Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles and L.A. Angels: Buy or sell 2023 start?

Apr 17, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17) pitches during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 17, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17) pitches during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
MLB, Mike Trout terrorizes the Seattle Mariners
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – JUNE 19: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels gestures after hitting a two-run home run in the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on June 19, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /

Los Angeles Angels: Buy or sell?

Every single season, the Angels spend the first two months playing good baseball, then Memorial Day hits, and that changes. It is just always a right of the season in Southern California.

This season, they are just over .500 with Shohei Ohtani hitting over .300 with nine home runs and 29 RBI. He had a home run in a 4-for-5 performance Monday night in a 9-5 win in Baltimore with three RBI. He also was the winning pitcher, giving up five earned runs in seven innings on four hits and five strikeouts. He did offer up three home runs to the Orioles. He is the early-season favorite to win AL MVP.

Mike Trout is having a good season as usual and Hunter Renfroe and Gio Urshela have played well. As usual with Los Angeles, it comes down to the pitching after Ohtani. The starting rotation has questions as Patrick Sandoval has three wins and nobody else has more than two. Their bullpen had a meltdown Saturday in an 8-6 loss to the Guardians when they allowed six runs in the eight innings after a good start from Reid Detmers.

In a division with the Texas Rangers leading the way early on and the Houston Astros waiting to get Jose Altuve back, the Angles playing just over .500 baseball is not going to be a good recipe for them later in the season if history tells us anything.

Sell: Even though they’re two games over .500 with two of the better players in the league in Trout and Ohtani, the Angles are going to do what the Angels do every season, fade after Memorial Day. Their pitching has questions in the bottom half of it, the Astros are going to turn it around you have to think when Altuve comes back and the Rangers are a team that has been impressive so far this season. In the end, the Seattle Mariners will get things together and Los Angeles will more than likely find themselves finishing ahead of the Oakland A’s at the end of the season.

Next. Orioles chasing down Rays in AL East. dark