that performance up with a 1-4 game on Monday, and should have plenty more opportunities to impress against the Rangers.

The Angels should let Soto play on a consistent basis for the remainder of the year, as they start figuring out their options for 2023 and beyond.

2. Dominance at the Top

The Angels' star players could make some history in this upcoming series against the Rangers.

Entering Tuesday, Ohtani has 34 home runs on the year while Mike Trout has 36. If Ohtani hits one more, he and Trout will become the third pair of teammates in Angels' history to hit at least 35 home runs in a season.

Garrett Anderson, Troy Glaus and Mo Vaughn all hit at least 35 in 2000, while Trout and Albert Pujols reached the 35 mark in 2015.

This would be yet another impressive accolade for the Angels' superstars.

3. Stellar Stuff from Sandoval

Patrick Sandoval is taking the mound for the Angels on Tuesday.

He's been a pleasant surprise for the team all season long, already setting career-highs in wins (5), strikeouts (134) and innings pitched (132.1). His current ERA of 2.99 would also be a career-high, improving upon his 3.62 ERA last year, and above-5 ERA the two years prior.

COMPLETE GAME SHUTOUT FOR PATRICK SANDOVAL!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/7Nl4M9401b

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) August 20, 2022

Sandoval has been one of the best pitchers in baseball as of late. The lefty hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last eight starts, and is pitching to the tune of a 1.86 ERA with 43 strikeouts during that time. His 1.86 ERA ranks third in the American League since July 29, only behind teammate Shohei Ohtani (1.66) and 2020 Cy Young award winner Shane Bieber (1.68)

 4. Some More Franchise History

Leading up to the series, the Angels called up pitcher Rob Zastryzny from Triple-A, who they claimed from the Mets last month.

When he makes his Angel debut, he'll become the 64th different player used by the team this season, which would tie the franchise record set in 2021.

One more Angel debut after him and they'll have a new franchise record moving forward.