Angels Given Slim Chances to End MLB’s Longest Playoff Drought

The Los Angeles Angels have the MLB’s longest postseason drought at 11 years, and analysts don’t like their chances this season.

ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle ranked the Angels 29th out of 30 teams in his Stock Watch, and gave them just a 0.1% chance to reach the postseason for the first time since 2014.

The Angels currently hold the worst record in the American League, 26-42, are sit 4.5 games behind the next-closest team in their division. To make matters worse, the Halos are dealing with a midseason slew of injuries to their position players. In just the last week, Adam Frazier, Vaughn Grissom and Jorge Soler all went on the injured list, and Nolan Schanuel and Sebastián Rivero both left Tuesday’s game against the Houston Astros early with apparent injury.

Additionally, Doolittle predicts the Angels to finish the season with 63 wins (63.3, to be exact), which would tie the franchise record for fewest in a season. The Angels are the sole team in MLB to never lose 100 games in a season, and they’d be cutting it extremely close with that win total, just as they did in 2024 under Ron Washington.

The Angels are certainly going to break that streak at their current pace, as their current win percentage puts them at 61.884 wins come the end of the season. If they want to avoid being the franchise’s worst-ever team this season, things will have to change.

What Has Gone Wrong for the Angels This Season?

On top of the injuries they’ve suffered, the Angels are severely underperforming across the board. They splashed on three reliever free agents to replace Kenley Jansen, who went to the Tigers, and Reid Detmers, who trasnferred to the rotation. Those three, Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz and Jordan Romano, have all struggled this season, and Romano isn’t even on the team anymore.

Additionally, the rest of their bullpen has been terrible.

Angels relievers have a 4.86 ERA this season, which ranks sixth-worst in MLB.

The Angels also sit below average in terms of wRC+, ranking 20th in MLB despite hitting being their strong suit last season. Their fielding ranks worst in the league as well, as they trail everyone in the league in outs above average, fielding run value and overall defensive rating.

If the Angels are to turn their season around this year, they’ll need nothing short of a miracle.

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