Angels News: Phil Nevin Pinpoints New Personnel as Key to Impressive 2023 Start
It felt like over the course of one offseason, the entire world was become aware of the Los Angeles Angels' shortcomings and the pressure was on for them to build an actual roster around Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. After their WBC championship showdown, they became bigger stars than ever and the list only grew of people who cannot understand why that duo hasn't been to the postseason yet.
I wouldn't sat that people started panicking after LA's season opener loss to the Athletics but it certainly felt like the same habits from last year were carrying over. Ohtani puts on a master class at the mound striking 10 batters out but gets almost no help on the offensive side of things.
However, LA was one of the most active franchises in free agency and instead of throwing the Brink's trucks at Trea Turner like Arte Moreno wanted, they instead spread that money out onto names like Tyler Anderson, Gio Urshela, and Brandon Drury. Team manager Phil Nevin believes these additions made the difference in the Angels' 13-2 win on Saturday.
"You look at the personnel we have now compared to last year," said Nevin. "Not to bash anybody's spirit here in the past but there's a reason why we went out and got the guys we did. Drury, Urshela, Renfroe, also another year of guys that have been here. The personnel is the answer to it all."
(Via BallySportWest)
The Angels look to continue that heavy hitting as they take on Oakland yet again on Sunday. They're at the beginning of an important season in the franchise's history. As long as they remain within playoff contention, their superstar will stay put.
