Angels' Ron Washington Excoriates Veteran for Missed Play: 'It Wasn't Anything I Did Wrong'

The Los Angeles Angels didn't do themselves any favors in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday. With the bases loaded, Luis Guillorme squared up to bunt against St. Louis Cardinals pitcher JoJo Romero. Zach Neto broke from third base — a rare, exciting suicide squeeze, setting up a do-or-die moment for Guillorme.

Guillorme did not get down the bunt. He missed the pitch entirely, Neto was tagged out, and the Angels did not get a run in the inning. That made the difference in a 7-6 loss.

The Angels haven't been doing themselves favors all season long. They're 15-28, eight games out of first place and fifth in the five-team American League West. Until Tuesday, however, they had not resorted to playing the blame game. Then, in a candid postgame press conference, "we" became "he" for manager Ron Washington.

"He didn't do the job," Washington told reporters in reference to a question about Guillorme. "It wasn't anything I did wrong. He didn't do the job."

to say Ron Washington threw Luis Guillorme under the bus is an understatement…pic.twitter.com/7Hgi8ZCWlb
— BTH (@BeyondTheHalo) May 15, 2024

Kudos to Washington for being transparent about his feelings. In an age when managers routinely tone down their raw thoughts and feelings, Washington kept the varnish in his garage. However, it's fair to question whether bunting against Romero — who had gone to a full count to each of the first four batters in the inning, walking two and allowing a double to load the bases — was the correct call.

Guillorme, 29, was no stranger to bunting during his six seasons with the New York Mets (2018-23). Even though the pitch was literally in the opposite batter's box, making contact with the ball and bunting or tipping it foul would have been better than missing it altogether. It's also true that Romero's wildness could have predicted Guillorme might not have gotten a good pitch to bunt in that situation.

This seems like a both-and situation rather than an either-or. It's possible (if not likely) that both Guillorme and Washington shoulder some percentage of the blame for not getting at least one run in the eighth inning of a game the Angels trailed 7-6 with one out and the bases loaded. It was a good time for the Angels to identify "we" as the at-fault party, rather than "he."

For his part, Guillorme accepted the blame.

Luis Guillorme did what Ron Washington did not: Take responsibility.

And to be clear, he did not have to.

“I haven’t seen (what Washington said). He made a good a pitch. I didn’t get it down. I’ve got to try to put a bat on it. That’s it.”
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) May 15, 2024

Romero eventually struck out Guillorme for the third out of the inning. Ryan Helsley pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the win. The Cardinals (18-24), who have struggled out of the gate this season themselves, have to feel fortunate to have escaped with a win.

All the Angels can do is reflect on another costly mistake — hopefully, with an open mind to whose mistake it might have been.