Wade Meckler's Improbable Feel Good Story
June 3, 2026 - Written by Jack Argent
GRAND SLAM WADE MECKLER ‼️
— MLB (@MLB) May 30, 2026
The @Angels have a 4-0 first-inning lead! pic.twitter.com/XqQadqYIZC
With the second month of the Major League Baseball season beginning to wrap up, some teams are shaping their identity of where they stand in this league. Teams with championship expectations such as the Dodgers and Yankees have all passed their early season tests. However, the league has seen its fair share of surprise stories coming from small-market teams such as the Athletics, the Rays, and the once again the Guardians continue to defy the odds despite not coming into the season as heavy favorites to be atop the AL Central. However, if we look at the start of the season for the Los Angeles Angels, we can’t help but look at it as a complete disaster.
Coming into the weekend home series against the Texas Rangers, the Angels held a record of 21-34, 2nd to last in batting average, striking out at a league high 516 times, and the 4th worst ERA+ in all of MLB. Although these stats can be very telling and frustrating for Angels fans to see, (especially the strikeout rate being ridiculously high), the disappointment runs deeper than just the stat sheet. This past week at Angel Stadium in a series against the Athletics, Angels fans would participate in the newly trending “tarps off” cheer, but with their own twist. That twist would be done by chanting “sell the team” while swinging around their T-shirts, which would be done to allow fans to have their voices heard about the constant failure and stubbornness of Angels owner Arte Moreno. Clips of these fan chanting and screaming would surface all over baseball media and could even be heard loud and clear when watching the game on the local broadcast. Although it can be easy to dive into the noticeable flaws of this team, such as new acquisitions not performing well, high strikeout games at the plate, and a bullpen incapable of holding any sort of lead have characterized the Angels outlook of their first two months of baseball, it is not the topic of this article but rather about a hometown kid who gave the Halo faithful an unforgettable series over this past weekend.
Going into a weekend set against the Rangers, the Angels made a series of moves that included optioning new trade acquisition Josh Lowe to Triple-A Salt Lake after putting up an abysmal .184/.320/.546 slash line and overall, just didn’t perform anywhere close to major league standards required to be an everyday starter. The Halos would also place everyday third baseman Yoán Moncada on 10-day IL with a right knee injury as once again, Moncada’s injury history takes center stage with an underwhelming start to the season as Moncada slashed .189/.297/.605 and his defense took a noticeable backseat throughout the first two months. The direct corresponding moves would be selecting the contract of Double-A Rocket City outfielder Wade Meckler and Triple-A Salt Lake third baseman Donovan Walton. For Meckler, he’s an Anaheim native who hasn’t played in a Major League game since 2023, so after spending his summers as a kid watching his favorite Angels Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter take the field at Angel Stadium. Therefore, there’s no possible way that the kid who fell asleep dreaming to put on that Angels uniform would ever imagine failing to make a strong impression in his first start. And that first impression would be something out of a Disney movie.
The story begins in the top of the 1st inning as Grayson Rodriguez takes the mound for his second start of the season, the bases are empty with two outs, and newly acquired Ranger Brandon Nimmo worked the count to three balls and two strikes. Rodriguez delivered a 98 mph baseball low and inside, Nimmo had appeared to foul the pitch off into foul territory and live to see the next pitch. However, new Angel Wade Meckler had something else in mind, as the ball was hit, Meckler got on his horse and got to a slide at full speed to make a spectacular sliding grab while hitting the side wall at full speed. This moment brought Angel Stadium to their feet for what had to be a moment that felt too good to be true for Meckler. However, this was just the beginning; The Angels would begin the bottom of the first with a Zach Neto lead off homer off future hall of famer Jacob deGrom; They would follow Mike Trout drawing a walk, Nolan Schuanel striking out, Jorge Soler drawing a walk, and Jo Adell hitting a scorching 114.9 mph lineout to left field, this sequence of events sets the scene for Wade Meckler’s first major league at-bat in 3 years, and on the very first pitch he saw from DeGrom, Meckler did the unthinkable; he got a fastball and socked a three run home run into the right field bleachers, a moment Meckler will be replaying in his over and over again for years to come. The momentum of this moment would carry with the Angels as they finished with a 9-6 victory to open up the weekend. The Angels would follow up this win with a 5-2 victory on Saturday to secure the series win.
Moving to the series finale, Wade Meckler would not get the start in this game as the Rangers opted to go to lefty MacKenzie Gore in which the Angels would counter with a more righty dominant lineup. This game alone would be dominated by pitching on both sides as Reid Detmers would toss a dominant eight innings that included only one hit and fourteen strikeouts with one run surrendered from a Jake Burger solo shot. Gore was brilliant in his own right, tossing six innings of one hit and one run ball while adding seven strikeouts. However, we fast forward to the bottom of the 9th inning to complete this unforgettable weekend at the Big A. With one out, Jorge Soler lined a single to left field to put the winning run on first base, Soler would be pinch ran for by the other new Angels call up Donvan Walton; the following at-bat would result in Jo Adell getting hit by a pitch. This set the scene for Oswald Peraza with one out and two runners on, Peraza hit a soft ground ball up the middle that looked to be an inning ending double play, only for shortstop Michael Helman to make an erratic throw that allowed Walton to score and win the game. Wade Meckler, (who was on deck after pinch hitting for Jose Siri in the 7th), was right there to celebrate with Walton after both of them had just made the team and made a strong early impact on this Angels team.
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