OC Register: Angels option Jaime Barría; Griffin Canning appears close to return

[AngelsWin.com]

BOSTON — With Griffin Canning on the verge of rejoining the rotation, the Angels had a choice of which starter would go to make room.

They picked Jaime Barría.

Barría was optioned a day after he allowed five runs in five innings, sending the Angels on their way to their eighth consecutive loss Friday night. The Barría move immediately cleared a spot on the 25-man roster for Andrew Heaney, who was activated to start Saturday.

Barría, though, can’t come back for at least 10 days, which effectively cleared a spot in the rotation for Canning, who is likely to pitch Wednesday after being on the injured list with elbow inflammation. The Angels will then need to make another roster move.

Barría, 23, has a 6.62 ERA in 51 2/3 innings in the majors this season, along with a 8.73 ERA in nine starts in Triple-A. He has failed to live up to the standard he set as a rookie, when he had a 3.41 ERA in 26 big-league starts.

“We want him to use his changeup a little more vs. righties and continue to use all his pitches, and obviously execute the pitches in the areas where he’s trying to throw them,” Manager Brad Ausmus said.

José Suarez has also struggled in his first 10 big-league starts, posting a 6.22 ERA in his 10 big-league starts. Suarez, 21, has allowed 14 homers in 46 1/3 innings.

Optioning Suarez on Saturday would have been problematic, though, because he’s scheduled to pitch Monday, and the Angels clearly weren’t prepared to have Canning go into that rotation that soon. If they’d kept Suarez up to pitch Monday, and then optioned him to make room for Canning, they would have needed to send down a reliever to create Heaney’s spot Saturday.

The Angels are currently scheduled to have Patrick Sandoval pitch Sunday, followed by Suarez and Dillon Peters in the first two games of the home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wednesday is listed as TBA, which is likely to be Canning.

Although the Angels haven’t announced it, Sandoval, a product of Mission Viejo High, is in line to make his Angel Stadium debut Friday against the Chicago White Sox.

MANAGING A LOSING STREAK

There has been no evidence of Ausmus holding any anger-filled meetings with his team throughout their losing streak. He did have a five-minute meeting before the opener of the series in Cleveland, but he didn’t reveal the topic.

Before Saturday’s game, Ausmus said he doesn’t feel that type of reaction is appropriate for what the Angels are going through.

“For me, a team that deserves to get yelled at is a team that lacks effort or lacks concentration,” Ausmus said. “If guys are putting in the effort and concentrating, but just struggling to perform, to me there is no sense at yelling at them. That’s what I see here. It’s not a lack of effort. Not a lack of preparation. Guys are getting all their work and they’re trying. It’s just not working. We’re just not winning. So I don’t see the upside in screaming if guys have the effort and concentration. We are just not getting the results.”

OHTANI UPDATE

Shohei Ohtani threw another bullpen session Saturday, getting his velocity up to 82 mph, he said. Ohtani said once he can reach his full velocity, he’ll start to throw his other pitches.

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“I’m still so far away from game situations. I’m not fully satisfied,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “But so far to this point, it’s gone pretty well.”

The Angels plan to have Ohtani continue progressing in his pitching program until he can face hitters for about 60-70 pitches, general manager Billy Eppler said this weekend. After that, Ohtani would stop throwing and have a normal winter leading into next spring.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Patrick Sandoval, 0-0, 3.60) at Red Sox (RHP Andrew Cashner, 10-7, 4.68), 10:05 a.m., Fox Sports West

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[Stradling]

Thinking of @stormngt.  Hope you’re ok during this difficult time. 

[stormngt]

8 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Thinking of @stormngt.  Hope you’re ok during this difficult time. 

Dont know if ots meant to be serious or sarcasm.  

I snapped after the 16 inning loss because I knew that was the end of the season.  

As for the difficult time you must remember I have been a fan since 1969.  I followed them through the miserable 70s, t h.g e blown opportunities of the 80s, the worse 90's.

I am used to losing streaks for the Angels.  I dont mind the losses.  And fact it they were are giving some prospects  experience.  It frustrated mean inder Scioscia that when the team was knocked out of the race that the Angel's never brought up prospects to test them out.

[DMVol]

14 minutes ago, stormngt said:

....I snapped after the 16 inning loss because I knew that was the end of the season....

It was a brutal loss and it feels like it turned things the wrong way....but, with a little hindsight, in the long run, I'm not sure it has made a huge difference....this team just isn't competitive right now and not sure there is much anybody can do about it....you can only take so many hits and keep coming back....losing Pena was kind of the last straw...

[Stradling]

Sarcasm