Angels Q&A: Who will win the starting center field job?
TEMPE, Ariz. — The Angels get to enjoy their only off day in the Cactus League schedule on Thursday, providing a break before starting their final week in Arizona.
So far the Angels are 8-9, but more importantly, they’ve gotten to this point in spring training without any significant injury issues arising.
That’s essentially left them with all of their choices as they focus on the roster decisions, many of which were the source of questions submitted by readers this week.
Q: Who is the starting center fielder? – @natedarling
A: With Mike Trout’s move to right field, center field became a competition between Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak.
Adell has played more center field than Moniak in the spring, but that could simply be because Moniak has more experience at the position, so Adell is one who needs the reps. Adell had some issues in his first few games in center, but has been better since then.
At the plate, Adell is 6 for 36 (.167) with a .538 OPS and Moniak is 7 for 33 (.212) with a .742 OPS.
Since both players are going to be on the Opening Day roster, there’s not really a finish line for this competition. The Angels will keep evaluating the two players all season. The guess here is that each player will end up with a stretch in which he’s playing every day.
Q: Does (Kyren) Paris make the Opening Day roster and play second base? He’s certainly making the case. – @Pauliuskase
A: Paris is 8 for 22 (.364) this spring, but it’s worth nothing that Manager Ron Washington still doesn’t start him in spring training games ahead of Tim Anderson, Christian Moore or even Scott Kingery. That means Paris doesn’t get many at-bats against major league-caliber pitching.
While Washington hasn’t been so direct as to suggest that Paris doesn’t have a chance at the Opening Day roster, he did say that he’d like to see how his new swing works “through a full season.”
Besides, if Luis Rengifo recovers from the time he’s lost because of his hamstring injury, he’s the second baseman.
Q: Does anyone know the specifics about Zach Neto’s injury, surgery, and timeline? I know he had shoulder surgery, but it feels like a very vague and unclear situation. Any insight? – @sportz_nutt51
A: Yes, it has been very vague. Neto had some type of surgery on his right shoulder, and that’s all we know. It seems the lack of specifics is what Neto prefers, and the Angels (like most teams) are going to defer to the player’s wishes anytime there is a question of disclosing medical information.
At this point, though, the timeline is all that matters, and that is becoming more clear. Neto started throwing a few weeks ago, and he began throwing from shortstop to second base over the weekend. If all continues to go well with that, he’ll start throwing to first by next week.
Neto has been taking batting practice, but he still hasn’t faced live pitching.
Given all that, it seems reasonable to expect Neto back sometime in April.
Q: Why not do a 6-man rotation for both Reid (Detmers) and Jack (Kochanowicz)? – @noahsher44
A: The short answer is that the Angels already have six off days before the end of April, so five starters would already be mostly pitching with an extra day of rest. If they inserted a sixth, that would be too much.
I don’t think anyone should worry that the Angels will have too many pitchers who deserve to be in the big-league rotation. Someone will struggle or someone will get hurt and it will sort itself out.
Q: Who else has worked out at 1b? Assuming (Ryan) Noda and (Niko) Kavadas doesn’t make 26? – @edubies
A: One of the questions the Angels are considering is whether their sixth infielder needs to be someone who could back up Nolan Schanuel at first. Kavadas has already been optioned, so the two choices left in camp are Noda and J.D. Davis.
Noda has hit better than Davis this spring, but Davis works better as a complement to Schanuel because he hits right-handed. Davis also plays third.
If they don’t keep either player, they could use Kevin Newman or even Travis d’Arnaud to give Schanuel an occasional break.
Q: Do the Angels really believe in Nolan Schanuel, or will they try and trade him/go for (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.). The twitter community is very spilt on this. – @Juliancedillo01
A: Although they temper expectations publicly about Schanuel, because of his age and inexperience, they privately gush over his potential, more so than any of the other hitters in their young core. They believe what he did as a 22-year-old bodes well for his future, and they think there still could be 30-homer power once he gets some more experience and learns how to use his tools. This spring he’s already showing some more bat speed.
Q: Can they restructure (Anthony) Rendon’s contract? – @EnriqueRico
A: They can, but that’s up to Rendon. Rendon is guaranteed $72 million in 2025 and 2026, so there’s no chance he’s giving up any of that. If he decides that he doesn’t want to play, he and the Angels could restructure the deal so he still gets the same amount of money in present value, but it’s spread out over more years.
I wouldn’t expect that to happen, though. I think it’s more likely the Angels simply release Rendon at some point before the end of 2026. They’d still pay him every penny they owe him, but they wouldn’t need to deal with him being on the roster or injured list.
Q: Is there a real possibility the ABS will be in play this year? – @deegisdope2
A: No. Implementation of a rule change like the automated ball-strike system (ABS) requires a 45-day notice from MLB to the Players’ Association. The plan all along has been to test it with major league players this spring, then get feedback to see what adjustments were needed. They’ll use it throughout the 2025 season at Triple-A.
So far it appears to be working pretty well in spring training. From my conversations with players, including those who used it last year at Triple-A, I would be surprised if it’s not in the majors in 2026.