The Los Angeles Angels undoubtedly have some of the best top-end talents in all of baseball with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. However, they have consistently failed to succeed while the two elite players have been together.
Plays like a viral blooper that occurred in their opening-day game against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday may be the reason for their underperforming.
The Angels’ mistake came in the second inning with Ohtani on the mound. Ohtani forced an infield pop-up from Athletics outfielder Ramon Laureano, but the Angels had a complete disaster coming up with the easy out.
Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe and first baseman Brandon Drury had the foul ball hit in between them. Neither communicated to the other about who would get the ball, and it harmlessly fell out of play in the middle of them.
Baseball fans: The Angels have Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. How come they never win?
The Angels: pic.twitter.com/0ixaRDfcjD
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 31, 2023
It’s pretty much baseball 101 that one fielder needs to call off the other in that situation. Some fans took to social media to blast them for this blunder, while others simply laughed at just how bad it really was.
Please liberate Trout and Ohtani 😭 https://t.co/lLtnpPa3FE
— greta (fall out boy mode) (@2007warpedtour) March 31, 2023
Halos gonna 😇 https://t.co/lxYezNbkc9
— Scott Braun (@scottbraun) March 31, 2023
It’s opening day, lads.. take charge lol https://t.co/qytMslmiiR
— Modest Matthew (@LK3185) March 31, 2023
Watching the Angels pic.twitter.com/1lmxtimiW1
— Barstool Baseball (@StoolBaseball) March 31, 2023
To be fair to both O’Hoppe and Drury, it is opening day and mistakes like this are bound to happen early in the season. Luckily they have largely been saved by the brilliant pitching of Shohei Ohtani Thursday night.
Shohei Ohtani throws 101 mph for the inning-ending strikeout! ⚾️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/YllkxWQs0G
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 31, 2023
This year undoubtedly sets up to be a make-or-break year for the Angels with the impending free agency of Shohei Ohtani. Mistakes like this one will certainly need to be kept to a minimum throughout the season if they are going to make the jump into contender status in the American League.
[The Comeback on Twitter; photo from NBC Sports Bay Area]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.