Kurt Suzuki made Jorge Soler’s shameful Angels gaffe even worse with latest excuse

The honeymoon phase for Kurt Suzuki as the Los Angeles Angels manager appears to be over. The Angels played to a .500 record during the early weeks of the 2026 season, leading some to think that against all odds, Suzuki may actually have been a great hire. In the weeks since, futility has once again settled in, and it's becoming increasingly clear that Suzuki may be out of his depth.

At the very least, there's been a handful of examples that have suggested Suzuki still has a thing or two to learn about managing Major League Baseball players. Confirmation of that reality was provided on Wednesday night when it was clear Jorge Soler had no interest in running the bases in the second inning of the loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Attempting to advance to second base after Wade Meckler hit a chopper to Detroit's second baseman Hao-Yu Lee, Soler gave up on the play before he reached second base.

In most some cases, it's not entirely unusual to see the runner on first base move out of the way on a potential double play. This has become somewhat customary in baseball, assuming the fielder making the play fields the ball cleanly. That wasn't the case on Wednesday night.

Lee had some trouble fielding the ball before recovering and throwing Soler out at second base. Had Soler been, you know, actually running, there's a chance he would have beat the throw.

Angels fans can't help but notice how awkward Kurt Suzuki sounded in defense of Jorge Soler

Instead, it was a reminder that the Angels once again aren't playing an inspiring brand of baseball. What makes it worse is that the effort shown from Soler appears to be acceptable for Suzuki. The first-year manager was given every opportunity to call out Soler's gaffe after the game, but simply deferred to the idea that the veteran slugger was avoiding an injury and nothing was wrong.

What some managers fail to realize is that there is a line that can be threaded between calling a player for the right reasons, but still respecting that. Look no further than how Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy handled Abner Uribe's celebration against the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this week. While praising the person that Uribe is, Murphy made it clear that the pitcher's antics weren't tolerated in that moment.

It's not that hard. If a manager has the respect of the room, there shouldn't be any issue with a player being called out publicly. That's a lesson Suzuki may never learn, considering he almost certainly is only going to have one season as the Halos' manager.

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