BOSTON — Griffin Canning will take the mound on Saturday with seven days of rest since his previous outing, which he hopes will allow him to get back to the way he pitched for most of last season.
The Angels right-hander threw two bullpen sessions between starts instead of one.
“I’m a feel pitcher so if I feel like something’s off, maybe it feels bigger than it needs to be, but I feel like I’m getting my rhythm,” Canning said.
Canning has allowed nine earned runs in 9⅔ innings in his first two starts. Also, his fastball velocity has averaged 92.7 mph. He averaged 94.7 mph last season, including 94.2 last April.
“My arm feels good,” Canning said. “My body feels good. Maybe I’ve been practicing throwing a little harder, a little harder playing catch. I feel like it will be back to what it was in the past, but if not you still have to go out and make pitches.”
Manager Ron Washington said the Angels “thought it would do him some good,” to get the extra days, but the decision to flip the order of the rotation was also about Detmers.
Detmers had a 1.64 ERA in his first two starts, so they didn’t want him to have too much extra time between starts.
LINEUP CHOICES
Washington is still waiting for one of his right fielders to get hot and run away with the job. In the meantime, he’s been juggling the playing time for Mickey Moniak, Aaron Hicks and Jo Adell.
Including Friday’s game, Hicks had eight starts, Moniak had seven and Adell had three. Those include opportunities at DH or in center field when Mike Trout has been at DH.
Heading into Friday’s game, Adell’s .894 OPS was the highest of the three, albeit in the smallest sample size. Hicks had a .556 OPS and Moniak had a .476 OPS.
“We’ve got five outfielders, and I’m trying to get them all time,” Washington said.
Generally speaking, Hicks has been much better against lefties, Moniak much better against righties and Adell about the same against both.
The Angels haven’t seen a left-handed starter in the last six games, and they aren’t scheduled to see one at least until they get to Cincinnati next weekend.
“I’m trying to get them at-bats so they can get going,” Washington said. “The toughest is Adell. He has to come off the bench and pinch hit. He’s doing well with it. That’s a very good learning process for Adell, being able to come off the bench and being able to go out there when you get an opportunity and produce and all it’s going to do is help him as the season progresses.”
O’HOPPE’S SPOT
Logan O’Hoppe has been one of the hottest players on the team, bringing a .965 OPS into Friday’s game, but Washington has kept the catcher in the No. 8 spot in the lineup.
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Washington said he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on a 24-year-old who still has just 254 career plate appearances in the majors.
“When the time come that I think he needs to move and he’s ready to move, he will move,” Washington said. “But right now I’m just trying to keep him in a position where he can be comfortable. He’s a young catcher that’s having to deal with trying to get pitchers through innings. So he’s got a lot going on. And I just want to make certain that he can catch his breath and I think just keeping him down in the bottom of the order right now, he has time to do what he has to do with the pitchers and concentrate on hitting. I don’t want him having to be in a position where he thinks we are putting pressure on him to do more than he’s capable of doing. So right now. He needs to be where he is in that lineup so he can hit and do the catching and help our pitchers.”
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Griffin Canning, 0-1, 8.38 ERA) at Red Sox (TBD), Saturday, 1:10 p.m. PT, Bally Sports West, 830 AM
