Angels' Baserunning Woes Summed Up in One Incredible Stat

Maren Angus-Coombs | Jun 19, 2024

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Angels have adopted a way to hold themselves accountable for mistakes made during games. On June 11, Jo Adell stood before his teammates and tried to explain why he thought it was a good idea to steal third base with two outs in the seventh inning.

Adell was thrown out.

“It was not really the time to run at all, especially considering the situation,” Adell said. “That’s something I’ve got to wear. It’s nobody’s fault but my own.”

Nolan Schanuel stood up during the same meeting and apologized for not running out a ground ball he hit back to the pitcher. Luis Rengifo has been singled out for running into out and veteran Kevin Pillar apologized for leaving early on a stolen base attempt.

According to STATS Perform, the Angels have ended two of their games in caught stealings, something only 16 other teams have had happen in the past 50 years. Including caught stealings, only the Washington Nationals have run into more outs than the Angels. But the Nationals, third with 101 steals, have succeeded in 75.4 percent of their attempts, above the desired success rate of 75 percent. The Angels, seventh in the majors with 62 steals, are last in success rate, at 68.8 percent.

The Angels are searching for their identity. They want to be aggressive on the basepaths but they also want to be smart. Sometimes one is happening without the other — which is why Washington is doing his best to pass on decades of knowledge to his young team.

“They put this thing out there, let the kids play,” Washington said, referring to a marketing slogan MLB introduced in 2019. “I’m all for letting the kids play. But let’s teach ’em, too.”