ANAHEIM — As a stretch of bad baseball continues, eventually it has to lead to the manager holding a meeting to address it.
Kurt Suzuki said he already tried that.
“We had one the last homestand,” Suzuki revealed on Sunday. “You try not to have too many of them. I don’t like them. If you do it too much, you lose the feeling of it.”
Suzuki said the players often handle that kind of thing themselves.
“They have a lot of good conversations, so I think that helps out a lot,” Suzuki said.
It hasn’t helped so far. The Angels have lost 20 of their last 25 games, becoming the first team in the majors to get to 30 losses.
Throughout the stretch, Suzuki has kept as positive of a public face as possible, insisting that the elements for better days are there.
For all his talk about sticking to the process, he said that process also changes.
“There’s always adjustments you can make to get better, to improve,” Suzuki said. “When I say trust the work, that’s a pretty vague statement, but the work is a lot of different things. If you’re struggling in one area, you make an adjustment. You do some stuff to help yourself get better. We’re working every day and making adjustments every day. Just got to keep going.”
MONCADA UPDATE
Yoán Moncada was back in the lineup on Sunday. He had started just two of the previous six games.
Moncada came into the game hitting .190 with a .309 on-base percentage and a .614 OPS. Against right-handers, he was hitting .226 with a .330 on-base percentage and a .699 OPS. The major league average OPS is .708.
“The stuff he’s doing in the cages, the ground balls the last two days, there was more intent and, I guess, energy, in it,” Suzuki said. “I really like where he’s at. He’s got to play. Especially in the cage, he’s been hitting good in the cage. BP’s been good. When he gets going, it’s going to be fun to watch.”
NOTES
Right-hander Alek Manoah was optioned to Triple-A to open a roster spot for Grayson Rodriguez on Sunday. Manoah will start in the minors. Manoah pitched five scoreless innings in his relief in his first game, but then he gave up nine runs in 1⅓ innings on Saturday, with a fastball that averaged 86 mph. …
Catcher Logan O’Hoppe had a single and a pair of outs that were hit at least 97 mph in Saturday’s game. It was encouraging not only because O’Hoppe had been in a slump before he went on the injured list, but because he’s still playing with some pain in his left hand. Adding to his discomfort, O’Hoppe took another shot in the groin on Saturday night, which has happened to him often this season. Suzuki, a former catcher, said he used to get those frequently too. “It’s just something that happens,” Suzuki said. “When we go out there, I don’t say anything, because I know what he’s going through. I just kind of stare at him. He says, ‘I’m ready to go.” OK, give him his mask back and he goes.” …
Right-hander Ben Joyce said he’s feeling better but still not sure when he’ll start throwing again. He is planning to go to Arizona to work with a physical therapist there. …
The Angels’ next seven games will be against American League West opponents, the Athletics and Texas Rangers. The Angels haven’t played an AL West team since April 5.
UP NEXT
Athletics (RHP J.T. Ginn, 2-1, 3.12) at Angels (RHP Walbert Ureña, 1-4, 3.29), Monday, 6:38 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM