Lorenzen eyes starting; Rendon arrives at camp

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Despite making just a combined five starts over the last six seasons with the Reds, right-hander Michael Lorenzen headed into free agency with the goal of finding a club interested in him as a starting pitcher.

Lorenzen said several clubs expressed, but he felt the Angels were the best match, especially because he was born in Anaheim, attended nearby Fullerton Union High School and Cal State Fullerton and makes his home in Newport Beach. Lorenzen, who throws a fastball, cutter, changeup, slider and curveball, said he believes he has the stuff to start but just didn’t get much of a chance with the Reds.

"I have five different pitches and they all grade pretty good,” Lorenzen said. “So I've always thought that they would grade well in the rotation and I just needed an opportunity. Every time in Cincinnati when given the opportunity to go multiple innings I felt like I was pretty successful. And I was able to get a certain feel for certain pitches that you're not able to out of the bullpen.”

Lorenzen, 30, began his career as a starting pitcher in 2015, making 21 starts and seven relief appearances, while throwing a career-high 113 1/3 innings. But after that, Lorenzen became a heavily used reliever. After throwing 50 innings in 2016, he threw 83 in '17, 81 in '18 and 83 1/3 in '19. Lorenzen has had more success as a reliever -- posting a 3.74 ERA in 344 1/3 innings compared to a 4.95 ERA in 129 innings as a starter. But he believes he's ready to make that jump back to starting.

"I just felt like my stuff would even play up a little more just with more feel," Lorenzen said. "And physically, I didn't feel like that was going to be an issue for me because the workload out of the 'pen was so much."

Lorenzen has also had success as a hitter, as he's a career .233/.282/.429 hitter with seven homers and 24 RBIs in 147 plate appearances. But he's unsure how much he'll be used in that role this year. Lorenzen, though, does give the Angels another pinch-hit option off the bench. It could become useful if two-way star Shohei Ohtani has to come out of the lineup after exiting his starts in games when he hits for himself.

“I saw when I came in that I had a helmet,” Lorenzen said, pointing to the helmet above his locker. “That must mean something.”

Rendon arrives at camp
Third baseman Anthony Rendon was a late arrival to camp because of an undisclosed family reason, but he participated in full workouts on Tuesday. Rendon took batting practice on the field and participated in infield drills.

Closer Raisel Iglesias is the only Angels player not in camp, as he’s out for undisclosed family reasons as well. Iglesias is expected to arrive soon, and there isn’t expected to be any issues getting him ready for Opening Day.

Sandoval feeling strong
Lefty Patrick Sandoval had a breakout 2021 season, posting a 3.62 ERA with 94 strikeouts in 87 innings, but he saw his season cut short because of a left lumbar spine stress reaction in his lower back in mid-August.

Sandoval, though, said his back was fully healed by mid-December and he was able to have a normal offseason. He also said he believes he found the issue that led to his injury.

“My hips weren’t as mobile as they used to be, and that attributed to my back taking a toll from rotating,” Sandoval said. “So I spent the offseason working on my hips and my rotation. I feel a lot better now. Doing a lot of mobility and soft tissue and it takes 30-45 minutes out of my day but it has to be done.”