Angels' Ward: 'I want to be the best left fielder in baseball'

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward has set some very lofty expectations for the upcoming 2023 campaign, as he transitions from right field to left field after the team acquired Hunter Renfroe in the offseason.

"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, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. "That's my goal, and all the work I do is going to be toward it."

Ward hit 23 homers with an .833 OPS over 135 games during a breakout season in 2022 after going deep 15 times with a .693 OPS across a combined 159 contests between 2018-21.

"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 added.

The 29-year-old slashed .370/.481/.713 with nine homers and 23 RBIs in the first 30 games last year, and then accrued a .345/.397/.575 slash line with six homers and 18 RBIs over the final 31 contests. However, he struggled for a long stretch of the season following a shoulder injury that cooled his hot start.

Angels manager Phil Nevin also believes Ward could one day find himself in the AL MVP debate.

"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. But I wouldn't be shocked if Taylor wasn't another name that could be thrown in that sort of a category," Nevin said. "I'm not saying win it, but certainly be talked about."