Fanmail Friday #2: Spring Overreactions or Real Concerns?
February 27, 2025 - Written by Jacob Firmage
George Klassen, 91mph Slider ⚔️ and 99mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/W6sAcFsYVu
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 25, 2026
Another week, and another week of questions. I hope everyone has had a great week and have been enjoying Angels baseball on our televis… I mean, our radio. Spring is in full swing and we have made it through the first pass of what is largely expected to make up the Halos rotation and seen all the regulars make their spring debuts. Let’s dive on in to our weekly questions.
Q: Should we be worried about spring training loses? @arman_of_steel
A: No, we should not. Not at this point at least. In the first week getting timing down, back into the swing of things I’m more worried about health and the preparation. Even three weeks from now the result of the game won’t mean anything. If Angels lose every single game of spring, it would be rough to watch, and perhaps a foreshadowing of a poor season, but until its go time in Houston on opening day I am going to continue just hoping for health and individual improvements for the Angels.
Q: I know it’s only Spring Training… but 13 strikeouts, zero walks. High strikeouts/low walk rate. Problem? @mrnydegator
A: It is as much a problem as it was last year. The hope is once the hitters start getting their timing right and more time with Brady along with other hitting coaches that we see some improvements. I think similar to the question above. Health and individual improvements are most important. We should see some of the improvements in the next week or two. I hope.
Q: Think Christian Moore is in the Opening Day lineup? @bbunny0711
A: I do at this point. He was their first rounder, has all the potential and a lead on the other guys. It’s his job to lose and if he shows even minimal improvements from last season, I don’t think any of the other guys push him back to SLC. Perhaps if they want to keep all three of Frazier, Peraza and Grissom they give him some extra seasoning, but I can’t imagine him not in the opening day lineup.
Q: Opening day roster if you had all the power? @marcuso2227
A: After the first week I have already made some changes to what I had originally thought.
We will start with the lineup: Neto, Schanuel, Trout, Moncada, Adell, Lowe, Soler, O’Hoppe and Moore. I think the bench will be made up of Peraza, Frazier, Teodosio and d’Arnaud.
As for the rotation I will start off boring with Kikuchi, Soriano, Detmers, Rodriguez and Manoah though I love the thought Klassen breaking camp as the 5th.
Lastly in the bullpen we have Romano, Pomeranz, Suter, Yates, Strickland, Bachman, Zeferjahn and Fermin.
Not many surprises here, but we do see Angels cut bait with Chase Silseth and Vaughn Grissom.
Q: Who out of the notable minor league contracts we signed do you think make the team? @shane_gor27
A: Per the question just before this I think there are two right now. Hunter Strickland and Adam Frazier. Two guys who have been around for a long time and will bring some extra leadership. Hunter has been around the last few years and even if he doesn’t break camp, he should be one of the first guys up when needed. Frazier fits the LHH off the bench the Angels need and has some positional flexibility. I think they both stick around for most if not all of the season.
Q: If Klassen has a spring like today, could he get that 5, maybe stretch a 6th spot? @joshm_10
Q: Is George Klassen going to be on the Opening Day roster? @daniel._poncee
Q: Chances of Klassen debut this year or possibly just being in the rotation to start?
A: A lot of Klassen love following a wonderful debut. I included all of these for this answer as they go hand in hand. I would love for him to… but I just don’t see it for him on the Opening Day roster as of now. I think he is very clearly a future rotation piece. I think he will be one of the first two guys called in if needed to start some games. The Angels seem to be rolling with the 5 mentioned above if they all stay healthy through spring. He is electric and fun to watch and we will see him in 2026, just a little bit later.
Q: Do you think Reid Detmers next outing will be better? He struggled his last time. @chavalesso
A: I hope each start he gets a little bit better. I think he will need to adjust a bit to get back into a starting mentality. I think we saw his stuff play up big in the pen and it will likely fall back more in line with his 2024 season velocity wise. Health and just getting his arm acclimated to multiple innings and back into the routine is what I’m watching for in him this spring. Big believer that his numbers will be just fine by end of 2026 season.
