13 of the past 18 games and that doesn’t even count plays like the one Moncada failed to make.

What’s more, the Angels have been in a stretch in which just about every defensive mistake ends up having significant consequences on the scoreboard.

“They are errors; they just aren’t put on the books (as errors),” Washington said. “Decisions are the worst errors, because they don’t show up (as errors). If you make less bad decisions, your error total should be reasonable. As a professional, you’re going to boot less and throw away less. Most people, errors show up on the bad decisions they make. That’s just how it works.”

More modern analytics go beyond errors, evaluating defensive players on their range and their efficiency at converting batted balls into outs.

FanGraphs has an all-encompassing defensive metric that ranks the Angels 29th.

The only positions at which the Angels rate as better than average, according to FanGraphs, are second base (2nd), left field (3rd) and shortstop (13th).

The worst positions are catcher (29th), third base (29th), center field (29th) and right field (25th).

Catcher Logan O’Hoppe acknowledged his difficulty with blocking and framing this season by changing the way he plays the position. These days catchers almost exclusively catch with one knee on the ground now, but O’Hoppe switched to playing with both feet on the ground about a month ago. Although the change showed some initial improvement in framing, O’Hoppe still ranks toward the bottom in framing and blocking.

In the outfield, the problems are mostly inexperience.

The Angels did not acquire a true center fielder over the winter, and then they moved longtime center fielder Mike Trout into right field. That meant that Trout was learning right field while a cast of different players — Jo Adell, Kyren Paris and Matthew Lugo — has taken turns attempting to play center.

It hasn’t worked well.

“At the end of the day, whether it’s Adell, whether it’s Lugo, whether it’s Paris, whoever we’ve played in center field has not given us the type of defense you need in center field at the major league level,” outfield coach Bo Porter said.

Lugo and Paris are both converted infielders. Adell is a natural outfielder, but defense has never been his strength. He worked hard to improve in right field, but the Angels didn’t give him the same time to adjust to center field before they pulled the plug.

In the last week, they added veterans Chris Taylor and Scott Kingery. They are also both utility players who also play the infield, but Porter is optimistic they can be better in the outfield.

“Kingery, Taylor, they’ve played the outfield, center field, at the major league level,” Porter said. “There’s a distinct difference there, when you think about the experience of being there before.”

In left field, the metrics are mostly favorable toward Taylor Ward, but Washington acknowledges that doesn’t always match the eye test.

“I can’t deny that,” Washington said. “When they judge him, they judge him on the numbers. They don’t judge him on what you see.”

On May 11, Ward lost a routine fly ball in the sky, leading to a first-inning triple and a run. Two days later, Ward got a bad jump on a fly ball in San Diego, opening the door for the Padres to score two runs to tie the game in the eighth.

In the infield, perhaps the most puzzling hole has been third base. Moncada has outstanding tools at the position, as demonstrated by his highlight-reel plays, but Washington continually questions his decision-making. On Sunday — the day before the play on the Judge grounder — Moncada stayed on his feet as a slow roller got past him into left field. There was no play to be made at first, but Washington wanted to see Moncada leave his feet to hold the hitter to a single. Instead, he got a double.

“He does have oozing talent, but he doesn’t know all the nuances of playing defense yet,” Washington said. “And it’s a shame that he’s been allowed to get to this point and doesn’t know all the nuances of defense, knowing when you’re supposed to do something when you’re not supposed to do something.”

It hasn’t all been bad.

The middle infield, with Zach Neto at shortstop and a variety of players at second, has mostly done the job. The Angels lead the major leagues in double plays and they are second in double play percentage, which is also the result of having ground-ball specialists like José Soriano and Jack Kochanowicz in the rotation.

Infield coach Ryan Goins said he’s been overall pleased with his group.

“We’ve been really good at the routine plays,” Goins said. “We come to work every day and give their best effort. There’s plays they haven’t made, like any other team. Watch good teams. They do the same thing.”

Goins said any defensive struggles have to be viewed in the grander scheme.

Trout back tonight

Mike Trout will be activated from the injured list when the Angels play in Cleveland tonight, a source confirmed.

The Angels had no official announcement, but their official transactions page listed Matthew Lugo being optioned to Triple-A on Thursday.

Trout has been out since May 1 because of a bone bruise in his left knee. The Angels have said the final test for him would be running the bases, which he did at varying levels of intensity on Tuesday and Wednesday. Washington said after Wednesday’s workout that Trout still had not run the bases at 100%, but it’s possible the Angels determined what he had done was sufficient.

Trout also had some at-bats against an Angels minor league pitcher on Wednesday.

The Angels could use the addition of the three-time MVP to their lineup, which has gone cold during a five-game losing streak. The Angels have scored just five runs in the five losses.

Trout, 33, was hitting .179 with nine home runs and a .727 OPS when he was hurt. He had started all 29 of the Angels games at the time. The Angels have played 26 games without him.