What was expected?

Expectations were not high for the Los Angeles Angels entering 2024, coming off a 73-89 season in 2023. They entered the season with pretty much the same roster they ended the season with in 2023. Their big signing was relief pitcher Robert Stephenson, who signed a three-year, $33 million contract in the off-season. He never saw the mound in the regular season, having Tommy John surgery on May 1. They also signed two free agent hitters, Aaron Hicks (released May 2) and Miguel Sano (released July 15) who had not played in an MLB game since 2022.

How did it go?

Things started off terrible in spring training and did not get any better as the season went on. In an interview in February, Anthony Rendon, the Angels $275 million third baseman, said about playing baseball “It’s never been a top priority for me. This is a job. I do this to make a living.” He has not spent much time doing his job, averaging only 51 games played in the five seasons he has been an Angel. Then Stephenson, the projected closer, was injured in spring training and missed the entire season. Mike Trout had 10 homers and six steals through the end of April, then hit the injured list with a torn meniscus and never returned. Offensively, there is a good core of good young hitters to build around. Shortstop Zach Neto, catcher Logan O’Hoppe, infielder Luis Rengifo and outfielder Jo Adell showed promise in 2024. Neto had a 20-20 season, Adell a 20-15 season, O’Hoppe hit 20+ homers and Rengifo hit .300 with 24 steals and was the American League leader in batting average in late June. The Angels went into the season with a young pitching staff, and they were the antithesis of the hitters. Griffin Canning, Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval and José Soriano went a combined 18-37 with a 5.41 and a 1.45 WHIP over 87 starts. The Angels set a team record for losses in 2024 with 99 defeats, only having a winning record in one month, going 15-11 in June. One positive, if there was one, they kept their division rival Mariners out of the 2024 playoffs. The Mariners missed the playoffs by one game, the Angels went 8-5 against the Mariners. Against the rest of the division, they went 13-26 against the A’s, Astros and Rangers.

Fantasy Stud?

Zach Neto had a breakout season in his first full season in the major leagues, finishing with a .249/.318/.443 slash line with 23 homers (eighth among shortstops), 30 stolen bases (seventh), 70 runs and team-high 77 RBIs (sixth). Neto spent the first four months of the season batting in the bottom half of the Angel lineup, but when Luis Rengifo hit the injured list, Neto became the number two hitter in the lineup on August 3, thus adding more fantasy value. Neto was the 24^th shortstop taken in 2024 per Fangraphs ADP of 268, outperforming those numbers, finishing 66^th overall in their player rater rankings and the ninth ranked shortstop.

Fantasy Dud?

There were many players to choose from but based on his Fangraphs ADP (242) and the season he had; Reid Detmers was the biggest dud, finishing 811^th in Fangraphs player rater. The 25-year-old left-hander was excellent in his first four starts, recording a 1.19 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 30 strikeouts in 22.2 innings. Then over his next eight starts, he only had one start where he gave up less than four earned runs, pitching to an 8.98 ERA and 1.77 WHIP, earning a trip to the minor leagues. The return in September was not much better, making five starts, covering 24.1 innings, finishing the month with an 8.14 ERA and 1.77 WHIP. For the season he made 17 starts, throwing 87.1 innings with a 6.70 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 109 strikeouts. Looking at the advanced stats, it appears Detmers was quite unlucky. His BABIP was .357 (league average for pitchers was .289), his strand rate was 62.9% (72.1%) and his expected ERA (xERA) was 4.14, well below his 6.70 ERA. His K-BB% of 18.2% was respectable and his hard-hit rate (39.3%) was pretty much league average (38.7%).

Fantasy Surprise?

On a team this bad it was hard to find a fantasy surprise, so I will go with Luis Rengifo, who had an ADP in Fangraphs drafts of 239. While he only had 283 at bats, he hit .300 with 24 stolen bases. In late June he was leading the American League in batting average before a nagging wrist injury limited him to just 40 at bats the last three months of the season. He finished the season with six homers, 41 runs and 30 RBIs. While he was drafted mostly for his versatility, he entered the season with second base, third base, shortstop and outfield eligibility, the stolen bases were the surprise. He stole 12 bases combined the last two seasons while amassing 883 at bats. The advanced metrics show some luck in batting average, but a possibility for more power in the future. His BABIP of .339 elevated the batting average as evidenced by his .261 expected batting average (xBA). His hard-hit rate of 32.5% was his career norm, but his barrel rate dropped from 5.4% and 7.6% to 2.5% in 2024 stifling his power numbers from 2022 and 203 when he hit 17 and 16 homers, respectively. In seven NFBC drafts he has an ADP of 174. While he had eligibility at second, third, shortstop and outfield in 2024, he will have second base and third base eligibility in 2025 drafts.

Player Breakdowns:

Hitters

Zach Neto-SS

Neto was the best Angel hitter per the Fangraphs player rankings, finishing the season as the sixth ranked shortstop and ranked 133 overall. Neto led the Angels with 77 RBIs and was in the top-8 amongst shortstops in homers, RBIs and stolen bases. It appears he ran out of gas in the last month and a half of the season as he was hitting .266 on August 13 but then hit just .200 (28/140) the rest of the season with six homers. Looking at the advance metrics, he was tenth among shortstops in wOBA at .330 (league average .318) and ninth in wRC+ at 114 (league average 100). Neto will be 24 years old when the 2025 season starts and is currently the 12^th shortstop coming off the board in NFBC drafts with an ADP of 70.

Taylor Ward – OF

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