On Wednesday, MLB.com Angels beat reporter Rhett Bollinger held an Ask Me Anything on Reddit with Angels fans at r/angelsbaseball. This mailbag features questions and answers from there. The full AMA can be read here.
Questions and responses have been lightly edited for clarity.
How¡¯s Christian Moore doing?
Moore, the Angels' No. 1 prospect, is off to a bit of a slow start at Double-A Rocket City, hitting .192/.300/.231 with one double and five RBIs in eight games. It's a bit of a surprise given how much he dominated at that level last year. He also didn't show much power in Spring Training. So he needs to get it going and find that power again, but it's early in the year.
Many publications rank the Angels¡¯ farm system toward the bottom in baseball currently. Who are a few prospects in the Angels¡¯ Top 30 who are the real deal and could see themselves ranked in MLB Pipeline's Top 100 in the near future?
The farm system rankings can be a bit skewed for the Angels, only because they promote their prospects to the Majors so quickly. I think it would be different if you just looked at overall talent for players under 25. The Angels finally have some pitching prospect depth, as Caden Dana, George Klassen and Sam Aldegheri all have Top 100 potential and are considered close to being Major League ready. Shortstop Joswa Lugo is an underrated prospect who is just 18 years old but impressed in Spring Training and looks like a power hitter who can handle short despite being 6-foot-3. Chris Cortez and Barrett Kent are two more pitchers to monitor this year, while the Angels love infielders Cole Fontenelle and David Mershon, who aren't ranked highly but are considered gamers and baseball rats. And catchers Juan Flores and Dario Laverde both look like future big leaguers as well.
Is Robert Stephenson likely to be seen at any ballpark this year? How is he doing?
I do think Stephenson will be back by midseason at the latest. He has been doing up-downs recently to simulate pitching multiple innings. I don't believe he's faced batters just yet, but he's definitely on track to return by June or July. The first year back from Tommy John surgery can be tricky, but he was dominant in 2023 before they signed him.
Looks like the team chemistry has greatly improved without the presence of Anthony Rendon. Are there any plans that we will see him this season or will he be sitting it out?
I don't know that it has to do too much with Rendon not being around. Some of that is exaggerated. But I don't think we'll see Rendon this year, and it was telling he wasn't with the club in his native Houston over the weekend. My educated guess is he doesn't play for the Angels again at this point. But he is under contract for next year.
Given that you have covered the Angels for some years: Is this team in a better position than they were with when they had Shohei Ohtani? Not taking anything away from what Ohtani meant to the Angels, but the depth this team has now is 10 times better than when they had Ohtani.
I do think the Angels are in a better spot because they finally have young players to build around. They had a run of bad MLB Drafts before and during the Ohtani era and they had to rely on free agency and trades to build around him and Mike Trout and Rendon. They essentially spun their wheels for several years chasing veterans who rarely panned out. I do think they had the chance to compete in 2022 before that rash of injuries, but otherwise it was a struggle and too many players who had no business being regular Major Leaguers were called on because of a lack of depth.
Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel for the Angels when it comes to being a real contender in the AL West and making it to the postseason sooner rather than later?
It sure seems like it, especially in a weak American League and a weak AL West. I'm not sure that they can keep this up all year unless the pitching improves, but the offense has been impressive and they get Zack Neto back soon. But I do think in the coming years the Angels should be contenders, and the start of this season has finally brought some excitement back to the fan base.