The Los Angeles Angels lost again on Friday night. Shohei Ohtani — like most of his teammates — is tired of it.
With a 7-5 loss at the hands of the Houston Astros on Friday night, the Angels postseason hopes continue to fade into the night. Los Angeles is 1-9 in their last ten games, and are quickly losing grasp on the AL West and AL Wild Card races. The Angels now sit in fourth place in their division, eight games back of the Rangers. They are six games back of the final AL Wild Card spot.
When asked about the team's losing ways, Shohei Ohtani made it clear something has to change.
"I am frustrated to a certain point. Not just me. But I feel like the whole team is. I feel like it's only natural when we can't win games that the frustrations build up," Ohtani said.
Ohtani's feelings on this subject are particularly important, as he's a free agent after this season and — should the Halos keep losing — could be traded for a haul at the deadline. However, that still seems fairly unlikely, as the Angels would rather re-sign their two-way star.
Shohei Ohtani, Angels frustration boils over
Manager Phil Nevin pulled Luis Renfigo for a lack of hustle in the sixth inning on Friday, yet another example of the team's incompetence of late.
"You guys saw the play," Nevin said after the game, per the Orange County Register. "It speaks for itself. There's certain things I'm just not going to tolerate. And I didn't think he gave it the best effort. He knew exactly what we're talking about. … I think maybe the run would have scored anyway but Abreu getting to second was unacceptable."
In a playoff race, every out matters. That's the message Nevin is trying to get across to his team. Given the off-field drama brewing with Ohtani, there's so much at stake for the Angels in every inning.
