Many people in Major League Baseball think the Los Angeles Angels are going to completely waste Mike Trout's career.

Trout, about to be 30 years old, has been out since May 17 with a right calf injury. The timeline for his return continues to be pushed back to the point where it's worth wondering if it's better to just shut him down for the remainder of the season. With the Angels hovering around .500 and falling out of the playoff race, though not completely out of it, it's probably better for the team to start keeping at least one eye on its prospects for 2022. Los Angeles is currently six games out of the second AL wild-card spot, looking up at five other teams.

Obviously the Angels can't help that he's injured, but as Trout heads into his twelfth season in 2022, it's hard to believe he's only had twelve at-bats in the playoffs – one ALDS series in 2014 against the Royals.

It's also worth wondering when the Angels are going to have enough pitching to make a serious run with the greatest player of this generation, followed by possibly the most dynamic player of this generation in Shohei Ohtani.

Maybe, just maybe, that time is coming soon.

Though there is little room for error, the Angels do have a plethora of young pitching currently in the Majors. Most recently, Reid Detmers, 22, was promoted to the big-league club, and even though he was tattooed for six runs in his first start on August 1, Los Angeles is certainly high on the 2020 first-round pick.

Detmers, the team' top pitching prospect, has been fast-tracked through the system thanks in large part to his strikeout potential and low walk rate. He figures to be a stalwart in the rotation for years to come, followed by a bevy of other young pitching talent.

This includes Jamie Barria, 24, who has already been with the Angels for four seasons. His 101 career ERA+ is right at about average, but in two starts this season, he's given up just two runs in 13 2/3 innings.

Patrick Sandoval, 24, has had a breakout season in 2021, with a 3.38 ERA and 137 ERA+ in 77 1/3 innings. Chris Rodriguez, recently called up from Triple-A Salt Lake, was in the Angels' bullpen earlier this season but looks to be in the rotation moving forward and is considered by many to be a top prospect as well.

Just imagine if 2017 second-round pick and former top pitching prospect Griffin Canning wasn't having his own struggles in the majors.

Then there is, of course, Cy Young candidate Shohei Ohtani, who has a beautiful 2.93 ERA, 158 ERA+, and 106 strikeouts in 86 innings. There has never been a modern player like Ohtani. Baseball fans are so utterly lucky to be witnessing his rise with the Angels.

The youth movement is on in Anaheim, though the Angels realize they can never have too much pitching and will likely be on the hunt, as usual, for veteran pitching in the offseason to round out the young rotation.

Alex Cobb has been great for the team this season, with a 3.82 ERA in fifteen starts. The 33-year-old is currently on the IL with right wrist inflammation and will be a free agent in 2022. The Angels would likely love to bring him back, just not at $15 million a year.

Aside from Cobb, Dylan Bundy and Jose Quintana have been disasters, contributing in large part to the team's bloated rotation ERA, though over the past thirty days, the Angels actually have the eighth-best team ERA in baseball at 3.54.

Thinking ahead, the Angels could very well be a dark horse playoff team for 2022, allowing us to finally – FINALLY – see more Trout in the postseason. And the thought of Ohtani navigating a series as both a pitcher and hitter? Sign me up for that.

A lot still has to go very, very right for the Angels to be true contenders next season, but thanks to the influx of young pitching already in the majors, it feels like Los Angeles is on the right path for the first time in a long, long while. Toss in a lineup that features Trout, Ohtani, a healthy Anthony Rendon, and a Justin Upton contract that expires after 2022 (he still makes $28 million next year), and you might really be cooking.

It's enough to get Angels fans excited.