A reminder of how good Patrick Sandoval & Griffin Canning can be

[Chuck]

I know the Angels need a top tiered arm like Gerrit Cole or Stephen Strasburg and one of Wheeler/Odorizzi/Ryu ahead of Ohtani, but this is a friendly reminder of what Sandoval and Canning can contribute from the back end of the rotation. 

These two local kids from Mission Viejo have a chance to really shine after getting major league experience in 2019. 

Patrick Sandoval:

Griffin Canning:

[Inside Pitch]

Like Adell, they suck!

[Chuck]

9 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Like Adell, they suck!

Please don't tell me someone said Adell sucks?

[Chuck]

Back to Sandoval and Canning, there's a lot of similarities in Sandoval to a young Cole Hamels and Canning to Trevor Bauer. 

I'm not saying they will be even remotely close to them as far as their careers, but you can see a lot of similar stuff and deliveries to the two comparisons. 

[Second Base]

Both Canning and Sandoval are better than what we saw a last year too. With Canning, he lost his mentor in Skaggs and that hit him harder than most, and once things started going downhill, he started incorporating more of what Doug White was pushing and that guy wasn't qualified to coach anything.

And with Sandoval, he came in amped and was one of the few guys that White actually helped unlock some velocity, though I openly wonder if it was White or three actual introduction to assistive technology. At any rate, now all Sandoval needs is some actual coaching in how to pitch and more reps and he will be good to go.

Mickey Calloway will be able to help them both keep their emotions and mechanics in check throughout the game. Specifically with Canning, I think he'll benefit been time from Joe Maddon, remembering how much fun this game is.

[Inside Pitch]

5 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Please don't tell me someone said Adell sucks?

I did....  Dude sucks....   It's opposite day.

[Chuck]

Just now, Inside Pitch said:

I did....  Dude sucks....   It's opposite day.

Damn. 

My daughter just told me I was an awesome dad.

[Inside Pitch]

Just now, Chuckster70 said:

Damn. 

My daughter just told me I was an awesome dad.

Opposite day only applies to message boards...   

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, Inside Pitch said:

Opposite day only applies to message boards...   

Phew...

[Inside Pitch]

On a serious note, the entire kiddie-corps of pitchers is better than they showed last year and will continue to improve.  A pitching coach who speaks pitching, a return to less bouncy balls... They will show up...

All the more reason why they need to dump money into the front of the rotation...  When the young guys show up the organization would be set up nicely with cheap controllable arms to help offset the costs on the front end...

[Chuck]

Back to the topic at hand, I'd like to see Jose Suarez stay back in AAA this next season to develop another pitch or try to regain that FB velo he had coming into 2019 where he was sitting at 92 and touching 94. I also noticed the more he got beat up during the season that there wasn't much separation between his FB and changeup. That needs to change obviously, and he needs to throw a tighter breaking ball as I didn't see it break as much as I'd like. It kind of flattened out when it got to home and it was bombs away for the opposing hitters. 

But yeah, I was really impressed with Caning and Sandoval. Stoked to see how they progress in 2020.

[Inside Pitch]

Back to opposite day, could you have gotten a punier dog than Archie????

[Chuck]

Just now, Inside Pitch said:

On a serious note, the entire kiddie-corps of pitchers is better than they showed last year and will continue to improve.  A pitching coach who speaks pitching, a return to less bouncy balls... They will show up...

All the more reason why they need to dump money into the front of the rotation...  When the young guys show up the organization would be set up nicely with cheap controllable arms to help offset the costs on the front end...

Yeah, I'm guessing Mickey Callaway is going to have a positive impact on our young guys... hell, maybe even Andrew Heaney who seems to tease us with good stuff but loses mental focus on pitch selection throughout the game.

[Erstad Grit]

I'm great with them being our 4 and 5 starters.

[Inside Pitch]

Just now, Chuckster70 said:

Yeah, I'm guessing Mickey Callaway is going to have a positive impact on our young guys... hell, maybe even Andrew Heaney who seems to tease us with good stuff but loses mental focus on pitch selection throughout the game.

Heaney is just a two pitch guy... Sooner or later they guess right and the ball goes a country mile.   He's fine at the back of the rotation imo.  He will always have dominant spurts then have a day where he gets lit up but we could do a lot worse in the middle back than Heaney.  As you know I've never been as high on him as others but I'm nowhere near as low on him as some people seem to be currently.  Seems like a decent human being too.

