Ron Washington is an infield guru - so why is the Angels defense a real concern?

From the moment Ron Washington was announced as the manager of the Angels, one area that was expected to see immediate improvement was their infield defense. Washington is known as a wizard for working with infielders. Much has been written about his influence on players like Marcus Semien and Dansby Swanson, or how Freddie Freeman still does “Washington Drills”, and Washington’s ability to work with young players was seen as a major reason why he got the job.

So how is it that the Angels entered the final game of their series against the Rangers with a .978 fielding percentage, ranked 22nd in the league, and that 8 of their 11 total errors had come from infielders? For reference -- Angels pitchers are generating ground balls on 44.4% rate, ranking twelth in the league.

Ron Washington is an infield guru - so why is the Angels defense a real concern?

After the frenetic roster moves of the final pre-season week, the main concern was that the Angels were entering the season without a proven centerfielder. Thus far, only Jo Adell and Paris have shared duties there. Mike Trout and Taylor Ward have been the lead corner players, with Jorge Soler making a couple of cameo appearances without incident.

In comparison, the infield has had an ensemble cast. To date, seven players have spent at least some time at shortstop, second or third base. Of those, only Yoán Moncada stayed in one place, and was impressive at third before landing on the IL. Luis Rengifo, as expected, has been a solid utilityman, while Tim Anderson and Kevin Newman have been fantastic defensively up the middle, but are both batting well below .200.

The main issue has been at first base. Although Nolan Schanuel has only been charged with two errors himself, he’s been in the mix for a number of others, including the play that lead to the Rangers' first run in the series decider on Thursday -- J.D. Davis barehanded a Marcus Semien grounder straight to third, fired a bullet over to Schanuel who stretched, gloved it…and then somehow let it drop out of his hand. It was indicative of an issue Schanuel has had all season: his picking has been downright bad, and he often looks rushed.

There’s been a lot of debate around how he doesn’t profile as a typical first-base regular due to his lack of power, but it’s time to discuss why he regularly looks uncomfortable playing there at all.

All of this adds even more anticipation to the impending return of Zach Neto. As well as being one of the team’s best bats last year, Neto was also a star at shortstop. When he comes back, decisions will need to be made, particularly around Anderson, Newman and Nicky Lopez.

Lopez is the logical odd-man-out. Touted as a plus defender, he’s sporting a .857 fielding percentage from the admittedly minimal playing time he’s had. Anderson is playing like an ideal bench piece – solid defense, great speed and more than one clutch hit - whilst Newman may solidify his place because he some first base experience in the past.

One outside the box move that’s worth trying is giving either of the team’s catchers a shot at a corner. Travis d’Arnaud has 147 error-free first-base innings on his CV, and anything that can keep Logan O’Hoppe’s bat in the lineup on days he doesn’t don the mask is worth considering.

It's too early, and too pessimistic, to suggest that the Angels infield defense is why they might struggle to compete in 2025. Their recent losses to the Astros and Rangers had more to do with stuttering offense than defensive miscues. But every run counts, and given Washington’s reputation for unlocking infield greatness the number of errors, unearned baserunners and flubbed chances at first is something to keep a close eye on. Hopefully Neto's return allows Wash to lock in his lineup, and the chosen players respond by living up to his exacting standards.

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