Ron Washington believes he can teach young Angels to win

If anyone in baseball can teach players how to field grounders like pros, it’s Ron Washington. He’s done it before.

Down on all fours just before a late-season series opener against the Houston Astros, the 72-year-old Washington is doing just that with visitors from the NHL’s Ducks, running fielding drills.

“Yes!” Washington exclaimed after a successfully executed backhanded scoop.

“If I tell you I seen something, take it to the bank,” he told the hockey players. “Players will come to me and say, ‘Aww, skip, you were right.’”

After a decade-long hiatus from managing in the majors, Washington, the ever-confident and straight-talking New Orleans-bred leader, finally has reclaimed the title he was willing to give anything for.

Driven by his desire for one more opportunity as a manager, he was tasked with rebuilding the beleaguered Angels.

As his first year nears its end, Washington is on the verge of becoming the only manager in the 64-year history of the franchise to lead a team with a winning percentage under .400, with the Angels narrowly missing the 100-loss mark.

Still, he remains determined to succeed.

“I didn’t come in here worried about the circumstances because the only way to change them is to help make that change,” Washington said, dragging on a cigarette with his trusty black fungo bat in hand in the Angels’ dugout. “Change is going to happen. But when you make changes, it’s not easy, and we’ve never been afraid of tough. I don’t want the players to be afraid of toughness, either.”

This season has been tough as it followed a familiar pattern for the Angels: falling out of contention by August and shifting focus to the next year, much like in previous seasons.

Yet, there’s a growing sense of optimism within the Angels’ clubhouse. If anyone has the leadership and baseball acumen to rebuild a forlorn franchise, it’s Washington.

After all, he’s done it before.

At every stop — whether with the “Moneyball” Oakland Athletics of the early 2000s, the World Series-reaching Texas Rangers of the early 2010s or the World Series champion Atlanta Braves of 2021 — Washington has played an integral role in rebuilds and success.

This time around, however, is different. He’s the baseball elder, leading a roster full of inexperienced players — the eighth-youngest team in baseball, with players such as 20-year-old Caden Dana 52 years his junior.

As the fifth Angels manager since 2018, he has to reverse nearly a decade of misfortune and futility. Facing the challenge head-on, Washington is leading an Angels squad that has relied heavily on young talent out of both necessity and curiosity.

Much of his roster was called up to the majors earlier than expected and players are learning how to compete in the big leagues on the fly, with many who have never played a taxing 162-game season.

“I’ve got a really young group that’s new to this,” Washington said. “We have kids who’ve never played in the minor leagues. They haven’t experienced the grind. So they’re going to have a lot of hiccups.”

The Angels’ hiccups have taken various forms, from expected slumps and rough outings to simple mistakes, including forgetting how many outs there are, getting tagged out for overrunning a base and violating the pitch clock.

But how can you learn from experience if you’ve never experienced it before?

“The only way you can get strength mentally is by going through it,” Washington said. “When they feel mentally tired, they’ll notice it coming on. They will check it when they feel it because they’ve let it take control before. They won’t allow it to take control again because they’ve embarrassed themselves, their teammates and the organization.”

Joining him in this uphill battle is Washington’s right-hand man and confidant, third base coach Eric Young Sr. When Washington packed up for Anaheim, Young he joined him, honoring a pact: Wherever one went, the other would follow.

Spending six years side by side in Atlanta during the Braves’ rebuild that resulted in a World Series title, Young saw Washington’s ability to lead, tackle problems and find solutions. Young has faith in Washington’s ability to turn things around in Anaheim.

“He will outwork anybody,” Young said. “He’s not going to leave any issues, situations or problems alone. … The best manager for that job was Wash because he understands being patient.”

With youth comes hubris, immaturity and unrealized potential. Washington says his direct approach — telling players what they need to hear, not what they want to hear — is crucial for development.

“Sometimes you can go directly at them, and they understand it because my actions have shown that what I’m saying is for real,” Washington said. “Every time you correct something, every time you get on them about something, they understand you give a s— about them.”

Outfielder Jo Adell, a 25-year-old first-round draft pick of the Angels, welcomes Washington’s criticism.

“You got to take the brutal honesty when he shoots it straight,” Adell said. “We’ve gotten better because of it. And even though sometimes it’s really blunt, it’s the way that it should be.”

Since joining the majors, Adell has been considered one of baseball’s worst defensive players.

However, after working with Washington, he significantly changed his approach to roaming the outfield. He showed improvement — ranking third among all qualified right fielders with six defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs — before a season-ending injury derailed his momentum.

“Known as the worst defensive player they have ever seen, he turned his game around,” Washington said of Adell. “He worked his butt off in spring training. He applied the things that were given to him. He went out there and did what he had to do.”

After injuries sidelined veterans Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and Brandon Drury, it fell to players like Adell and Taylor Ward — another Angels first-round pick — to guide young teammates.

Ward’s experience made him a steady presence — becoming a de facto veteran leader at age 30 — that the team has depended on throughout much of the season in the absence of key contributors.

Washington said his consistency in his managing style is a trait he has tried to instill in his players.

“He’s been the same since Day 1,” Ward said. “He’s hands-on and hands-off at the same time. There are times when he’ll pull you aside if something happens, and there are times when he’ll leave you alone so you can play your game.”

Washington came into the job with a clear checklist of expectations, which included developing a strong work ethic among players, coaxing consistency out of them and teaching them to sustain effort.

“What you see is those kids feeling the grind,” Washington said. “You can see it, and that’s OK because, in the end, that’s going to push them over the top.”

Washington believes his team has developed a work ethic as the season comes to a close this weekend, and consistency and sustainability will come with time.

