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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
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Karl Rasmussen

MLB Fans Roasted Angels for Using Position Player on Mound on Opening Day

Angels infielder Nicky Lopez is called upon to pitch on Opening Day against the White Sox. | Screenshot via Mr. Sports on X

The 2025 MLB season did not get off to the start that Los Angeles Angels fans were hoping for.

Matched up against the lowly Chicago White Sox, Halos fans were certainly expecting a win, if not a close game. Instead, they were blown out in humbling fashion, as Chicago led 8–0 after eight innings.

After offseason acquisition Yusei Kikuchi and former second-round draft pick Ryan Johnson combined to surrender eight runs across 7 2/3 innings, the Angels turned to a rather unexpected arm for their final out of the game: infielder Nicky Lopez.

It took just one game in the '25 MLB season for the Angels to deploy a position player on the mound, and he ended up being the only one of their pitchers not to surrender a run. To do so against a White Sox team coming off a historically bad 2024 campaign only makes matters worse.

A ninth-inning home run from Logan O'Hoppe was the only thing that prevented the Halos from getting shutout on Opening Day, but they didn't escape the wrath of MLB fans on social media who roasted them for putting Lopez on the mound during the very first game of the year.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLB Fans Roasted Angels for Using Position Player on Mound on Opening Day.

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