ANAHEIM, Calif. — When Luis Rengifo tried to turn a single into a double, he didn't need a particularly good throw to get him to second base.
This was the top of the fifth inning of the Los Angeles Angels' 4-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday. It was a key play in a close game. With no outs and runners on first and third, the score should have been tied and the lead runners on base. But the first out was recorded, and the Angels couldn't bring the tying run home.
It was just another on-base out for a team that led MLB with 25 outs. The league average was 15. The Angels had two stolen bases on the night.
“If we want to be a running team, we have to run,” coach Ron Washington said. “Guys have to learn how to run. They've never run before.”
“The mistakes we're making with baserunning aren't coaching mistakes. They're decisions made by the players.”
The Angels' baserunning deficiencies have followed a similar pattern this season of lacking fundamentals in nearly every area, and Washington has also been quick to place the blame on players and not himself or his staff when mistakes happen.
Not only do the Angels lead the league in outs on base, they also have the worst stolen base rate in the American League, with the Angels succeeding just 69% of their stolen base attempts compared to the MLB average of 78%. Stolen bases do not count toward outs on base.
The Angels were not a running team last year, and then-manager Phil Nevin was pretty open about that.
“We're not a team that's about stealing bases or advancing guys,” he said early last season.
However, this new coaching staff is taking the exact opposite approach.
There will be a learning curve, of course, but the changes have often been to the Angels' detriment.
“Anytime you start looking at a mindset change, there's always some development mechanism that comes with it,” said Angels first-base coach Beau Porter, who also oversees baserunning.
“As you go from one extreme to the next, you'll find common areas where you can have greater success. Then you'll look at other areas and realize, 'Okay, I need to really work on my conceptual thought process for decision-making.'”
The question for the Angels is how many of their mistakes were due to growing pains, and how many were just bad mistakes that no major leaguer should make, regardless of experience.
That duality can also be seen in Jo Adell, who has largely been a breakout player this season, but on April 10, during a 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, he inexplicably overran the base while attempting to steal second and was called out.
This mistake isn't necessarily a learning opportunity; it's not part of the growth of his game. The real growing pains are more visible in his other stolen base attempts. His sprint speed ranks in the 92nd percentile, making him one of the fastest naturally in the sport. And yet, Adell had attempted to steal just 11 bases in 178 MLB games prior to this season.
He has already attempted to steal bases 14 times in 2024, but has been caught six times. Adell is learning how to use his speed as a base-running agility, but has had mixed results so far.
“Base running is something we've been trying to get better at,” Adell said, “because it's been causing us some problems.”
A fast player getting caught stealing bases isn't a problem unless there's improvement. It's the confusing mistakes that are more worrisome. In a 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 6, Nolan Chanuel, the Angels' top out in outs, didn't slide home while trying to score from first on Mickey Moniak's double.
It was a throwing error by third base coach Eric Young Sr., but there was still a good chance the team would have scored if Shanuel had slid, and sliding in a close game is not something that should be taught at the major league level.
“If you don't push the envelope and you don't play it safe, you're probably not going to make mistakes,” Porter said, “but you're also not going to make plays that will increase your chances to actually create scoring chances. It's a nuanced thing.”
The team is hopeful that it will all come to fruition at some point. Zach Neto has six stolen bases and six caught balls. His sprint speed is in the 72nd percentile, so in theory, he'll improve as he gains more experience on the bases.
And Mike Trout, who hadn't stolen bases the past five seasons, started again this season and stole bases six of seven times before torn his meniscus earlier this month. This coaching staff unlocked what had been missing for Trout.
Willy Castro gets Mike Trout out at second base as he attempts to steal base on April 26. (Kevork Djansegian/Getty Images)
Rengifo has made 12 stolen base attempts, but only missed three, and has never stolen more than six bases in a season. Clearly, it was a good thing to free him up, but his overall baserunning instincts could use some work.
“The game teaches you to get bases when you have the opportunity,” Rengifo said. “You're told to be aggressive on the bases, so you take advantage. Sometimes you're going to make mistakes, but you learn from them.”
The Angels are 20-33 and on track for another losing season, and after missing the postseason for a decade, they will need big changes in their roster and organization to find success.
But there's some value in young players honing their skills on the bases — if Anaheim is going to build a winning team, it'll be helpful to have guys like Adell, Neto, Rengifo and Chanuel excel in that area — and the Angels' staff is throwing them into the fire.
The question now is how much of a difference those growing pains have made to his baserunning, because there's been very little improvement over the past two months of this season, and plenty of plays that left you scratching your head.
(Top photo: John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
