Angels are three days in and already trying to pull up from a nosedive
The Los Angeles Angels entered the 2024 campaign with low expectations, and for good reason. They haven't made the playoffs since 2014. They haven't had a winning record since 2015. They couldn't pull off either feat despite rostering Shohei Ohtani, arguably the best player ever.
Knowing their history and the fact that they lost Ohtani to the Dodgers made it seem very likely that the Angels would have a hard time winning games this season.
Despite impossibly low expectations, the Angels are somehow doing worse than expected. Losing on the road in Baltimore against the possible favorites to win the AL Pennant makes sense, but doing so in the fashion that the Angels did is just plain bad. In an effort to stop it before it got out of control, Angels manager Ron Washington called a team meeting. Already.
Ron Washington held a team meeting after the game.
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) March 30, 2024
While no one wanted to get into the specifics of what was said, it sounded as though the tenor was not letting things spiral after just two games.
Brutal start to the post-Ohtani era has Ron Washington holding a team meeting before the calendar turns to April
A team meeting two games into the season sounds unheard of, but here we are. And you know what? It makes a lot of sense. The Angels have been completely embarrassed to begin this new year.
It looked like things got off to a good start for the Angels when Mike Trout hit a first inning home run before Baltimore took an at-bat this series, but then the Orioles responded with two runs of their own and scored 11 unanswered runs at one point, winning the game 11-3. Saturday was a chance for the Angels to respond, but a nine-run bottom of the sixth inning broke the game open in Baltimore's favor. The O's took that one 13-4 to improve to 2-0 on the season.
The Orioles outscored the Angels 24-7 in the first two games. The Angels have not hit or pitched well in either game, getting laughed off of the field in both contests. By calling this team meeting, the Angels are hoping things don't spiral out of control.
Angels fans know that the 2024 campaign will be a tough one. I mean, the team has won 73 games in each of the last two seasons with Shohei Ohtani playing like the best player on the planet and essentially ran things back without him. The roster is subpar just about everywhere you turn, and there aren't many exciting young players either.
Expectations are low, but people expect better play than this. The Angels have looked like a Single-A team facing the Orioles. Part of this has to do with the O's being an unbelievable team that is really tough to beat, especially at home, but back-to-back no-shows to begin a season is completely unacceptable.
The Angels hope that this meeting will result in a more competitive game on Sunday before the team faces a much lighter opponent in the Miami Marlins.
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