TEMPE, Ariz. — Taylor Ward’s breakout season in 2022 was like a three-act play.
The Angels outfielder began the season as one of the most surprising success stories in baseball, but then on May 20 he crashed into the fence and suffered an injury that sapped his shoulder of his typical strength.
For the next three months, he was a shell of that hitter, suggesting that perhaps his start was all a mirage.
At the end, though, as Ward returned to health, he finished with a flourish that gives him and the Angels hope of what he could do if he can stay healthy for an entire season.
“That player, 100%, is in there,” manager Phil Nevin said. “It’s not just a small sample size to start the season and a little bit at the end. Those numbers as a whole were pretty impressive. I see Taylor being that guy.
“We look at our group and obviously Mike (Trout) and Shohei (Ohtani) have won MVPs and Anthony (Rendon) has been in that mix before too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Taylor was a name that could be thrown in that same sort of category. Not saying he will win it, but certainly he could be talked about. Those numbers were real.”
Ward agrees.
He said that “100 percent” of his struggles through the middle of the season were health related.
“For a full season, if I stay healthy, I think I can do what I did those first and last months all year,” he said. “I really do.”
If so, the Angels would have another premium hitter at the top of their order, ahead of Trout, Ohtani and Rendon.
Ward posted an OPS of 1.194 through his first 131 plate appearances. He was hitting .370 with nine homers. He explained that it was the result of a winter of work with Trent Woodward, a former college teammate who has since been hired by the Angels as a hitting consultant. In short, Ward said he learned the right way to get the ball in the air, by aligning his swing path with the trajectory of the pitch. He shortened his swing. He cleared his mind.
Then, in the top of the…
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