PHILADELPHIA — Taylor Ward didn’t have much time to anticipate his 100th career homer.
It happened the day after he hit his 99th.
That’s how it’s been going for Ward this season. His 23 homers are just two shy of his career high, even though there are more than two months to go in the season. Ward’s .485 slugging percentage would be a career high.
“I just think going back to swing mechanics, obviously, and spinning the ball right,” Ward said on Sunday, a day after the milestone homer. “I don’t know. I just think once you hit the ball, you never know what’s going to happen. So there’s a lot of luck to it. But hopefully I can keep going.”
Ward, 31, is always streaky, and he’s currently in one of his good streaks. Over his last 18 games, Ward has hit .310 with a .982 OPS.
That’s lifted his OPS for the season to .786.
“I just need to continue to swing at good pitches,” Ward said. “I think that’s the biggest thing moving forward, just keep doing what I’m doing in the cage. Hopefully, at the end of the year, I’m proud of my numbers.”
Those numbers are certainly appealing to other teams as the July 31 trade deadline approaches. Ward was thought by some to be a good trade chip last year, but he was in a slump for a month leading to the deadline, so the offers weren’t sufficient for the Angels to pull the trigger.
Ward has maintained all along that he would prefer that the Angels win enough in the next two weeks so they are inclined to keep him. Even if they fall further out of the race for this season, the Angels have Ward under control for next season. They are also thin in potential replacements for him, so the Angels still might keep him as an important piece of the 2026 roster.
In the meantime, Ward now has a meaningful milestone on his resume.
“It’s something I’ll always cherish,” Ward said. “I’m so thankful for this opportunity to get it. I got the ball last night, so it’ll go on a nice place on my mantel, for sure.”
Ward said he was relieved that the ball went into the trees beyond the center field fence, instead of going into the crowd, so he didn’t have to worry about negotiating with a fan to retrieve the memento.
“Even though here they’d have probably tossed it back onto the field,” he quipped.
WAKE UP
The personification of the Angels’ trouble in day games is Nolan Schanuel, who came into Sunday’s game hitting .198 in day games, compared with .304 in night games.
Early last season, manager Ron Washington wasn’t even playing Schanuel in day games because he didn’t like his energy at that time of day. Washington relented around midseason, but Schanuel still isn’t performing as expected in early starts.
“Oh he’s very aware,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said of Schanuel’s day-game issues, adding that the Angels have “taken steps” to help get him going earlier in the day.
“He just needs to make sure he’s engaged from the beginning,” Montgomery said.
As a group, the Angels came into Sunday with a 9-21 record in day games. The Angels’ previous victory on a Sunday was on May 18 at Dodger Stadium.
NOTES
Utilityman Chris Taylor (broken hand) was 4 for 6 with two walks in two games in the Arizona Complex League. He started once in right field and once at DH. Montgomery said Taylor needed to get through a full game on defense before he could be activated. It’s possible that Taylor could rejoin the Angels as soon as this week’s series in New York. “He’s going to dictate that on how he comes out of playing a full nine inning game on defense,” Montgomery said. …
Montgomery acknowledged that Yoán Moncada “probably jammed” his knee when he was forced to stop abruptly rounding third on Saturday night. Moncada remained in the game and hit a homer. “I think it’s something he’s going to have to deal with,” Montgomery said. Moncada was not in the lineup for Sunday’s game because the Angels were facing a left-handed pitcher, and Moncada still isn’t comfortable swinging right-handed. …
The Angels were set to wear golf attire for their trip from Philadelphia to New York, presumably in recognition of the British Open. Left-hander Tyler Anderson had a Boston Bruins jersey, a nod to the film, Happy Gilmore.
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 2-6, José Soriano, 6-7, 3.90) at Phillies (LHP Cristopher Sanchez, 8-2, 2.50), Sunday, 10:35 a.m. PT, FanDuel Sports Network West, 830 AM