Angels Manager Ron Washington Throws His Own Player Under The Bus
It's not too often you'll hear Major League Baseball managers forcefully and publicly criticize their own players. But that's exactly what Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington did on Tuesday after a 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
And it all started with an extremely questionable managerial decision.
With the bases loaded for the Angels in the eighth inning against struggling Cardinals reliever JoJo Romero, Washington called for a suicide squeeze. With just one out and needing one run to tie the game, Washington could have given Luis Guillorme time to work a deep count and force in a run, while extending the rally. Especially considering Romero had walked two consecutive hitters, repeatedly going to three-ball counts.
The pitch missed well outside, and Guillorme flailed helplessly, missing the bunt and making Zach Neto a sitting duck coming down the line from third.
On a 1-1 count, the pitch would have been ball two. Instead, it was a swinging strike, an out at home, and the Angels didn't score on their way to losing.
Normally, managers discussing a failed strategical call after the game might say something like, "we thought it made sense to try, obviously it was a tough pitch to handle, wish it would have worked out." Or even, "looking back, we probably would have let Guillorme work the count considering Romero was struggling to find the zone."
That's not what Washington did.
May 9, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington (37) looks on from the dugout during the game against the Kansas City Royals at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Ron Washington Levels One Of His Own Players
After the game, Washington told the media that none of the blame fell on him; it was all Guillorme's fault.
"He didn’t do the job," Washington said. "It wasn’t anything I did wrong. He didn’t do the job."
"I would have rather went to the ninth inning with a 6-6 lead than gone to the ninth inning the way we did."
Despite the fact that Romero had walked two hitters and gone to three ball counts against every single batter he'd faced, Washington bizarrely claimed that he'd been throwing strikes.
"He was throwing the ball in the strike zone," Washington said, responding to a reporter. "Why are you making excuses? He was throwing the ball in the strike zone. (Guillorme) did not get the bunt down. Period."
He was not throwing the ball in the strike zone.
It was an unbelievably odd sequence; Washington not taking responsibility for a poorly reasoned bunt call, specifically calling out his player, then showing he wasn't paying enough attention to Romero's outing. Not to mention that Guillorme also had an at-bat in his career where he worked a 22-pitch walk.
Pretty bad all the way around.
The Angels weren't expected to be good this season after losing Shohei Ohtani to the Dodgers, but injuries to Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon haven't helped. Through Wednesday, they were sitting in dead last in the AL West at 16-28 with just a 1.7 percent chance of making the postseason, per Fangraphs.
Managers may not help very much, but they sure can hurt.