Andrew Heaney expected to start Opening Day for Angels

With the Angels opening up their season on July 24, it looks as if the Angels have decided who will be taking the bump for the first game of the season. On Sunday, Angels manager Joe Maddon said that he expects left-hander Andrew Heaney to get the start on Opening Day.

Heaney would be the fourth different Opening Day starter for the Angels over the last four seasons. Dating back to 2017, Ricky Nolasco, Garrett Richards and Trevor Cahill have all gotten the honor of starting the first game of the season.

This will be Heaney’s sixth season with the Angels. He missed some time last year, making only 18 starts. He went 4-6 with a 4.91 ERA. In 95 ¹⁄₃ innings he struck out 118 and walked 30, posted a SO/9 of 11.1 and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly four-to-one.

The Angels have been busy this offseason, acquiring multiple arms to bolster their starting rotation. They picked up Dylan Bundy and Julio Teherán. In addition, they expect to add Shohei Ohtani back into the rotation as well. Ultimately, it looks like Heaney will get the nod.

Other Angels news

• Griffin Canning, a former UCLA star who showed promise as a rookie in 2019, hopes to break the Angels’ bad-luck streak with platelet-rich plasma injections. The 24-year-old right-hander had a PRP injection in early March after an MRI test revealed chronic changes to the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and acute irritation in the joint.
• Mike Trout’s mother has a powerful message for everyone out there. She’s not wrong.