Angels Manager Says Players Are to Blame for Offensive Struggles, Not Coaches

The Los Angeles Angels offense has been utterly abysmal to begin the 2025 MLB season.

Over their last 15 games, the Halos have scored more than four runs in a game only once. The team has averaged less than three runs per game during this spell.

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Sunday's game was emblematic of the struggles. In the 5-0 loss to the Twins in Minnesota, the Angels collected four hits and struck out a whopping 13 times. Mike Trout's average is down to .170. Taylor Ward is hitting .194. Offseason acquisition Travis d'Arnaud is hitting .152. As a whole, the team is collectively hitting .215 with a meager .270 on-base percentage.

Angels offense over the last 15 games:

167 strikeouts
19 walks

They've been outscored 77-35 over that stretch.
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) April 27, 2025

Manager Ron Washington is clearly not happy about the team's approach to the plate. He said the team as a whole should be responsible for the lack of production. Washington does not want to micromanage his players, and would rather they figure it out at the plate themselves.

“Once they leave what’s being told to them and step in the batters’ box, it’s totally up to them,” Washington said. “We can’t hit for them. All we can do is give them the work, get them in the right direction, and they’ve got to take care of the rest. It’s not happening right now. And it’s not just one or two people. This is up and down the lineup.”

It's not to say the Angels aren't actively working on making improvements at the plate. As is the case for virtually every club, if the players who are counted on to produce at a high level fail to do so, it has a negative impact on the rest of the team.

“It’s got to be up to (the players) to go up there and put better at-bats together,” Washington said. “They’re working on it. They’re working every day. They’re talking every day. But once the game starts and those guys go between the lines, they’ve got to get it done. … It’s not just a couple guys in that lineup. It’s up and down the lineup and that includes all the big guys. If our big guys don’t go, where are we going?”

Catcher Logan O'Hoppe wanted to make it clear that the blame should fall on the players' shoulders rather than at their beloved manager or those on the coaching staff.

“I think that this funk is just easy for people to point fingers at, honestly, the wrong people,” O’Hoppe said. “It’s not (hitting coach Johnny Washington’s) fault that we’re striking out so much. It’s not (offensive coordinator Tim Laker’s) fault. It’s not (assistant coach Jayson Nix's) fault. It’s my fault.

"I’ve punched out way too much the past week, and I know other guys would say the same thing. It’s no one else but us. I think that’s part of the frustration of it too. The blame is getting put on the wrong people.”

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