For the 11th consecutive September, the Angels are using the final weeks of the schedule to run out the clock. They will finish with a losing record for the 11th straight season and run the sport’s longest active playoff drought to 12 years. But for the first time in what feels like ages, they do so with legitimate reason to believe that maybe, finally, brighter days are ahead.
No, this is not in reference to the franchise’s sale to Stan Kroenke, which was announced earlier this month and brought a sudden end to the tumultuous and spectacularly unsuccessful Arte Moreno era. While that seismic development should set the organization up for long-term success, there are more immediate reasons to pay attention to the American League’s worst team—namely, a starting rotation that’s quietly blossomed into one of the game’s very best.
