New Angels manager Ron Washington calls team meeting after just 2 games: ‘We can’t get off track’
The Angels responded with a narrow win over the Orioles on Sunday following the team meeting
It’s only been two games, but things are apparently already in disarray in the Los Angeles Angels’ clubhouse.
It’s so bad, in fact, that new manager Ron Washington decided to call an emergency team meeting following their 13-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday. It marked the Angels’ second blowout loss to start the 2024 season.
"Just wanted to let them know they've played only two games and we can't get off track," Washington said, via ESPN. "Our focus is on a 162-game championship season. Not two games. The two games haven't gone like we wanted, but we just got to make certain that we come to the ballpark ready to go."
While calling a meeting like that is usually reserved for deeper into the season — considering there’s still 160 games and several months to go — it’s easy to see why Washington felt he needed to take that step.
The Angels got off to about the worst start imaginable this spring. They fell 11-3 in their season opener to the Orioles on Thursday, and then dropped Saturday’s game by nine runs. Baltimore scored nine runs in the sixth inning alone before the Angels recorded an out, too. They had to pull both starter Griffin Canning and reliever Luis Garcia before they finally got an out.
In total, the Angels allowed 24 runs through two games, which is a new franchise record.
“It’s not a good one,” catcher Logan O’Hoppe said on Saturday, via The Athletic. “We’ve worked too hard for that to happen. It is two games, and we’ve got 160 left. No one’s hitting the panic button. We’re not happy with it by any means.”
The team meeting may have worked. The Angels responded with a 4-1 win over Baltimore on Sunday to close out the three-game series. Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the Angels on, and then the team put up two more runs in the second inning before holding on the rest of the way.
The Angels will now head to Miami for a three-game series against the Marlins starting on Monday afternoon. Their home opener is set for Friday against the Boston Red Sox.
Though there is still plenty of time to turn things around, the post-Shohei Ohtani era in Anaheim isn’t off to a great start at all.
