The Los Angeles Angels have a lot of work to do this offseason if they want to field a competitive squad this coming year. They know that building up their rotation will be a major key to that, and the team plans to be aggressive in adding talent.
New Angels pitching coach Barry Enright wants to work with the Angels starting pitchers and get them back on track. He has already met with a few of them, including left-hander Patrick Sandoval, who he is very excited to work with. He spoke in depth to Sam Blum of The Athletic about his plans for next season.
"I told him, I want to get your WBC swagger back. When you were playing them, there was a swagger to you. I know there’s 162 games and to be able to do that every single day is just not feasible. But to be able to find that joy back, to make you your best self on that rubber is going to be important to carry yourself, your presence, your confidence out there. We’re going to need him to be great too. He’s got big-time potential in there, I think, and hopefully, some of that breaks out this year."
Last season with the Halos, Sandoval posted an ERA of 4.11 and a WHIP of 1.51 in 28 games. He also struck out 128 batters over 144.2 innings of work.
Sandoval has great stuff on the mound, but his issue has been consistency. In some games, he looks flat-out dominant, and in others, he gets shelled for a ton of runs.
Enright is hoping to fix that issue this coming season and get him back to running a more consistent routine. If Sandoval can get right, the Angels may be able to stay competitive this year. The new pitching coach has his work cut out for him, but the team is hopeful that they got the right person in charge of everything going forward.
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