
Shohei Ohtani
After experiencing another unsatisfactory season, the Los Angeles Angels actively strengthened themselves during the off-season. They hope that Shohei Ohtani, who has delivered MVP skills for two consecutive years, and Mike Trout, a three-time MVP with very stable performance every year, can lead the team to the playoffs , which has not been in 9 years. However, "ESPN" recently predicted that the Angels have only a 1% chance of winning the championship, and pointed out the three keys for the Angels to return to the playoffs.
"ESPN" recently predicted the number of wins for each team next year. "Nito-ryu" Shohei Ohtani's Angels are predicted to win 81 games, ranking 15th. However, the probability of entering the playoffs is only 31%, and the probability of winning is even lower, only 1%. Their goal of making a lot of reinforcements at the end of the season is definitely to enter the playoffs. Whether they can defeat the predicted results depends on the health of the players.
In fact, the number of games played by the Angels' main players has always been a big problem in recent years. The two stars Truote and Anthony Rendon were both plagued by injuries last season. Ryden's performance has not been as good as before after signing with the Angels. Whether he can rebound this season is very important. In addition, Hunter Renfroe, Gio Urshela and Brandon Drury were added during the off-season to increase the depth of fielders; the starting pitching lineup must remain healthy. Although Tyler Anderson, who had a career year with the Dodgers this year, was signed, there is still room for reinforcements for 1 to 2 people in the rotation.
columnist Bradford Doolittle pointed out that the most important key for the Angels is the bullpen, because how to steadily close the game in the later stages of the game is the key to each team's record of maintaining a profit in the 162-game season. However, the Angels' bullpen was beaten 81 times last season, ranking second in the American League, with an ERA of 3.95, which ranked 18th in the middle and late stages. As a result, many games were not won when they should have been. At the end of the season, they could only win when Ohtani started. Therefore, "defense" will be the most important issue in the new season.