Who are the candidates for the Angels’ six-man rotation?

Angels Six-Man Rotation – Griffin Canning

In addition to Ohtani, the Angels are excited to see Griffin Canning returning to good health. Shut down at the end of his rookie season due to elbow discomfort, the team was happy to see him avoid surgery over the winter. However, those concerns came crashing back to life in the spring, when the team was forced to put him on the shelf again due to what was deemed “chronic changes” in his UCL.

The right-hander has still seemingly been able to not have to go under the knife, as he instead used rest and the long delay to the season to nurse himself back to health. After starting to face hitters in simulated games in early June, it was all forward from there.

While Canning’s 4.58 ERA doesn’t look especially enticing at first glance, it’s actually a bit better than it appears. In July when elbow issues first started to peak, he had three starts in which he surrendered 14 runs over 6.2 innings of work. Removing those three starts from the equation, Canning put up a 3.44 ERA over his other 83.2 innings on the season. He also registered 10 of his 30 walks in those three starts.

Like Ohtani, the six-man rotation can only serve to ensure that Canning can get through the shortened season as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, there will be a question as to how effective he can be with so many starts and stops, but it is a question the Angels will have to wait and answer when the season gets underway.