The Los Angeles Angels wrapped up their three-game set with the Seattle Mariners with a loss on Wednesday, with a minor misplay by rookie Logan O’Hoppe playing its own part.
After some back & forth scoring, the Mariners entered the bottom half of the fifth inning down by a run. Ty France was hit by a pitch, and following a pair of punchouts, the Angels issued a walk to Julio Rodríguez.
Angels manager Phil Nevin called upon Jimmy Herget to get out of the two-out spot against their division opponet. However, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh lined a single to right, scoring France from second.
This played didn’t appear odd, until looking where O’Hoppe setup on the throw from right-fielder Brett Phillips made it to the plate well before the runner. But the Angels rookie wasto far away from home plate, making it a tough play to get France at home, Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register:
“That’s where we’re at,” Nevin said. “It’s part of it. They are learning experiences for everybody. These guys are really good players. This is a different atmosphere sometimes. The more reps you can get here, the more games and just being around this level, the better off they’re going to be. I think they’re all maturing within the game. This game’s hard up here. They’ll simplify it. They will be very good for us.”
The final score would go on to be 3-2 in favor of the Mariners, and at a spot when this team is having difficulty scoring, preventing runs is where they need to be on point:
“All teaching moments,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said. “You don’t have those plays. It’s hard to practice that play. You can simulate as much as you want, but you’re gonna get a game situation like that when things are happening. It’s difficult to make those when you haven’t had those experiences here yet.”
O’Hoppe is going to be a huge piece to the rebuilding of this Angels roster, as he’ll be there for the foreseeable future. These minor plays and learning from the ‘errors’ will be valuable moving forward.
Angels rookie Nolan Schanuel continues on-base streak
When Nolan Schanuel walked in the top of the fifth inning, it pushed his current on-base streak to 20 games. That marked the longest stretch to open a career in nearly three seasons.
The Angels rookie has provided Nevin with a solid force of consistency at the plate, while bringing a keen ability to make himself a weapon to get on base by any means.
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