The Angels announced that they’ve designated right-hander John Curtiss for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster for prospect Griffin Canning, whose contract has now formally been selected from Triple-A Salt Lake. It was reported last week that Canning would make his MLB debut today.
Acquired in a minor January swap that sent infielder Daniel Ozoria to the Twins, Curtiss made just one appearance with the Angels, tossing 2 1/3 inning and allowing a run on two hits and three walks with a strikeout. It was only one appearance, but Curtiss averaged 92.1 mph on his heater in that outing — a substantial dip from the 95.2 mph he averaged as a rookie with the Twins in 2017.
Curtiss, long one of the more promising bullpen prospects in Minnesota’s system, has also struggled quite a bit in Triple-A early in the season. Through 8 2/3 innings, the 2014 sixth-rounder has been tagged for nine runs on 11 hits and eight walks with 11 strikeouts. The Angels will have a week to trade Curtiss, release him, or try to pass him through outright waivers. Even with his early 2019 struggles, Curtiss still has a career 3.16 ERA with nearly 11 strikeouts per nine frames at the Triple-A level (88 1/3 innings); given that success and the fact that he still has a minor league option remaining, he could draw interest from other clubs — assuming the velocity drop was a blip on the radar and not part of a larger-scale issue.
As for Canning, he’ll ascend to the Majors less than two years after being the Angels’ second pick in the 2017 draft. The Mission Viejo, Calif. native skyrocketed up three levels in the Angels’ system last season and has torn through Triple-A lineups early in 2019, pitching to a 0.56 ERA with a 17-to-2 K/BB ratio in 16 innings out of the rotation. He entered the year as a consensus Top 100 prospect and is viewed by the organization as a potential mid-rotation piece who could help to stabilize the rotation for years to come.
Excited to see Canning. A new wave of talent is starting to hit the Angels: Canning, Rengifo, Buttrey, are already here. Adell, Ward, Thaiss are in the wings.
Some of those guys are promising, some not so much. I like Canning and Buttrey. Everyone with a clue loves Adell. Thaiss should be a serviceable player. Ward and Rengifo will never be productive. My opinion.
Youth movement is upon us. Otani will be back soon; solid minor league depth; contracts expiring; Rojas (a good potential story there); Latin infielders; Middleton; Trout! Backfilling/drafting some starting pitching and a catcher and we have a team that reminds me of the 2002 team.
It is good to see an exciting Angels pitching prospect be available to come up that can actually help right away. Even if he doesn’t have any immediate success, it still gives us Halo fans hope that the farm can help. I’m excited to see what he and the other kids can do this season. Go Halos!
Okay… and? Lolzzz
You have some major issues. Canning’s ERA in the PCL is .56. If you knew anything about baseball that would mean something. You don’t and it doesn’t.
Canning is one of my favorite pitching prospects, but three games to prove your point? You can’t say this guys doesn’t know anything about baseball if you’re using that sample size lol.
It doesn’t PROVE anything. He has four plus pitches, good command and a high floor. He’s the Angels best pitching prospect in a decade.
It doesn’t PROVE anything. He has four plus pitches, good command and a high floor. He’s the Angels best pitching prospect in a decade. It’s more about the PCL, and less about Canning. I don’t care who you are, it’s an impossible league to pitch in.
I would rather see young prospects get playing time and opportunity over some veterans who are barely serviceable. At least the prospects provide glimmers of hope for future seasons with controllable costs that allows resources to be spent elsewhere
In the case of Thaiss over Bour and anyone over Cozart, I completely agree.
So how did canning do last night?
Eighteen swinging strikes. That’s an amazingly high number.
84.7 average exit velocity. That’s not amazing, just really really good.
The first nine up and nine down with five consecutive strikeouts. Has that been done this year? I doubt it.
Everyone with a clue was impressed by that outing last night.
Agreed, he was terrific first time through. Something to be excited about
I look forward to the film coming out about the life of John Curtiss… starring Keanu Reeves