How Angels Manager Ron Washington Plans to Fix One of Baseball's Worst Defensive Infields

"I’ve seen my defensive game definitely improve in the past two weeks more than it’s improved in the past three years."

Angels manager Ron Washington is known for being an expert on infield defense.

His early success stories came as an infield coach with the Oakland Athletics in the early 2000s, but he's passed on his knowledge at every stop he's made along the way.

Now with the Angels, Washington said at his introductory press conference that although he hired an infield coach — Ryan Goins — it would be foolish not to work with the infielders.

"That’s my expertise," Washington said. "Just because I become a manager, I would do my team an injustice if I don’t give them the value of what I have to offer."

And Washington had some real work to do.

The Angels' defensive efficiency — the percentage of balls in play converted into outs — ranked 25th in Major League Baseball last year. Infielders bear the brunt of defensive chances, and a deeper dive into the numbers makes it clear where their issues lie.

Angels outfielders were credited with 6 Defensive Runs Saved last season, and the team accrued 1 DRS as a whole. Every infield position accrued a negative DRS: -4 by the first basemen, -8 by the second basemen, -7 by the shortstops and -2 by the third basemen.

In hiring Washington, the Angels paired the perfect person with their porous infield — and it hasn't taken him long to make an impact.

In the first few weeks of camp, Washington has received glowing reviews from some of his infielders, both young and old.

"Defensive wise, he’s been great," first baseman Nolan Schanuel said to Halos Today. "All these new drills that he’s taken us infielders to do has been awesome."

How much has Schanuel improved since working with Washington?

"I’ve seen my defensive game definitely improve in the past two weeks more than it’s improved in the past three years," Schanuel said. "So it’s awesome to see what he’s done with us."

This is a rave review from Schanuel, but he is just 22 years old after all. So how about the 32-year-old Hunter Dozier, who was drafted back in 2013 and spent his entire career with the Kansas City Royals.

"He’s the best infield guy I’ve ever worked with," the third baseman said to Halos Today about Washington. "He’s unbelievable. Him and Ryan Goins. They just care so much and they want us to get better."

And how much has Dozier improved?

"In the week and a half I’ve been here, I’ve already improved so much," Dozier said. "Just Wash’s own thought process on how you should field a ground ball, it works. He’s had guys that have had a ton of success his whole career. So excited to continue to work with both of them."

Finally there's the versatile Luis Rengifo, who's been with the Angels his entire career and is already on his fourth manager since his debut season in 2019.

He told Halos Today he's responding well to Washington's process.

"I like it because they tell everybody like, be focused every single time," Rengifo said. "Trust in your process, trust in your preparation. You have to be available to learn something. You have to be a better player everyday. If you have in your mind you can do it, I like that mentality."

So what exactly has Washington been doing with his infielders that's making such a great impression early on?

"Just hands," Washington said to Halos Today. "How you use them. How you sync the feet up with the hands. Cutting angles. Just attacking the baseball really. And when I say attack the baseball, that sounds violent, but it’s not. All it is is, when the ball is put in play, you go to the ball and not let the ball come to you. So the word attack sounds violent, but it’s not violent."

It's taken Washington just a few weeks to instill a new level of confidence in his infielders. We'll see what kind of impact he's able to make on the field once the regular season rolls around.