“The constants that give you success, we just touched the surface,” Washington said. “But that will be in motion each year we are here, and it will be better each year.”

The Angels’ losing record and frustration over lack of success have left fans to question what this season has accomplished.

Washington understands, acknowledging that people expect more.

“For the people on the outside, it’s human nature that they want to see success,” Washington said. “Well, we are having success. The records show that we are failing, but we are having success with every individual out there to understand what he brings and can do.”

The last month has posed the toughest challenge for the Angels as they hoped to finish strong. Like much of the season, injuries have sidelined contributors who had stepped up, including Ben Joyce, Luis Rengifo and Adell.

With 22 losses in their last 30 games, they entered Tuesday with the fourth-worst record in baseball (63-93).

“Look at what we had to go through this last month, up until today, we lost everybody,” Washington said. “We’re out there with triple-A players. We are out there with players who don’t have anybody to take over. We got to recognize that, so you don’t get upset or frustrated, and I’m not frustrated.”

Washington is accustomed to rebuilds, but not this many losses. He is learning to make the best of it so that he doesn’t stunt his players’ progress.

“For managers, good is only equated by wins and losses,” Washington said. “I’m absorbing things I’m not used to. I’ve been a winner most of my career. … I really need to be strong because they’ve never experienced this. The first thing they’ll want to do is make excuses and quit.”

This process hasn’t been easy for some of his coaches, who Washington says have had to vent their frustrations in his office.

Young has taken advantage of the manager’s open-door policy.

“Absolutely, I go into his office,” Young said and laughed. “I would ask, ‘How would you handle this situation?’ He gives me advice. There are times I go in after things I’ve seen, and he reminds me that they just need more seasoning.”

Washington believes his staff has every right to feel frustrated because coaching inexperienced players is challenging.

“You have a right to feel that way because you’ve given them everything you have, and you know it’s correct, but the players are having trouble applying it,” Washington said.

“But if you’re upset, come into my office and lay it on the line. Once they’ve said your piece, I ask, ‘Is it out? You got it out of your system?’ When they say yes, I tell them, ‘Go out there and love those players up. That’s all we can do.’”

Many of the Angels are just a few years into adulthood, requiring Washington and his staff sometimes to sometimes take on fatherly roles.

“People can call this babysitting if they want, but I’m not babysitting anybody,” Washington said. “I’m growing them up. Before we can make a change, they’ve got to become men. People don’t realize that because they want change now.”

Washington isn’t shying away from the realities — or criticism — of the organization’s recent decision-making.

He praised the addition of young arms to both the rotation and the bullpen but stressed that much more work is needed overall, especially with a farm system ranked last in baseball, according to FanGraphs.

Early call-ups have resulted in a depleted group of young players who need more time to develop alongside a mix of one-dimensional veterans who lack the ability to be difference-makers, Washington said.

“We’re going to get some baseball players who may not be superstars, but they know how to play,” Washington said. “We forgot to bring real baseball players into the organization. Nothing against those guys here, but they’re not big-league baseball players and they certainly can’t help us win a championship.”

Although this season will end Sunday with a whimper, the young trio at the core of their rebuild — Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel and Logan O’Hoppe — has shown the promise and growth needed to help the team win.

Washington has high praise for the trio, but he emphasizes the importance of humility and a dose of reality to help the players improve.

At times, Washington has had to step in and protect some Angels from themselves. Such was the case with O’Hoppe, 24, who has embraced a leadership role within the club in his third year.

Washington noticed that O’Hoppe was playing through an injury.

“He wants to play, but you don’t play with a chance to hurt yourself,” Washington said. “Nobody’s going to question you, but that’s the thing they’ve got in their mind. ‘I want to show up for the rest of my teammates.’ We know who you are.

“See how immature that is? He wants to play even if it hurts him because he’s worried about what someone might say…You think someone’s going to think less of you? You’ve already proved you’re a gamer.”

Neto and Schanuel were both first-round picks — Neto in 2022 and Schanuel in 2023 — who swiftly transitioned to the majors shortly after being drafted.

Neto, 23, has quickly risen to become a go-to player in the absence of stars. Washington noted Neto has figured it out both defensively — ranking 10th in MLB with 1.9 defensive wins above replacement — and offensively — hitting 23 home runs, driving in 74 runs and stealing 30 bases entering Tuesday.

But Washington sees much more potential yet to be unlocked.

“When he stays on the field, he’s at his best,” Washington said. “He’s not one of the elite players in the game yet — he’s got the ability to be that maybe one day, but not right now. When you look at the back of your baseball card, this season is the only line you’ve got.”

Neto has bought into Washington’s assurance that the franchise will succeed.

“We got a lot of guys here who want to win, who want to compete,” Neto said. “It’s not going our way right now, but eventually, things will turn around.”

Schanuel, the Angels’ most recent first-round pick called up to the majors, struggled during his first two months in the big leagues, which Washington attributes to his lack of experience.

Schanuel, 22, started the season with dismal batting statistics but has improved significantly since the end of May

“He can hit,” Washington said. “The first thing he needs to do is hit for a couple of years, and then he’ll learn the league. He’ll start to learn his body a little better. His mind will be much more mature.”

In trying times, Washington has worked to prevent negativity from invading players’ psyches.

“I learned a lot this year,” Schanuel said. “We finished a big-league season and played like a big-league clubhouse. We will have a great team in the next year or two, and it all starts now.”

With his players and coaching staff buying in, Washington said the process he’s set in motion will yield similar results.

“It’s championship or bust,” Washington said. “It’s not OK to win 65 games this year and then 75 the next. That ain’t the kind of increments I’m planning on.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs. Coming back next year, over the winter, expectations will be risen. And those that can’t meet the expectations will not be around.”