Who’s Hot, Who’s Not #12 (6/21-29)
July 1, 2025 - Written by Kian Behravan & Brayden Zielke
Photo Credit : @Angels - X
Another week has passed, which means it’s time for Who’s Hot, Who’s Not!. Each week, I pick out players who have been doing well and players who haven’t, analyze the stats and film, figure out what’s been going on, and conclude on what needs to keep happening or what needs to change. I am once again joined by Bradyen Zielke as he dives into our hitters for the week. From now on, we’re taking a different timeframe for the WHWN series. We will now go from Monday to Sunday, as opposed from Saturday to the next Sunday, to align with series schedules. To transition, we will be covering nine days instead of seven.
It was a great week for the Halos. In eight games, they went 5-3 including an extra-innings walkoff win in the second game of the Boston series sweep. They almost swept Washington, but fell short in 11 innings on June 29. With a day off on Monday, They look to advance in the AL West, as they sit at 41-42. They’re in third place, and while that's a whopping 8.5 games back from the dominating Houston Astros, they sit just two games out of a Wild Card spot. The team is going on the road this week, as they head to Atlanta for a three-game set with the Braves, then flying internationally to face off against the Blue Jays for an important series, as they are two games ahead of the baseline in the AL Wild Card race.
Pitchers: Kian
The Angel’s pitching staff did alright as a whole, putting up a 4.20 ERA over the course of eight games. Multiple bullpen arms did not give up a run, like Brock Burke and Reid Detmers to name a couple. The rotation was inconsistent, however, with Yusei Kikuchi having an amazing game and Jose Soriano imploding on June 27, giving up eight runs in just four innings. Overall, there wasn’t really a middle ground between pitchers, as some did amazing and others struggled badly.
Hot! Sam Bachman
Sam Backman is finally back in the Majors after a shoulder surgery that kept him rehabbing in the Minor Leagues for all of 2024. After a stint on the IL and some games in Triple-A, he finally got his call back up, and he has not disappointed so far. This week, he appeared in five games and tossed six innings. In those games, he gave up two hits, walked two, struck out six, and let up just one earned run (1.50 ERA).
Bachman’s slider is known to break below league average, but what he does do best is set it up using his sinker, as well as starting the pitch in a good location. Four of his six strikeouts were on sliders thrown away from hitters, while the other two came from sinkers. His main trait that worked well, even with his flatter-than-average slider, was knowing where to start the pitches. On pitches away from righties, he aimed to throw it in that bottom-away corner of the zone and let it break out. On the backdoor sliders, he started it up and out and let it end up on the outside black in the middle third of the vertical spectrum. For his sinker, he started it on his glove side, causing it to break into that right third or middle-middle, deceiving hitters to take the pitch for strike three.
It’s certainly been a struggle for Sam Bachman for the past year. To see him come back the way he has been, a powerful arm has been added to a bullpen finally getting out of its struggling routine.
Not…Hunter Strickland
It sucks to put Hunter Strickland on this list after him not giving up an earned run until June 22. Last week, Strickland gave up seven earned runs in three innings of work to make for a 21.00 ERA. It seems he had a lack of command over the appearances, as he walked four as opposed to just six over the course of the rest of the season (14 games up to 6/22).
The ball wasn’t necessarily hit hard off him, as hitters posted an average exit velocity of just 84.2 MPH. Going over the film, it seemed like most of the pitches he made were competitive and hitters were just putting good swings on them. The worst pitch I saw from him was a simple 0-2 sweeper that didn’t get low enough that Jeremy Pena roped for a double. Another noncompetitive pitch was a middle-middle fastball on a 1-1 count that was hit for a single to left.
From the looks of it, it’s just one of those stretches for Hunter Strickland. Hitters saw the ball well, and that doesn’t mean anything is wrong with him. He’s had a great season to date, and these couple of games shouldn’t bring down his morale at all; he just has to keep dealing like he has been.
Hitters: Brayden
The Angels had a really great week offensively, winning 5 of their 8 games and averaging almost 7 runs a game. The team hit .271 this week and crushed 17 home runs. They had an OPS of .893 and continued to hit well after losing star SS Zach Neto mid week to a shoulder jam.
Hot! Jo Adell
Jo Adell was on fire this week, having at least 1 hit in every game. With this being an extended week as we transition to a new WHWN schedule, this is even more impressive. Jo hit .387 (12-31) with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs this week, along with 4 walks and an OPS of 1.070. He did strike out 7 times, but his production outside of that was undeniable. Adell is looking like a top candidate to win AL Player of the Month for June as he continues to dominate.
Not… Lamonte Wade Jr.
Wade played in every game this week but wasn’t very good. He hit .190 (4-21) without recording a home run or an RBI. He walked three times and struck out 5 times, finishing the week with an abysmal OPS of .510. This is another rough week for Wade, who has been one of the least productive players on the roster since being acquired.
It was a decent week for the Angels. Members of the pitching staff shined, and the lineup came to play. The team still has to work on finding that middle ground. The Halos have a big series coming up later this week, so the team needs to lock in. See you next week on Who’s Hot, Who’s Not!
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