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Slumping Angels hitters strike out 13 more times as Twins sweep series

April 27, 2025

MINNEAPOLIS — The Angels’ offensive malaise starts with the most fundamental problem: putting the ball in play.

The Angels struck out 13 times and had four hits in their 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon.

During their 15-game slump, the Angels have reached double digits in strikeouts in 12 games. They have struck out in 32.7% of their plate appearances, while batting .188 and averaging 2.3 runs per game.

Logan O’Hoppe, who was the cleanup hitter on Sunday, said the blame belongs entirely on the players, not with hitting coaches Johnny Washington, Tim Laker or Jayson Nix.

“I think that this funk is just easy for people to point fingers at, honestly, the wrong people,” O’Hoppe said. “It’s not J-Wash’s fault that we’re striking out so much. It’s not Laker’s fault. It’s not Nixy’s fault. It’s my fault. I’ve punched out way too much the past week, and I know other guys would say the same thing. It’s no one else but us. I think that’s part of the frustration of it too. The blame is getting put on the wrong people.”

Manager Ron Washington said they want the players to have a different approach when they get to two strikes, but what they want and what’s happening are two different things.

“Once they leave what’s being told to them and step in the batters’ box, it’s totally up to them,” Ron Washington said. “We can’t hit for them. All we can do is give them the work, get them in the right direction, and they’ve got to take care of the rest. It’s not happening right now. And it’s not just one or two people. This is up and down the lineup.”

Other than Zach Neto, who had a double on Sunday, no one has been hitting well over the past week. The collective slump actually began on April 11, the day after the Angels (12-15) scored 10 runs and hit six homers. They haven’t scored more than five runs in a game since. They’ve lost 11 of the last 15 games, getting shut out three times and scoring one or two runs four times.

“The way we’re going right now, it’s not working,” Ron Washington said. “But all we can do is just keep grinding. That’s all we can do. We know we are better. It’s a matter of making the adjustments that we’ve got to make.”

This weekend the Angels were swept by a Twins team that came into the series with a 9-16 record. Previously, they lost two of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were 8-15.

On Sunday, the Angels didn’t have a baserunner until Neto doubled with one out in the fourth. The Angels managed a second baserunner when O’Hoppe walked, but then Travis d’Arnaud struck out on three pitches to end the inning.

The next time the Angels had a runner in scoring position was in the seventh, and that inning also ended with a J.D. Davis strikeout.

Considering the way the Angels are hitting, right-hander José Soriano had no margin for error.

Soriano gave up three earned runs (and one unearned run) in five-plus innings. Soriano gave up a run on two hits in the first inning, and then he retired 12 of the 14 hitters he faced over the next four innings.

The trouble in the sixth started when Carlos Correa hit a sharp liner that second baseman Kyren Paris couldn’t handle. Third baseman Luis Rengifo then made an error on on a slow bouncer.

Soriano allowed a run on a double and then two more scored when Ryan Jeffers doubled against left-hander Brock Burke.

“I thought (Soriano) was good,” Washington said. “If we make those plays in the sixth inning, that’s still a 1-0 ball game.”

Of course, even if the Angels had held the Twins to one run, that would still have been one more than they scored.

“It’s got to be up to (the players) to go up there and put better at-bats together,” Washington said. “They’re working on it. They’re working every day. They’re talking every day. But once the game starts and those guys go between the lines, they’ve got to get it done. … It’s not just a couple guys in that lineup. It’s up and down the lineup and that includes all the big guys. If our big guys don’t go, where are we going?”

Orange County Register

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Slumping Angels hitters strike out 13 more times as Twins sweep series

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