It feels like a lifetime has passed since the last time you were there. Angels were 27-17. They were a first-place team for six weeks. In many ways, their fall was unexplainable. Somehow, they’ll likely finish this year as one of the worst in franchise history.
How did it become so awful? There were many moments along the journey that made them feel further lost and defined a season once thought to have a very different trajectory.
In a season that has had so much, let’s pick out the 10 moments that define what was lost so unceremoniously.
(Listed in chronological Order)
May 3,
Angels option Jo Adell
To get why this was a pivotal moment, let’s rewind to April 2. That’s when the Angels DFA’d Justin Upton and his $28 million contract. General Perry Minasian explained the reasoning. “We think Brandon (Marsh) and Jo (Adell) are ready to go.”
It was therefore significant that the Angels only a month later realized that the assessment was wrong. It’s not as though the Angels should have kept Upton — his subsequent stint in Seattle was miserable. But there’s also no way to look at Jo Adell’s first month and think he was ready.
Adell hit.215 with 24 strikes and one walk in 66 plate appearances. His defense was all over. The rest of Adell’s major-league season in his three stints with the Angels haven’t been much better. He’s posted a .627 OPS, with his immense power disappearing for long stretches. He achieves an astonishing 37.2 percent accuracy.
