Los Angeles Angels sluggers Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani will enter the upcoming season among the serious contenders for the 2023 American League MVP Award. Trout is a three-time winner of this award, while Ohtani took home this honor in 2021.
From Angels manager Phil Nevin's standpoint, he believes that Taylor Ward should also be in the conversation for one of the sport’s most prestigious honors.
“Obviously, Mike [Trout] and Shohei [Ohtani] have won MVPs and been a part of that talk, and Anthony [Rendon] has been in that mix before, too,” Nevin said on Friday. “But I wouldn’t be shocked if Taylor wasn't another name that could be thrown in that sort of a category.
“I'm not saying win it, but certainly be talked about.”
It all came together for Ward in his fifth season with the Angels last year. He recorded career highs across the board, from home runs (23) to RBI (65). He played like one of the best contact hitters in all of baseball over the early stages of the campaign. The versatile outfielder posted a .392 batting average and a .500 OBP in April/May. He also won American League Player of the Week honors for the week of April 25-May 1.
Ward sees that both his strong start and promising finish to the 2022 season were no flukes.
“In a full season, if I stay healthy, I think I can do what I did the first month and the last month all year, I really do,” Ward said. “The last month of the season, I was pretty much back. The offseason, it felt great. No problems, at all. I’m definitely 100 percent now.”
With the Angels’ acquisition of right fielder Hunter Renfroe in the offseason, Ward will move over to left field and be the team's go-to starter at the position this year. Ward has much confidence in what he can accomplish in his first year as an everyday left fielder.
“I want to take away home runs, I want to a win a Gold Glove, I want to be the best left fielder in baseball,” Ward said.
“That’s my goal, and all the work I do is going to be toward it.”
The Angels will kick off their spring training schedule with a road matchup against the Seattle Mariners on Feb. 25.
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