Angels RHP Griffin Canning to miss rest of 2021 season

Angels right-hander Griffin Canning has been on the Triple-A injured list for close to a month, and he will now miss the remainder of the season. According to a statement released by the Angels, Canning is suffering from a stress fracture in his lower back.

The initial injury from mid-July was characterized as a lower back strain, though unfortunately Canning now faces a lengthier recovery period. Details of the injury have yet to be revealed and a potential timeline for Canning’s return isn’t known.

In his third season as a member of the Anaheim rotation, Canning had a 5.60 ERA/4.65 SIERA over 62 2/3 innings for the Halos before he was sent to the minors on July 3. The demotion was thought to be based around the schedule, as between the All-Star break and some off-days in July, the Angels wanted to give Canning some work until they again required his services for their six-man rotation.

Unfortunately, since the injury occurred while Canning was in the minors, he won’t accumulate any MLB service time during his recovery. This will cost him any chance at Super Two qualification and an extra year of arbitration eligibility, and it might even impact his ability to become a free agent after the 2025 season, depending on how long it might take for Canning to get back to action on a big-league mound.

For the pitching-thin Angels, they’ll now lose a depth arm for the remainder of 2021, and possibly for the start of the 2022 campaign. It isn’t any secret that the Halos will be looking for rotation help this winter as they look to augment their starting staff beyond Shohei Ohtani and younger arms like Patrick Sandoval and prospects Chris Rodriguez and Reid Detmers.