Angels News: New Power Rankings Place Angels Among Middle of the Pack

It's a fair ranking, for now.

The Los Angels are not taking anybody by storm with their early season performances but they are also not allowing their opponents to just roll over them at the same time. Their games have all pretty much been competitive and I'm going to go out on a limb and say they'd be one of the best teams in the league if not for late-game blunders for the bullpen.

But that has been an issue for them for some time now and it's not fair to pinpoint that as the only reason they've lost games. In just his first season, Logan O'Hoppe has been incredible with four home runs recorded through his first eleven games. Taylor Ward has also been great thus far and both of them have helped Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout so they don't have to worry about the offense .

But other than them, the roster fails to garner hits. However, The Athletic's MLB staff all gave their thoughts as to Mike Trout will be the make it-or-break it piece for this Angels squad.

The new samurai home run helmet looks good on you, @MikeTrout! pic.twitter.com/qoqwSwPtyO

— MLB (@MLB) April 8, 2023

"You know what Mike Trout has never done over a full season? Recorded more walks than strikeouts. He did it in 2017, 94 to 90, but he played only 114 games that year. You know what Trout is doing right now? Recording more walks (10) than strikeouts (8). He’s also doing a ton of other things well. His average exit velocity is 96.2 mph! Per Baseball Savant, his expected slugging percentage is .883!"

(Via The Athletic).

The Athletic's staff also placed the Halos at number 15 on their latest power rankings. LA will do their best to break top 10, but they seem to be doing just fine where they're at. Nobody hates a good underdog story.