The circumstances surrounding Patrick Sandoval’s first start of 2024 and his second couldn’t have been further apart. His first came on Opening Day, Sandoval’s first-career Opening Day start, against the championship-contending Baltimore Orioles. Sandoval was tagged for five runs in 1.2 innings of work in an 11-3 Angels blowout loss. His second came against the winless Miami Marlins with the Angels riding the high of a three-game win streak.
In Miami, Sandoval kept the good times rolling. The 27-year-old franchise cornerstone allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work. He exited the game with the Angels holding a 6-2 lead that they would not relinquish in a blowout eight-run victory. The Angels secured a sweep of the Marlins and their fourth consecutive victory to move to 4-2 on the season.
Angels manager Ron Washington credited Sandoval for bouncing back and staying engaged even when things got tough in a two-run third inning, according to Paige Leckie of MLB.com:
“He was outstanding,” manager Ron Washington said. “He came out, he pounded the strike zone, he used all of his pitches, and he was very, very efficient early in the game. And then they started making him work a little bit, but he didn’t lose his desire. And that was very important.”
While a four-game win streak hardly stands out just six games into the season, it does mark four straight wins from when Washington called a preemptive team meeting to curb some of the bad habits he saw in the team’s first two blowout losses against the Orioles.
“That chat was a necessary thing,” Washington said. “[But] I don’t have to go between the lines, they do. So I think all the praise — if there’s any praise about our 4-2 record — it goes to the players, it certainly don’t go to me.”
After a 24-7 margin of defeat after two games, it feels almost impossible that the Angels are returning to Anaheim for their Friday home opener against the Boston Red Sox with a winning record. But Washington and others have said that the mentality around this year’s clubhouse is different than in year’s past.
Sandoval’s bounce-back is the first real proof of that this season.
Tyler Anderson focused on not trying too hard for Angels this season
Angels starter Tyler Anderson was the first of five to record an out in the sixth inning this season, and after a difficult 2023 for the veteran, it was a welcomed change of pace. Anderson said his success came from a new mentality that involves not trying to do too much and simply focus on one pitch at a time.
