Canning sticking out early-season struggles

BOSTON -- For the second straight start against the exact same team, an early four-spot felled Griffin Canning as the early-season struggles continued for the Angels' right-hander.

When he faced the Red Sox last Friday, Canning was blitzed for four runs in the second inning. On Saturday, the four runs came immediately in the first inning of a 7-2 loss at Fenway Park.

Over the first two innings of his three starts this season, Canning has yielded 12 earned runs. Overall, he’s allowed 15 earned runs over 13 2/3 innings.

“I just think he’s been leaving too much out over the plate,” noted manager Ron Washington. “We haven’t been able to make some pitches in some situations, and the results were what they were today.”

“I can’t really seem to miss some bats or just get some balls hit to our guys," said Canning. "Sometimes, that’s just baseball.”

Things started out harmlessly enough in Saturday’s outing, as he was able to induce a ground ball to second base off the bat of leadoff hitter Jarren Duran. Then the gates opened and Boston recorded a double from Wilyer Abreu, an RBI single from Masataka Yoshida and a two-run homer from Triston Casas before another out was recorded.

Canning then gave up another double to Enmanuel Valdez, who advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield single from Ceddanne Rafaela for the fourth run of the frame.

The Red Sox would strike for two more runs against Canning in the bottom of the second inning, putting the Angels in a significant early hole.

“When you put balls over the plate, they didn’t miss them,” added Washington. “Especially the one that Casas hit. Before you know it, we were down 4-0 in the first. Then they came back and put two more on him in the second. He tried to battle after that, but by that time they had just gotten too far from even our offense to try and catch up.”

On the day, Canning allowed nine hits, but he did not walk any batters and recorded six strikeouts over his four innings. He also threw 51 of his 70 pitches for strikes, a positive light on an otherwise dim day for the hurler.

“There's positives, there always [are],” said a somber Canning. “But, yeah, it sucks, you don’t want to put the team in a hole like that right away.”

The only positive on the offensive end was Taylor Ward connecting on a mammoth two-run home run to the batter's eye in dead center in the third inning.

The left fielder’s fifth home run of the young season traveled a projected 407 feet, per Statcast, and with his two RBIs he leads the American League with 16.

“He’s very important,” Washington said of Ward. “Everyone in that lineup is very important. It’s good that he’s swinging the bat, and pretty soon we hope that the rest of the guys start to catch up and then we can put some offense together.”

Unfortunately for the Angels on Saturday, they would have needed a lot more offense to overcome the early deficit they faced.

One of the Angels' more reliable starters a year ago, Canning’s start to the 2024 season is concerning. But despite a dip in velocity, the right-hander reports no mechanical or health concerns, and remains hopeful that things will turn in his favor soon.

“There’s always concern when you have a guy that can throw the ball at a high rate, 94, 95, 96 miles per hour, when he’s not maintaining that,” said Washington. “He’s having no issues. He said he’s fine. It’s just a matter of working out the situation that he’s in, just trying to hit his spots.”

“I feel good,” admitted Canning. “Hitters will tell you [the story]. You've just got to keep working and get better. This is the game we play. It sucks sometimes when you go through it. It’s going to feel good once we get out of it.”