Who’s Hot, Who’s Not #11 (6/14-20)
June 23, 2025 - Written by Kian Behravan & Brayden Zielke
Photo Credit: @Angels - X
Another week has passed, which means it’s time for another Who’s Hot, Who’s Not! Each week, I dive into the stats, metrics, and film to figure which of your Halo’s has been doing well and which haven’t. Once again, I’ve brought on Brayden Zielke to help out. This week, he’s dealing with our pitchers.
This week, the Angels went 3-4, including an extra-innings win against the Yankees in 11. Each game, it was either the pitching staff showed up or the lineup did. It was never both in the same game. Now, the Halo’s record sits at 36-39 and sit at 4th place in the AL West (Note stats as of Friday, June 20).
Hitters: Kian Behravan
As a whole, Angels hitters slashed .195 / .276 / .357. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Solo homers don’t win games. With 11 home runs and just 20 runs scored, it’s safe to say that most of these home runs were either leadoff homers or solo shots. One big culprit of the Angels not being able to get on base is strikeouts. Hitters struck out an average of close to ten times per game (67 in 7 games). These numbers together while adding on 19 walks shows that the lineup doesn’t have nearly enough plate discipline to survive these games.
Hot! Mike Trout
While his batting average didn’t jump out at anyone (7-24; .292), Mike Trout posted an OPS north of 1.000 on the week. This was due to the seven walks he took, which bumped up his OBP to a whopping .469 for the week. He also slugged .542, hitting two home runs, which were the only extra-base hits of the week. This doesn’t mean he didn’t hit the ball hard, as he posted an average exit velocity of 94.1 MPH, with nine of 17 batted balls going over 100 MPH, six of which were over 106 MPH. He crushed pitches in the lower part of the zone, also driving a pitch at his back knee over the elongated wall in Camden Yards.
Mike Trout’s been coasting this year. He’s getting on base more, as well as hitting the ball hard. In due time, he’ll be back to the standard player he always has been.
Not… Christian Moore
Christian Moore made his debut not too long ago, and it’s been a disappointing run as of late. Last week, he went 4-19 (.211) with six strikeouts in seven games. He’s been missing the ball a lot, posting a 33.3 whiff% this season. His long swing has caused him to lunge at outside pitches, popping them up to right field or grounding it to the left side. He hasn’t been making good contact in general, as his average exit velocity sat at 83.4 MPH, but he did barrel the ball a couple times, hitting a home run at 108.7 MPH. This shows that his power is still potent, but he just needs to work on having purpose in his swing, as well as good pitch selection. On the season, he’s slashing .154 / .185 / .346.
Perhaps the lack of Linsanity numbers can pose as a good thing for Christian Moore. Hitters like Kyren Paris and Matthew Lugo put up great numbers for the first part of their run, but have been disappointing since. Moore’s a very young rookie with a lot of baseball ahead of him. There’s still things he has to figure out.
It was a tough week at the plate for the Halos, per usual. Fans can only hope that the lineup can figure it out and give the pitching staff some help.
Pitchers: Brayden Zielke
The Angels pitching staff was pretty inconsistent this week. They had 3 games where they gave up 6 or more runs while also throwing 2 shut out wins against the New York Yankees.
Deciding on who’s hot in terms of starters was pretty difficult. Both Hendricks and Soriano started shutouts against the Yankees, but because of Hendrick’s consistent improvement over his last few starts, I’m going to go with him.
Hot! Kyle Hendricks and Hunter Strickland
Hendricks showed off this week in The Bronx, throwing 6 shutout innings and allowing only 4 hits, while also striking out 9 Yankees batters. Keep in mind that this Yankees lineup consists of 4 former MVPs, including this year's AL MVP front runner, and multiple former top prospects. He held those 4 MVPs to a combined 3 for 16. Hendricks has an ERA of 3.00 during June and it’s nice to see him seemingly settle in after a really rough first few months.
Even though Strickland wasn’t super impactful this week, I have to include him here. Throughout the last month, Strickland has appeared in 14 games out of the bullpen and has thrown 15.2 innings, all while maintaining a perfect 0.00 ERA. Even though Strickland is not really striking out batters, he has only given up 7 hits. If Strickland continues to dominate, he can be a very lucrative trade chip at the deadline or a reliable reliever down the stretch.
Not… Tyler Anderson
Despite having a strong April, Anderson’s production has fallen off the face of the earth as of late. Anderson started 2 games this week, and neither were great. He tossed 5 innings against the Orioles, giving up 9 hits, 2 walks, and 6 earned runs. He then threw 6 innings against the Yankees, giving up 8 hits, 2 walks, and 4 earned runs. He also gave up 2 home runs in each game. While neither of these starts are disastrously terrible on their own, they combine for an 8.18 ERA on the week and it just isn’t what you want to see from someone who is one of your better starters.
It was a weird week for the Angels: They got smoked by one of the worst teams in the AL, while almost sweeping one of the best teams in baseball. Let's hope the lineup can figure it out and back up the recent success of the pitching staff. See you next week on Who's Hot, Who’s Not!
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