Five Young Angels Auditioning for Roles in 2027

He’s made four starts thus far in August and has pitched to a 1.69 ERA and 1.08 WHIP during this stretch. Johnson is coming off maybe his best major league start, in which he pitched seven scoreless innings on the road against the Texas Rangers, striking out three and walking two.

The strides that Johnson has made so far this month have been very encouraging to see and will certainly boost his chances of opening the 2027 season with a spot in the Angels’ starting rotation. He has a ton of potential and needs to continue to build on his current success through the end of the season.

George Klassen, RHP

After years of prospect hype, George Klassen is finally seeing consistent starts with the Angels and has put together a very nice season so far in 2026. He got the call to the show in April, when he made two starts, but was sent back to Triple-A Salt Lake, where he remained until getting recalled on August 7.

Since making his return to the Angels on August 7 in a road start against the Miami Marlins, he’s made three starts spanning 17 innings while posting a 1.59 ERA. Klassen’s success in August, along with that of Johnson and the rest of the starting staff, has contributed to the Angels leading the major leagues in rotation ERA (2.21) for the month — a pretty incredible step forward for the club.

Klassen has some of the best pure stuff in the game, but his lack of command has held him back. He features a four-seam fastball and sinker that both average 96 mph, accompanied by three nasty breaking and offspeed pitches: a slider, changeup, and curveball. 

A pitcher can have the nastiest stuff, but poor command can severely alter their overall performance — this has been the most glaring problem with Klassen. As a result of his inability to locate and command the baseball, he’s been issuing 7.5 walks per nine innings, which has led to a concerning 1.62 WHIP.

If Klassen can tighten up his command, he has all the potential in the world to be a frontline starter in the Angels rotation. Like Johnson, it’ll be very important to monitor how he pitches over the final month of the season and if he can iron out the kinks in his profile.

Moises Ballesteros, C/DH

When the Angels traded Ryan Zeferjahn to the Chicago Cubs before the trade deadline, Moises Ballesteros was half of the return, paired with minor league pitcher Mason McGwire.

Ballesteros will be one of the Angels’ primary catchers moving forward since they traded Logan O’Hoppe to the Texas Rangers in July. While Ballesteros technically will use the rest of the 2026 campaign to “audition” for a 2027 role, it seems set in stone that he’ll be a big part of the 2027 club and the foreseeable future.

As far as the 2027 catching duo looks, it seems likely that Ballesteros and Tyler Heineman will be the pair of backstops. Ballesteros will log plenty of games as the designated hitter, which will open the door for Heineman to see consistent time. Heineman is a great defensive catcher and seems to work well with the pitching staff, making him a great candidate to stick around past 2026.

Circling back to Ballesteros, he climbed through the Cubs system while asserting himself as one of the organization’s better prospects in recent years. He made his major league debut with Chicago in 2025 and has since taken 310 plate appearances.

Ballesteros hasn’t shown much since debuting last year, hence his .227/.303/.357 slash line along with eight home runs and 37 runs batted in.

However, 310 plate appearances isn’t a lot of time, and it’ll be important that Ballesteros remains in the Angels’ everyday lineup moving forward. Getting consistent playing time in the big leagues should greatly help his development at the major league level, while giving him peace of mind that the organization values him as a piece to build around. He’s still only 22 years old and has a lot in the tank still to show.

Denzer Guzman, 3B / Christian Moore, 2B

Since being part of the 2020-21 international signing class, Denzer Guzman has been one of the better prospects in the Angels system. He got a nice cup of tea with the Angels in 2025 as a 21-year-old but struggled over a small sample of 13 games.

This year, he’s been given a longer leash at third base and has 59 games in the books since being recalled in early June.

Guzman has played a few games at shortstop but profiles best as a third baseman due to his above-average range and arm strength. He’s put up mediocre numbers in 2026 with a .232 batting average and .637 OPS, along with six home runs and 23 runs batted in. His defense has been pretty good, but his offense still needs to be cleaned up.

His all-around offensive profile, by the metrics, is pretty weak, with only his launch angle sweet-spot rate and bat speed being above average. Guzman needs to make contact more consistently and hit the ball harder. He’s only squaring up 19.8% of batted balls with an average exit velocity of just 86.8 mph.

After being the Angels first round draft selection in 2024 out of the University of Tennessee, Christian Moore now finds himself in an interesting situation. He hasn’t looked comfortable during his inconsistent major league time, which is mainly because of his poor plate discipline and struggles in multiple offensive categories.

Moore got a brief major league stint in June, but just recently got called back up on August 22. He should see everyday playing time until the season’s end. When I mentioned that Moore is in an interesting situation, his role for 2027 and long-term is up in the air.

The main things to keep an eye on are his approach at the plate and his swing-and-miss rates, which have been crucial problems during his development at the major league level. So far through two major league seasons, Moore’s defective 35.7% strikeout rate and 37.2% whiff rate are clear areas that need to be improved.

Moore has great bat speed and offensive potential, but he’s not putting himself in a position to succeed with the approach he brings to the plate. He’s got the tools to be one of the better infielders in the majors but still needs to connect the dots. If he continues to struggle, he could be a change-of-scenery candidate similar to O’Hoppe.

The battle between Guzman and Moore will be the most interesting to watch over the final month. Hence, the pair will be battling for a starting position in 2027.

Vaughn Grissom has had a nice bounce-back season with the Angels this year and seems likely to hold down second base or third base full time in 2027. That leaves one infield spot open, which will likely be awarded to Guzman or Moore, whoever performs best from here on out.