[Second Base]

6 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Back to the topic at hand, I'd like to see Jose Suarez stay back in AAA this next season to develop another pitch or try to regain that FB velo he had coming into 2019 where he was sitting at 92 and touching 94. I also noticed the more he got beat up during the season that there wasn't much separation between his FB and changeup. That needs to change obviously, and he needs to throw a tighter breaking ball as I didn't see it break as much as I'd like. It kind of flattened out when it got to home and it was bombs away for the opposing hitters. 

But yeah, I was really impressed with Caning and Sandoval. Stoked to see how they progress in 2020.

This organization needed Mickey Calloway in the worst sort of way. I feel like he's going to do some magical things with Canning, Suarez, Barria and Sandoval. They're all good enough to be major leaguers, but under Calloway's tutelage, I think they can develop into a solid core of #3-5 starters that can go 150+ innings a year. 

The only one that will spend much time in the rotation in 2020 is Canning, but for the other three, it'll be a big developmental year and they'll be ready to help in 2021.

[Chuck]

11 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Back to opposite day, could you have gotten a punier dog than Archie????

Ha!! 

You mean my thoroughbred? 

[Bronson]

There’s no doubt in my mind Canning is gonna be really good. 
 

Still not completely sold on Sandoval though. I’ll have to see how he progresses next year.

[Chuck]

7 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Heaney is just a two pitch guy... Sooner or later they guess right and the ball goes a country mile.   He's fine at the back of the rotation imo.  He will always have dominant spurts then have a day where he gets lit up but we could do a lot worse in the middle back than Heaney.  As you know I've never been as high on him as others but I'm nowhere near as low on him as some people seem to be currently.  Seems like a decent human being too.

Yeah... I think he could use a good changeup to move to the next level of being a great #3 type. But you're right, hitters are just sitting on two pitches and while he may cruise for 4-5 innings, it's always that one inning where the opposition figures him out. 

[Inside Pitch]

4 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Ha!! 

You mean my thoroughbred? 

He's a tall chihuahua.... 

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, Bronson said:

There’s no doubt in my mind Canning is gonna be really good. 

Still not completely sold on Sandoval though. I’ll have to see how he progresses next year.

Patrick Sandoval posted a 2.06 ERA in 2018 across 3 levels and held the opposition to a sick .196 BAA. In 2019 he started in Double-A and held the opposition to a .187 BAA across 5 starts before going to the PCL where all pitching numbers go to shit. That said, despite the high ERA in AAA, he struck out 66 batters across 60 IP and then fanned 42 over 39.1 innings with the big league club. 

[UndertheHalo]

I don’t know about Sandoval, I don’t doubt that he’ll be some sort of major leaguer on regular basis, I’m just not sure what sort.  
 

Canning, I don’t think the Bauer comp is outrageous at all.  I think Canning is great and if he approaches his ceiling he probably will be a Trevor Bauer tier type of starter.  Decent chance it happens imo.  
 

Suarez looked terrible often and unless he really does significant additional development I don’t know that I have much faith in him.  Barria as well needs to add another effective pitch to make it work.  They’re both still very young so they can’t be written off, but they also cannot be depended on at all.  Suarez in particular I think was simply not ready. 

Edited November 13, 2019 by UndertheHalo

[Inside Pitch]

8 minutes ago, Second Base said:

This organization needed Mickey Calloway in the worst sort of way. I feel like he's going to do some magical things with Canning, Suarez, Barria and Sandoval. They're all good enough to be major leaguers, but under Calloway's tutelage, I think they can develop into a solid core of #3-5 starters that can go 150+ innings a year. 

The only one that will spend much time in the rotation in 2020 is Canning, but for the other three, it'll be a big developmental year and they'll be ready to help in 2021.

I'm a big analytics guy but it definitely did.  I found myself pining for Marcel Lacheman at times last year...  He's old enough that you could carbon date him but he was the sort of pitching coach that you saw pitchers gravitate to and offer instant answers..  We missed that.

6 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Yeah... I think he could use a good changeup to move to the next level of being a great #3 type. But you're right, hitters are just sitting on two pitches and while he may cruise for 4-5 innings, it's always that one inning where the opposition figures him out. 

Yep, anything he can keep in play and would help keep batters from sitting dead red.  

[UndertheHalo]

12 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Ha!! 

You mean my thoroughbred? 

Beautiful dog Chuck.  Never be shy about sharing pics of this very good dog. 

[totdprods]

That’s why ultimately, even though most would feel like we need to acquire three SPs, I believe the Angels will really only aim to get two arms. I do think they will land a 3rd SP, but it won’t be what most here rosterbate too - it’ll be along the lines of another Félix Pena or Dillon Peters move for some SP depth. Those two did wind up being some of our better starters last year too. Not saying much, but fine as depth.

There will be good arms at the deadline and a better sense of what farm we can deal from, and a good FA class next season too.