The Los Angeles Angels received a boost from Griffin Canning on Sunday in his return to the starting rotation, and although they suffered a 3-2 loss, his flashes of potential showed themselves.
Canning had previously missed time while dealing with some tightness in his right calf in late July, but since being activated, he had logged two relief appearances. He looked strong in his return as a starter, registering 17 whiffs in his seven innings of work, with nine strikeouts.
The Angels didn’t provide him with the run support necessary to earn a plus decision, but the focus should be on how well Canning performed and how that projects moving forward, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“I thought he was awesome,” Nevin said. “He knew how thin we were down there. And even the guys we used have been used a lot lately. He gave us seven strong. And even the run he allowed, he kept the ball on the infield and it was a great aggressive baserunning play.”
His nine punch outs were tied for his second-most on the season, and his fourth start logging nine or more strikeouts. Canning noted that his stuff performed up to his standards, and the results lineup up with that sentiment:
“I felt good,” Canning said. “I felt like I had a pretty good game plan and good communication with [catcher Chad] Wallach. And I had some great defense behind me, despite a tough sun.”
The Angels don’t necessarily have much left to play for this season, but in regard to their rotation moving ahead, Canning should be a piece to their puzzle with a few years of arbitration left.
How does the Angels rotation shake out
Without Shohei Ohtani on the mound, the Angels have received some solid contributions from Patrick Sandoval, Chase Silseth and now Canning. A lot of their issues can be traced back to their struggling bullpen, up and down offense, but their starters have been a decent area of strength.
A real problem has been the lack of production from Lucas Giolito since acquiring him at the trade deadline. In his 27 innings with the Angels, the right-hander has posted a 6.67 ERA, 6.12 FIP, with a .264 batting average allowed, going 1-4 in that stretch.
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