Griffin Canning
In a regular season preview, Griffin Canning and the regular lineup were up vs the Giants at Tempe. He had a quick 1-2-3 first inning with a strikeout on 12 total pitches.
The offense rewarded him. First, a Fletcher single, then, it was TROUTAHERE! 2-0 Angels! Ohtani hit a single of his own, and Pujols doubled him to the plate, but Ohtani was thrown out. This was vs Cueto which made it more impressive.
Canning’s second inning was rougher. Back to back 1 out walks is not ideal. A strikeout and a walk made it bases loaded vs Wil Wilson, the former Angel. He had his revenge with a 3 run double, which chased Canning. 3-2 Giants.
Ben Rowen
Rich kid Ben Rowen came in for relief. From Palos Verdes, the submarine pitcher hasn’t seen MLB action since 2016. He got a strikeout which was the 4th total for the Angels pitchers so far. The offense went down in order as Cueto calmed down.
It is Canning… Again
It is Spring Training where the rules are made up and the ins don’t matter. So Maddon put Griffin Canning back out there again. He gave up a walk and a single before being pulled again. 1 and 1/3 innings, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts, 2 hits, and 3 runs. 57 total pitches. That was not ideal.
Dennis Brady
This 24 year old non roster invitee from NJ took over for Canning. He got the 3 outs and didn’t let either inherited runner score. One long flyout, one strikeout, one ground ball. Ohtani beat out a groundball for a single, but that is all the offense was able to do in the 3rd.
Raisel Iglesias
The closer Iglesias pitched the 4th. He allowed a single, a walk, and got a strikeout but no runs scored. This is despite Terry saying it was 2 walks. It was a single to RF. Still 3-2 Giants headed into the bottom of the 4th.
With Johnny Cueto gone, the offense was awake again. Justin Upton singled and Albert Pujols doubled him home. 3-3 Angels. Dexter Fowler then joined the party with a home run of his own, 5-3 Angels. David Fletcher got a hit, but Trout couldn’t drive him in.
Mike Mayers
As regulars started leaving, Mike Mayers came in for the 5th. He had two singles hit, but also 2 strikeouts and no runs were allowed. That was 8 strikeouts in 5 innings for Angels pitchers. It was a bit tense, but ultimately better than his last appearance.
Justin Upton walked and Albert Pujols got a single to make it 2 on with 2 outs. Pujols’ 3 hits gave him 7 for the spring and he has looked well so far. If he and Upton could do this in the regular season, it could be an exciting one. Fowler couldn’t cash them in this time, however.
Jake Faria
The local kid Jake who was last on the Brewers in 2019 has been impressive all spring. He was signed as a free agent and has Jered Weaver’s number. It was not an ideal inning. A quick lineout was followed by a jersey HBP, a SB, and a walk. He looked to get out of it with an infield lineout but the double play couldn’t be achieved. A groundball single scored a run. A walk made it bases loaded but he got a strikeout to keep the lead. 5-4 Angels.
Jack Mayfield hit a double in the bottom of the 6th. The former Astro isn’t likely to make the team with how crowded the IF is. He made it to third with 2 outs but was stranded there.
Kyle Keller
Final inning thanks to spring training. That meant Kyle Keller came to close it out. It did not start off well. A walk to the first batter. The second batter crushed one… right to the right fielder. The third batter, the Giants’ top prospect, struck out. A groundout ended the inning. 10 strikeouts for Angels pitchers today. But also 8 walks, not 9, no matter what Terry said.
Oh yeah, bottom 7th because ST. Brandon Marsh struck out. Baretto also struck out as did Thaiss. 8 strikeouts for the offense today. 2 walks, 10 hits, and 1-4 with RISP.
The Angels are now 6-4-1 on the Cactus season. First time they have back to back wins this spring. They play tomorrow at the same time.
Twice now I’ve seen that experiment with taking a struggling pitcher out and then putting him in again the next inning. Both times have gone badly, which brings to mind those people who remarry their ex-spouses and expect things to be different this time. Or a better comparison, finding the milk has gone sour, and putting it back in the fridge to try again later. I’m all for playing around with the rules in ST, but so far the results of this one are not encouraging. (Also, I think the write-up, respectfully, understates how badly Canning fell apart. I know, I know…it’s practice, etc. Still, it was ugly, and over all, I’d call this a luck win for the Halos. I suppose we’re due some luck though.)
Matt Vasgersian is the new pxp.
Love that hire!
Will be an article up soon. Get your reactions ready
solid hire. Great way to follow Victor.
wow, awesome hire! I am impressed.
Now to figure out all the new subscriptions (bally sport west? paramount+, disney+ with premier access and on and on).
Matt’s not a bad choice.
Wilson hit a 3 run double not a 3 out double.
Whoops
typos.. who gives a __. 99% of the time you can tell what the person meant anyway. Just say you terry smith’d it haha
HAHA yeah. He really didn’t see that single today.
Anyway a three out double would be very”spring training” kind of like that “strike five” dream sequence from Mr. Baseball.
especially this ST… I almost expect them to bring out the tee out when a batter gets 4 balls
I’ve just been reading what they want to try out this year in the minors. Besides restricting shifts they want to increase the size of the bases. They want to limit pitchers to two pickoff attempts. Its ghastly. And they claim it’s because the fans want it.
Not opposed to change but those ideas are ridiculous. Manfred strikes again.
Fun game, appreciate the summaries of performances
Thanks. I was going to ask if people here liked short post games or these longer ones for spring.
This site and the community are doing great. Logging on to see whats going on here is becoming routine for me
*ahem. Size matters…