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Latest Shohei Ohtani update puts pressure on Angels to win now
Latest Shohei Ohtani update puts pressure on Angels to win now,According to reports, the team may only have a few more months to convince two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to stay in Los Angeles past this year.

Latest Shohei Ohtani update puts pressure on Angels to win now

With their loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Angels (9-9) are already at the .500 mark for the fifth time this season.

The Angels are 3-3 at home and 6-6 on the road in the early goings of 2023 and their season-long winning streak is just three games, while their season-long losing streak is three games as well.

According to reports, the team may only have a few more months to convince two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to stay in Los Angeles past this year, and how they’re looking in the standings will have a lot to do with what happens.

Shohei Ohtani could be traded and ‘will definitely’ leave the Angels if they fall out of playoff contention this season, per @JeffPassan pic.twitter.com/p8WFzXOwtP

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) April 20, 2023

While the Angels still have nearly 90% of their regular season remaining, summer will be here soon and the team has serious competition in the AL West this year. The first-place Texas Rangers (12-6) have the fourth-best record in baseball — behind the Tampa Bay Rays (16-3), Atlanta Braves (14-5) and Milwaukee Brewers (14-5) — while posting the second-best run differential (+43) thus far, trailing only the Rays.

Ohtani and company are three games behind the Rangers, but the defending World Series champion Houston Astros (9-10) will presumably start to pick things up sooner rather than later. Fresh off their first playoff appearance in 21 years last season, the Seattle Mariners (8-11) appear ready to be a consistent contender in the division or wild card race now as well.

The only team in the AL West that the Angels really don’t have to worry about is the Oakland Athletics (3-16), who they opened the season against by outscoring 20-3 and winning two of three contests. Los Angeles then won two of three on the road against Seattle, but they won’t face Houston or Texas until early May.

For the Angels to stay in contention, the number one priority will be to have both Ohtani and Trout stay healthy and on the field. Though he’s still one of the best players in the game, Trout has been hampered by injuries in recent years, having not reached 120 games in a season since 2019.

Los Angeles hasn’t made the postseason since 2014 (when Trout won the first of his three AL MVP awards) and has never won a playoff game (let alone a series) in Trout’s career.