2026 ZiPS Projections: Los Angeles Angels

For the 22nd consecutive season, the ZiPS projection system is unleashing a full set of prognostications. For more information on the ZiPS projections, please consult this year’s introduction, as well as MLB’s glossary entry. The team order is selected by lot, and the next team up is the Los Angeles Angels.

Batters

Zach Neto is really good. That is all. Let’s just move on with our lives.

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OK, before I get the “Dan.” message in our company Slack, I’ll regretfully talk more about the Angels. They weren’t the worst team in baseball in 2025, nor will they be in 2026, but I think they’ve become the least interesting team in baseball. At this point, they’re a bit like when you hear for the first time about some TV show on the Hallmark or Roku Channel starring someone you vaguely recall from 1998 and find out that not only the TV show exists, but that it’s been on for a decade and there are like 110 episodes. The White Sox and Rockies have won a lot fewer games than the Angels in recent years, but being terrible is, on some level, interesting. The Angels were a mediocre team with peak Mike Trout and peak Shohei Ohtani, so it’s perhaps not surprising that with Trout in steep decline, and Ohtani gone, they’re having trouble getting into contention.

ZiPS is as optimistic about Neto as Steamer is, and he’s likely the best player on the team now. Trout did finally have a full, healthy-adjacent season in 2025, but he did so mostly as a designated hitter, with the lowest wRC+ of his career (120). He turns 35 in August, and I am increasingly pessimistic about whether there are any vintage Trout seasons left in the tank

Elsewhere, ZiPS struggles to see upside. Catcher would be among the most plausible places to see some improved performance, but the Apostrophe Boyz, Logan O’Hoppe and Travis d’Arnaud, were both absolutely dreadful last year, and this projection already represents a pretty sizable bounce back. Nolan Schanuel makes good contact, but a first baseman that doesn’t hit for much power or maintain high batting averages is going to struggle to have much value.

The Angels have designated hitters playing both corners. One, Jorge Soler, looks very much like he’s approaching the end. The other, Jo Adell, erupted for 37 home runs, which was nice, but it was one of the lowest impact near-40-homer seasons in history because he didn’t do much else all that well. Vaughn Grissom and Christian Moore rank very highly in the projected WAR rankings for the Angels, but that is more a reflection of the quality of their teammates rather than an indication that they’re due for a breakout performance.

One player who does violate this theme is Nelson Rada. A lot will come down to just how well his defense plays in center field long term, and he has little power, but he did perform quite well in the high minors for a player still in his teens. ZiPS actually thinks he may very well be the team’s best option in center right now.

The Angels will be a below-average offense, but probably not the worst in the league.

Pitchers

The rotation is, at least according to ZiPS, a step up from the lineup, with the important caveat if healthy. Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano, and Reid Detmers — who is the returning to the rotation in 2026 — are all acceptable starters, even if none remotely screams “ace.” Grayson Rodriguez was just the kind of pickup the Angels should be making, and still has all sorts of upside remaining. Some combination of Alek Manoah, Caden Dana, and Sam Aldegheri is likely fine for the last spot in the rotation. The problem is what happens if (read: when) injuries hit. George Klassen throws really hard, and his control might just be just good enough to allow him to have a career, but once you get past Klassen, you quickly get to a recent retiree (Kyle Hendricks), a guy with an ERA near seven in more than 100 innings (Jack Kochanowicz), and a pitcher I forgot still played baseball (Dakota Hudson). The starting five could be adequate, but there’s a massive amount of downside behind them.

The bullpen looks very ordinary, but there are some sources of upside: Robert Stephenson and Ben Joyce can both be quite effective, but they come with serious injury concerns. Drew Pomeranz was highly effective for the Cubs last season, but he also has a significant injury history that cannot be ignored. Kirby Yates is nearing 40 and wasn’t particularly good last year, but ZiPS legitimately likes Brock Burke. This all averages out to, well, an average bullpen, but with some good dice rolls, there’s a pretty decent ceiling here, more than anywhere else on the team. Alas, the bullpen rocking will be most relevant in the last week of July.

Right now, the Angels look like a 70- to 75-win team with a rather unimpressive ceiling. I’ve done enough projections to be well aware of the pitfalls of projecting the future, so the team spiking an 86-win season and sneaking a wild card spot isn’t out of the realm of possibility. It does seem out of the realm of likely, though I don’t think that’s an actual expression.

Ballpark graphic courtesy Eephus League. Depth charts constructed by way of those listed here. Size of player names is very roughly proportional to Depth Chart playing time. The final team projections may differ considerably from our Depth Chart playing time.

Players are listed with their most recent teams wherever possible. This includes players who are unsigned or have retired, players who will miss 2026 due to injury, and players who were released in 2025. So yes, if you see Joe Schmoe, who quit baseball back in August to form a Ambient Math-Rock Trip-Hop Yacht Metal band that only performs in abandoned malls, he’s still listed here intentionally. ZiPS is assuming a league with an ERA of 4.16.

Hitters are ranked by zWAR, which is to say, WAR values as calculated by me, Dan Szymborski, whose surname is spelled with a z. WAR values might differ slightly from those that appear in the full release of ZiPS. Finally, I will advise anyone against — and might karate chop anyone guilty of — merely adding up WAR totals on a depth chart to produce projected team WAR. It is important to remember that ZiPS is agnostic about playing time, and has no information about, for example, how quickly a team will call up a prospect or what veteran has fallen into disfavor.

As always, incorrect projections are either caused by misinformation, a non-pragmatic reality, or by the skillful sabotage of our friend and former editor. You can, however, still get mad at me on Twitter or on Bluesky. This last is, however, not an actual requirement.