Q: Why don’t we go get Lucas Giolito? @tonygonzo277
A: I don’t believe the Angels have the payroll ability to do that right now.. Nor do I think he or the Angels remember his brief tenure all that fondly. The Angels blamed his divorce among other things for his poor play, immediately cut bait and didn’t seem to really speak glowingly about him during that time. If Angels make a last-minute play in free agency think Patrick Corbin or Zack Littell.
Q: Who would play 3B if Moncada can’t play? 3B is a big hole to fill. @mateonikeair111
A: As of right now I think based off my opening day lineup prediction it would be a mix of Peraza and Christian Moore. Frazier splitting time at 2B with Moore. Varying depending on a RHP vs LHP. Moncada as of now is healthy and no reason to not expect him to be the Opening Day 3B, but then again, he has been riddled with injuries. Perhaps the weight lost helps him stay a bit healthier. This is also a spot that could open the door for Paris to get some starting time if a long IL stint occurs though. Moore and Paris both got some looks at 3B over the winter and in camp. Definitely built up some depth along with Minor League signings such as Madrigal.
Q: Where would you have Soler in the lineup? Idk if he’s a top 6 bat in lineup. @ajperegrina
A: All dependent on RHP vs LHP. Against a right-handed pitcher I like him in the 7th spot for now and against a LHP I’d probably say 5th or 6th spot. Soler had a poor poor season, but he has often had a good year, bad year alternating career. He’s also a big power bat and I think speaks to a little bit of a strength of the team where Soler could fall all the way to 7th. It’s not a great lineup, but at times last year Soler was the 3 or 4 guy in the lineup.
Q: As a player, hearing from owner that “FANS” don’t care about winning, what’s the mentality? @everbarrera
A: I honestly don’t think it registered with the players nearly as much as it did the fans. Players current and from the past speak fairly highly of Angels fans passion and I don’t believe for one moment they took this as any more than a chance to roll their eyes at their boss. Arte’s comments aren’t crazy to me. Annoying, absolutely. But as Jeff Fletcher said on Halo Territory the other day. The Angels have million plus followers on social media, and the writers talking about the Angels daily have 60ish thousand. Arte may encompass all million plus followers as “Fans” but the majority are there for a fun family night and entertainment. They hope the Angels win when they are there but aren’t watching like the majority of us here. All the players can do is play their game and hope to win or do well enough to audition for a team that is trying to win. The Angels can say they are but who here believes it.
Q: When can we get rid of Arte? @joelarroyo0
A: Within the next two years probably? I wouldn’t be surprised if someone makes him an offer he can’t refuse pretty quick. A lot of groups, as Arte mentioned, are looking to buy a ball club. 5 groups, at least, are in on the Padres and can’t all win. Angels have a great market, supportive fan base and some players who are sell pretty marketable. Realistically Arte may choose to stick around for a few things to play out, but let’s see what happens over the summer.
Q: What are your predictions for the season. Record wise? @bsbl_cjhill
A: I will say right now, being a bit higher than the national media on the Angels around 76 wins is fair. This team is so volatile though. They are a handful of injuries that have hurt them the last few years away from a 60-65 win team. They are a few good things happening like health and development of a Christian Moore along with continued growth from Schanuel/O’Hoppe/Adell away from being a borderline wild card team. You could pretty much sell me on anything happening. This is such a cop out answer, but you look at this roster with 3 different lenses and can see them all pretty easily. My answer for the sake of this is 76-86. I don’t think we get the best but there has been enough improvement that I like to think the floor doesn’t fall out. I believe a few people have mentioned this now like Jared Tims of Talkin Halos, or Jake from Talkin’ Baseball, but if these moves or roster were another club that has shown ability to develop and make adjustments like Tampa or something people are probably looking at this roster with a bit more optimism. The Angels have to earn that benefit of the doubt. It’ll be fun to see if they can prove us all wrong, and it seems most of baseball and media who have loved to hate the Angels want to see it finally get put together to. Trout needs to get another playoff run in his career. The fans and city deserve it, even if ownership doesn’t.
Thank you all for another fun week of questions. Spring is in full swing and we will continue to look for the improvements and small things the new coaching staff looks to bring. The World Baseball Classic is here next week and we still get a few games of the Angels. Perhaps Arte locks in a plan for broadcasting and we get a few extra Halo games on our television by end of next week. Keep these questions coming and we will see you in the next one.
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