BOSTON — The Angels’ 15-hit outburst against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night included two hits from Moisés Ballesteros, two from Christian Moore and one from Denzer Guzman.
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The confluence of production from those players was significant, because they represent the Angels’ best hope to turn this season’s dreadful offense into something more workable in the future.
While the Angels have identified a handful of young pitchers who seemingly can become the core of a winning pitching staff, the hitters have lagged behind. The Angels have been one of the worst offensive teams in baseball during the second half of the season.
Enter Ballesteros, Moore and Guzman.
They are the youngest players on the roster. Ballesteros and Guzman are each 22 and Moore is 23. Unlike the next wave of Angels’ prospects – players like outfielder Nelson Rada, shortstop Arjun Nimmala and outfielder Hayden Alvarez – these three have graduated from the minors. The next step is to see if their minor-league success translates to the majors.
“I think they’re all going to be a lot better,” hitting coach Brady Anderson said.
There is plenty of room for improvement.
Ballesteros is hitting .220 with a .625 OPS in 299 major league plate appearances this season, including .205 and .541 in 124 plate appearances with the Angels. He had brief stints in the majors last season and this season with the Chicago Cubs before they sent him to the Angels in the Ryan Zeferjahn trade.
Guzman has a .227 average with a .625 OPS in 241 plate appearances. He had a taste of the majors last September, and this season he’s been up since June.
Moore is hitting .181 with a .507 OPS in 91 plate appearances. He struggled in the big leagues last season and for a week earlier this season, admitting that he had to adjust to high fastballs.
(An argument can be made that Wade Meckler, 26, and Vaughn Grissom, 25, should also be included in this discussion. Even though they are older and have had multiple seasons at Triple-A or higher, they still could have some upside. That said, they’re already producing at the major-league level, so they have less room to improve than their younger teammates.)
Moore was the Angels’ first-round pick, eighth overall, in the 2024 draft, just after he won the Most Outstanding Player Award at the College World Series with Tennessee. He might have made it to the majors within months of being drafted if he hadn’t gotten hurt at the end of the 2024 minor league season.
When he finally did make it last season, he showed a flair for producing in the clutch. The overall picture, though, included a 34% strikeout rate. There were also defensive issues, so this spring he went back to Triple-A.
This season, Moore hit .302 with a .943 OPS at Triple-A, earning him another shot at the majors. Since he’s been back, he’s struck out 26% of the time, which is a slight improvement. Just this week he’s shown some encouraging signs, with four hits in his last four games.
Moore, who has the best raw power of the three, has hit one home run since he’s been back.
Guzman has been playing sporadically lately, because the Angels wanted him to spend extra time working with the hitting coaches. He responded with a hit on Tuesday night and three hits, including a homer, on Wednesday.
“I’m working on my rhythm and my approach,” Guzman said through an interpreter, adding that he’s “100% confident” that he can do better.
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Guzman also has power potential. He’s hit seven homers in the majors. His average bat speed ranks fourth on the team this season, just behind Mike Trout. Guzman hits the ball on the ground too much right now, and he’s also struck out in 26% of his plate appearances.
“I think the simplest way to put it is being on time for heaters and then adjusting to the other stuff,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “That takes time. I know he’s been working really hard in the cage. He’s seeing some better results in the game.”
Guzman, a natural shortstop who has been playing third base, is also the best defensive player of the three, so that helps him contribute while he’s learning to hit.
Ballesteros has been better than expected so far at catcher, and he’s also been competent in a few games at first base. He’s still best known for his bat, and the Angels have only recently gotten a glimpse at how that could look.
When Ballesteros first arrived, he was hitting line drives all over the field, but they were finding gloves. Then there were a couple of weeks when he wasn’t hitting the ball well at all.
“Not hitting a homer with the Angels, it felt really heavy for me,” Ballesteros said on Tuesday. “I felt pressure. After my first homer, I felt really relaxed.”
Since Sept. 1, the day before his first home run, he’s hit .360 with a 1.025 OPS. That includes seven balls hit at more than 100 mph. He hit another homer on Monday, part of a three-hit game.
He said he hasn’t made any significant adjustments.
“One of the coaches and my dad told me, just go play and hit the ball,” Ballesteros said. “Hit the ball and don’t overthink at the plate.”
Whatever success Ballesteros, Moore and Guzman have at the end of this season will give them confidence – and give the team more confidence in them – as the Angels head into next season.
The Angels aren’t going to be able to turn around this offense simply by signing free agents or making trades, so they are going to need boosts from players like these.
It remains to be seen when – or if – any of them will develop into the players the Angels hope they can become.
“They’re still really young,” Suzuki said. “They might take a little bit more time. As of now, we really like the progress they’re making. It’s definitely a group that you’re excited about.”
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Yusei Kikuchi, 1-5, 4.96 ERA) at Nationals (RHP Cade Cavalli, 12-5, 3.12 ERA), Friday, 3:45 p.m. PT, ABTV, 830 AM
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