Apr 1, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Los Angeles Angels right fielder Mike Trout (27) shortstop Tim Anderson (77) second baseman Luis Rengifo (2) and center fielder Jo Adell (7) celebrate after the Angels defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in 11 innings at Busch Stadium. Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Angels Manager Teaches Harsh Lesson to Veteran After Stupid Mistake

Originally posted on Los Angeles Angels on SI
By J.P. Hoornstra | Last updated May 8, 2025 7:04 PM ET

How many outs are there?

The answer is one of the critical pieces of information every major league fielder must carry around with him at all times, in every game. Look carefully and you'll see fielders hold up one or two fingers after every out, demonstrating to their teammates the number they must hold in mind.

Luis Rengifo apparently lost track in the top of the seventh inning of Tuesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

With one out in the inning and a runner, Bo Bichette, on first base, Rengifo fielded Anthony Santander's routine ground ball and threw him out. It appeared Rengifo had time to get the lead runner at second base, if not at least try to kickstart a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Instead, the inning continued with runners on second and third. Fortunately for Rengifo and the Angels, pitcher Ryan Zeferjahn came back to strike out George Springer for the third out of the inning.

The Angels were trailing 4-1 at the time, a narrow margin late in a winnable game. A solo home run by Kyren Paris in the eighth inning, and a bases-loaded double by Jorge Soler in the ninth inning, allowed the Angels to pull off a wild 5-4 victory in their final plate appearance.

Rengifo had to watch the comeback from the bench. After his "mental lapse" — as manager Ron Washington called it — he was replaced in the field by Kevin Newman.

Newman wasn't around to see it, either, as Washington quickly replaced him in the lineup with Jo Adell as the Angels mounted their comeback. Taking Rengifo out of the game didn't necessarily help the Angels win, but Washington felt it was necessary to send a message after an inexcusable error.

Wash confirmed that he pulled Rengifo because he lost track of the outs. https://t.co/GihrCCTD4T
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) May 8, 2025

“We can’t have that,” Washington told reporters, including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group, after the game. “Things have been going bad enough for us, if you look at wins and loses. You just can’t have that mental lapse. I just walked up to him and told him he was out of the game.”

Wednesday wasn't the first time Washington has publicly chided a player for not executing to his satisfaction. It's debatable whether the threat of being removed from a game, or being called out publicly, has sharpened the Angels' focus.

The Angels have thus far committed 20 errors and two pitch timer violations, both of which rank in the middle of the pack in MLB. Only three teams have run into fewer outs on the bases than the Angels' eight.

Sometimes mental mistakes are measured not in errors, outs on the bases, or timer violations, but by the number of plays not attempted. Such was the case Wednesday with Rengifo, and it promptly earned him a spot on the bench.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Angels on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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