BALTIMORE — As Patrick Sandoval was analyzing what went wrong during his forgettable Opening Day start on Thursday, he took some solace in the fact that it’s just one game in a long season.
And this season, he won’t have to wait quite as long to try again.
The Angels now have a traditional five-man rotation. That’s standard procedure in major league baseball, but something the Angels haven’t done in years.
Because of the unique circumstances of having Shohei Ohtani, the Angels used a six-man rotation almost exclusively in recent years.
While the Angels loved having a pitcher of Ohtani’s caliber, they also dealt with logistical problems because they would not use him on a normal four days of rest.
Ohtani, they reasoned, needed at least five days because of the demands of hitting. So everyone else in the rotation was shuffled to accommodate him.
“There never really was a consistent flow to what days off you were going to get,” Sandoval said.
Now, it’s no longer an issue.
“I’m excited for it,” said right-hander Griffin Canning. “Just kind of staying in our routine a little bit more than we’ve done in the past is going to help.”
Added Sandoval: “I think it’s going to help us, getting us out there more often and not having extra days to kind of sit and have to fill the gaps with what you think is going to work, and then maybe doesn’t work. Getting a consistent rotation is going to help us.”
In 2021 and 2022, the Angels used a true six-man rotation, with the pitchers normally working every sixth game. If there was an off day, that meant pitchers would all get another extra day.
Last season, in an effort to get as many starts out of Ohtani as possible, the Angels put him on a strict six-day rotation, regardless of off days. Sometimes Ohtani would pitch twice in between another pitcher’s starts, leaving that pitcher to have seven or eight days of rest.
“If you go seven or eight days without getting on a mound, it feels like it’s a long time for those little nuances of the game that you’re hyper aware of when you’re out there more frequently,” said veteran left-hander Tyler Anderson, whose signed with the Angels prior to the 2023 season.
Over the last three seasons, the Angels had 279 games in which their starter was working on at least six days of rest. The Padres ranked second in the majors in that span, with 143 games.
The Angels had just 18 games in the last three seasons in which a starter pitched with the traditional four days of rest, and many of those were openers or pitchers working after relief appearances.
The Angels loosened the restrictions somewhat in the final two months of the 2023 season, when Ohtani wasn’t in the rotation.
That included one of the best starts of Reid Detmers’ young career. Detmers pitched 7⅓ scoreless innings on Aug. 16 against the Texas Rangers. He was on just four days of rest from a game in which he gave up seven runs. Former manager Phil Nevin explained part of his reasoning for using Detmers on four days of rest was to minimize the time he had to stew over his bad game.
Anderson said that’s exactly the benefit of pitching more often.
“You don’t have any extra days to think about it, if things go well or bad,” Anderson said. “Before you know it, you’re pitching again, which is great.”
The Angels might not really see a difference until they get into at least May. The schedule includes five off days through May 2, which means that most of the April starts will still be on five days of rest. They will go through the rotation a couple of times on four days of rest during a stretch of 13 games in 13 days, from April 12-24.
Angels general manager Perry Minasian also said they could drop an occasional sixth starter in for a spot start if they feel the pitchers could benefit from a fifth day of rest.
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“One extra day of rest, those are good,” Anderson said. “Anything more than that feels like a lot. We won’t have those often, which is great.”
Anderson and Sandoval are the only real veterans in the group. Canning, Detmers and right-hander Chase Silseth have all started fewer than 65 games in their careers.
For them, more frequent starts simply means speeding up their major league learning curve.
“The more you pitch,” Anderson said, “the better you get at pitching. I’m excited to see what these guys can do.”
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Griffin Canning, 7-8, 4.32 ERA in 2023) at Orioles (RHP Grayson Rodriguez, 7-4, 4.35 in 2023), Saturday, 1:05 p.m. PT, Bally Sports West, 830 AM