Angels notes: Andrew Heaney, playoff odds, John Lamb

Wednesday was the first workout for Angels pitchers and catchers in Tempe. A few pitchers will be late with visa issues, and Alex Claudio is dealing with a hip injury, but here are some other notes from Day 1.

Links

• Andrew Heaney invested in a Rapsodo machine at his house in Oklahoma and worked with former Angels pitching coach Doug White this offseason. Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic has more.
• Heaney in a Zoom interview on Wednesday said, “I wasn’t working on any single pitch. I just wanted to get a better understanding of what I do, how I can be better with it, and what little changes I can make here and there.”
• Joe Maddon talked about how Heaney can have a breakout season in 2021, writes Jeff Fletcher at the Orange County Register.
• Maddon also talked about the effect quality assurance coach Tim Buss can have this spring, writes Rhett Bollinger at MLB.com.
• FanGraphs projected standings have the Angels at 83.5 wins this season, with a 23-percent chance of winning the American League West and 34.6-percent chance to make the postseason.
• John Lamb, who pitched in the Angels system for two years, and made the majors in 2018, was suspended 50 games for marijuana in 2017. He talked to Pedro Moura at The Athletic about his fight with MLB and with prescription painkillers.
• Shohei Ohtani got things started in Wednesday’s workout: