Angels News: Phil Nevin Claims Gio Urshela’s Shortstop Defense is ‘Unbelievable’

The Angels are off to pretty much the best start they could have wished for this season. We'll kindly write off that first game as a warmup considering that they only lost 2-1 and Shohei Ohtani was the only one ready to play following his WBC championship.

However, they've won two straight games against the Oakland Athletics since then and they have done so with no regards for the A's feelings. A total of 19 runs have been accumulated during that time period by LA and they've only allowed 1 run by Oakland.

Wondering how they've turned the tides? A big part has been thanks to one of their offseason acquisitions.

Following the conclusion of a disappointing 2022 campaign, LA knew they needed depth and versatility to build a winning culture. Lucky for them, trading for Minnesota's Gin Urshela gave them both of those.

Nice play here by Gio Urshela. He's fairly new to the position at this level but has done well so far. pic.twitter.com/AtM7zIIqsn
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) April 1, 2023

So far through his three matches for the Angels, he is slashing .417/.462/417 and has connected on five hits in twelve plate appearances. Urshela has been very productive when stepping up to bat but it is his defense that has been turning many heads as well.

Coming in as a third baseman, LA's coaching staff made it clear they were going to experiment with Urshela and try him at different spots due to all their new additions. He found himself in the shortstop position to start the year and he's already made numerous seasoned plays there.

Team manager Phil Nevin loves how he's stepped up to the challenge and had huge praise for his defense so far.

"It's the same thing I've said for years, he's unbelievable," said Nevin. "The ball just sticks in his glove. We talk about him at short, I mean, he's not going to be the most range guy if the ball hits his glove, it's an out. As far as defense goes, he's one of the best in the game wherever you put him."

(Via Bally Sports West)

Getting these types of compliments from your manager certainly goes a long way and it will only fuel Urshela even more. It's been watching these guys dominate and they will look to continue to do so on Monday against the Seattle Mariners at 6:40 pm PT.