Photo: John Cordes/Icon Sportswire

2024 Defensive Runs Saved Rank: 16th

Team Strengths

Right fielder Jo Adell won our Defensive Player of the Month award once in 2024 and finished with a respectable 6 Runs Saved there last season He’s now the team’s center field and we’ll see how his success in right field converts over.

Shortstop Zach Neto was one of the best in baseball at turning the double play and also one of the best at going up the middle to make plays. He finished tied for 3rd with 11 Defensive Runs Saved at the position. However, he had shoulder surgery and won’t start the season with the team. 

In his place will be veteran Kevin Newman, who fared alright at shortstop with the Diamondbacks, saving 4 runs in 55 games. He’s had as many as 9 runs saved in a season at the position but also as few as -6, so he’s a bit of a wild card.

Most Defensive Runs Saved – Shortstop 

Team Weaknesses

If Yoan Moncada sticks at third base, he’s their biggest defensive liability. In 2023, Moncada finished with -7 Runs Saved, the worst total of his career.

Taylor Ward allowed way too many runners to advance on his arm last season. He’d have finished with a positive Runs Saved overall if not for a -5 Outfield Arm Runs Saved that pushed him down to 0. The range is fine. The allowing advancement is not up to MLB standards at the moment.

Other things to consider

Mike Trout is moving from center field to right field. Trout has rated as an average center fielder when he’s been on the field the last few years. Most center fielders fare well in the other outfield spots. Trout has been an average center fielder over the last couple of seasons. We’ll see how he fares with less ground to cover.

Past studies that we’ve done at SIS show that center fielders improve by about 8 Runs Saved per 1,000 innings when moving to a corner spot. Meanwhile, Adell was the team’s top defensive outfielder last season, finishing with 6 Runs Saved. Corners typically decline about 7 runs per 1,000 innings when moving to center field.

Are They A Good Defensive Team?

I went into this exercise thinking the answer would probably be a no, but in actuality, the Angels being at least average at most spots but only good at a couple makes them middle-of-the-pack relative to the rest of the sport.