Ron Washington Trying To Help Luis Rengifo Through Defensive Woes

The Los Angeles Angels went into Cincinnati over the weekend to face the Reds, and walked out winless in a three-game sweep. They return home with a 9-13 record despite some strong pitching performances, including the best start of Jose Soriano’s career, tossing six scoreless innings with three hits, three walks and seven strikeouts in a 3-0 loss on Sunday. Ron Washington’s backup starter was not helped by a Luis Rengifo error.

Rengifo misplaying a ball at second base allowed the Reds to score three runs in an inning that would have ended had he secured the routine grounder from Nick Martini. In fact, it was the second game in a row that a Rengifo error led to runs for the Reds, as a throwing error resulted in Patrick Sandoval giving up a grand slam on Saturday in a 7-5 loss.

Soriano took the blame off of Rengifo, saying that it’s on him as the pitcher to bounce back from an error and not put his team in a worse position, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:

“Everybody makes errors, it’s part of the game, but I have to be better and make the play next time,” Rengifo said. “I still have to stay positive every time I play. The only thing I can do is do my job and be better.”

Washington, meanwhile, admitted that Rengifo’s defense has been subpar as of late. However, he doesn’t want to make any grand conclusions about the young infielder and is working through the struggles with him.

“He’s struggling, but we’re out there every day working,” Washington said. “Sometimes you get into those types of situations. Just like you struggle offensively with your rhythm, sometimes it’s on the defensive side.”

If any manager in baseball is equipped to help an infielder through defensive woes, it’s Washington. He is known for the work he did on the Atlanta Braves infield during their championship season, and Rengifo is generally a solid defender at the middle infield positions.

Angels-Orioles series preview

The Angels are back in Anaheim to face the Baltimore Orioles after a 10-game road trip that saw them finish 3-7. They went 1-2 against the Orioles when they played in Maryland to begin the 2024 season. Here is the game info and probable starters for the three-game home set.

Monday, April 22, 6:38 p.m. PST
Reid Detmers vs. Albert Suarez

Tuesday, April 23, 6:38 p.m. PST
Griffin Canning vs. Grayson Rodriguez

Wednesday, April 24, 1:07 p.m. PST
Tyler Anderson vs. Dean Kremer