Editorial: Is Angels Manager Phil Nevin at Risk of Losing His Job?
Things were going well for the Angels.
They were leading the San Francisco Giants 3-2 heading to the top of the 9th, set to snap a six game losing streak and start to get back on the right track after a tumultuous week since the trade deadline.
Then the wheels came off.
A six-run top of the 9th later, and the Angels were staring at an 8-3 loss on the scoreboard and an eight game hole in the wild card standings.
Just one week after capping off what was supposed to be a momentous trade deadline -- one where the Angels would finally turn that impossible corner and stop their cycle of mediocrity -- it's been anything but momentous since.
And after what's now turned into a seven game skid -- their second-longest of the season -- it's now time to seriously consider one question.
Could this be the beginning of the end for Phil Nevin?
The second-year Angels manager has tried to keep a positive outlook during this stretch, but also acknowledged his team's frustrations as they've again fallen short of expectations.
There's still technically time to turn it around. There's still 49 games and just under two full months left in the season.
But after the devastating loss of Monday, the realistic odds of that are incredibly slim.
When Nevin began his second season at the helm of one of baseball's most underachieving teams, there weren't high expectations on the 2023 Angels.
The status quo was expected. They might show promise, but it wouldn't be a surprise if the Angels again came up short of the postseason, and lost two-way icon Shohei Ohtani along with that.
But after his team's run right before the deadline -- a run where they moved to within three games a playoff spot -- and their subsequent trades because of it, those expectations changed markedly.
A playoff spot? That became the expectations once they kept Ohtani and swung deals for Lucas Giolito among others.
It's only been one week since that deadline passed, but so far that test under higher expectations has been failed miserably.
Losing five games in the standings in just one week and seeing winnable games like Monday fade away is unacceptable.
There still might be a mathematical chance of suddenly turning things around, but after last night's soul crushing defeat, the realistic, human chances of that happening are all but zero.
Maybe they can defy those longest of all odds and somehow engineer what would be one of the biggest turnarounds of the franchise's 21st century.
But if they can't, something needs to change.
And unfortunately for Phil Nevin, he's clearly managing for his job now. Monday was a turning point. And if his team falls short again come late September, he should be looking for another job this winter.
Can he passed the biggest test of his management career? He failed the first one. But we'll see shortly if the second time's the charm.
