Ron Washington continues showing his incompetence as Angels skipper

Going into the Angels' series against the Cleveland Guardians, there was palpable excitement throughout the Halo fan base. Mike Trout was set to return against a team the Angels had won a series against earlier in the season, and it looked like an ample opportunity for the team to get back into their winning ways.

However, Ron Washington had other plans. Before the first pitch was thrown in Cleveland, Washington had already made his first inexplicable move of the series. As the best player to ever wear an Angels uniform was set to return, he was questionably slated to hit fifth in the order for the first time in his career. He would spent Saturday hitting sixth.

Yes, Trout has not hit for average this season and did not have a rehab assignment. Yes, Taylor Ward and Zach Neto have been crushing the ball. But there is genuinely no reason to bat Trout behind names like Jorge Soler, Nolan Schanuel, or Yoán Moncada (even if he has been hot recently). Trout did not vocalize any issue or problem with this decision, but it does reek of disrespect from Washington given what Trout means to this organization and fanbase. After the game, Trout was all smiles as usual, telling reporters he was just happy to see some good results.

In Sunday's rubber match, Trout and Moncada both received days off. While that's a questionable decision to give two of your hottest hitters the day off, things reached a new level of dysfunction in the seventh inning. After being no-hit through six, the Angels finally had a rally going in the seventh. Trout pinch hit to drive in two runs, and Moncada was next up after Washington called his number.

However, Moncada got to the plate and already, unknowingly, had one strike against him. He took too long getting to the plate and thus was sent down on what he believed was the second strike. This falls on Washington, as it became very clear postgame that Moncada had no expectation of being used.

Ron Washington continues showing his incompetence as Angels skipper

Washington admitted he had no intentions of using Moncada after pinch hitting with Trout, as it would mean Moncada would have to be used on defense. He changed his mind once Trout and Neto were on first and third with the Angels within striking distance. The last minute change caused a delay as Moncada couldn't find his helmet - which is the biggest indicator there was no prior knowledge Moncada would be used - and was late to the plate. Strike one was called before he ever got in the box, and strike two was actually strike three.

A rally starting and ending quickly in a cloud of confusion - the Angels way.

Finally, after the final game ended and the Angels were packing their bags for Boston, Washington committed to keeping the Angels' rotation intact. Despite Jack Kochanowicz and Kyle Hendricks having some of the worst ERA's among qualified starters, they won't even miss a single start as Washington sits on his hands. It makes sense given Washington only likes to bring top pitching prospects up simply to have them pitch an inning of relief, get shelled, and send them back down.

It has been a tumultuous season in Anaheim. An eight game winning streak has given Washington a longer leash, but he continues to show that he no longer has the edge needed to run a major league ballclub. Given there are genuinely solid coaching candidates on the open market right now, the Angels need to let go of Washington and begin looking at alternatives.

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