Angels Manager Not Concerned Yet After Dreadful Offense vs MLB's Worst Team

Mar 16, 2025; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington against the San Diego Padres during a spring training game at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Angels were set up for success on Opening Day as the team faced off with the worst team in Major League Baseball from a year ago, the Chicago White Sox.

But in true Halos fashion, the Angels squandered the opportunity.

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Ace Yusei Kikuchi gave up three runs in six innings against the Chicago lineup, but the offense failed to help out the southpaw as it managed just five hits and one run.

The disastrous performance culminated in an 8-1 loss to the White Sox on Opening Day, but the humiliating defeat did not concern Angels manager Ron Washington.

“I’m not concerned yet,” Washington said, via The Orange County Register's Jeff Fletcher.

“With the guys we’ve got in that lineup, I think a lot is going to happen before this year is over,” Washington added. “You always want to try to win your first one, but it just didn’t happen today. But we put ourselves in position to at least put some runs on the board. And if we keep putting ourselves in position to put runs on the board, I feel like we’re going to do some good things.”

The Angels promised change, but instead gave fans an all too familiar tale to open the season.

In the first two innings, the Angels had five at-bats with runners in scoring position, and left runners stranded every time. The team didn’t get another runner on base until far too late in the eighth.

Mike Trout was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat of the 2025 season, which one could say was already a bad omen. But the ninth inning brought arguably the most embarrassing moment of Thursday's matchup as the Angels used a position player on the mound to close out the game... on Opening Day.

The Angels' next opportunity to prove Opening Day was a fluke is Saturday. They play two more games against the White Sox before opening a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals next week.

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For more Angels news, head over to Angels on SI.