Griffin Canning has been around the Los Angeles Angels organization longer than nearly anyone on the big league club. Drafted in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft, Canning quickly worked his way through the minor leagues to make his MLB debut in 2019. He battled injuries over the next four years, but showed promising stuff when he was in the lineup, even winning a Gold Glove for his efforts in 2020.
He finally put together a relatively healthy campaign in 2023, when he tossed a career-high 127 innings. He had a 4.32 ERA and 1.236 WHIP, striking out a career-best 9.9 batters per nine innings and walking a career-low 2.6 batters per nine innings. Everything finally clicked into place for the 27-year-old, and it has translated to more success in Spring Training in 2024.
Angels manager Ron Washington is getting his first up-close look at Canning, the one-time top Halo prospect, and is enjoying what he’s seeing. This is especially true of his off-field work, according to Jack Magruder of MLB.com:
“This is Canning,” he said. “And this is everybody else. This right here is leadership. I don’t care how old the pitchers are that we have on the mound. It’s the way he goes about his business. You watch him. I saw that. I was impressed, and I had to tell him.
“This man, he stands out in everything he does. He really does. He has all the other intangibles.”
This isn’t by accident, either. Canning knows his role within the organization and understands that even if he’s young, he can be a leader on the 2024 Angels.
“You look at it, I’m one of the guys who have been with the Angels the longest now,” Canning said. “I know kind of where we can improve and that kind of thing. If we can turn around the culture and kind of set it the way we want to. Anything I can do to help.”
Talent and character have never been in question with Canning. It has always come down to his availability, and if he can put together a second straight healthy season, there’s no telling the impact he can have on the Angels.
Angels’ Carlos Estévez shifting mindset
In 19.1 innings from the start of August through the end of the season. Estévez’s ERA skyrocketed to 8.38. His WHIP was 1.862 and he allowed an opponent OPS of .887, turning virtually every batter he faced into an elite hitter. Advanced stats like fielding-independent pitching (FIP) suggests that the two halves of his season were close than they appear, but the results speak for themselves.
This led the Angels closer to evaluate what went wrong for him the second half and what he’s done in the months since to reverse those fortunes and set himself up for a successful 2024.