Griffin Canning took a pounding on Wednesday, and now he is wondering if he may have been tipping off the opposition somehow.
The Los Angeles Angels righty, who was tagged by the Oakland Athletics for four runs (including three home runs) in four innings, said after the game that he was concerned that he had possibly been tipping his pitches.
“Honestly I felt like I had some of the better stuff I had this year,” said Canning, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. “I thought they did a really good job of laying off some good sliders that were down and away.”
He specifically addressed whether or not he may have been tipping pitches.
“I think it’s just something you consistently have to be on the lookout for … I felt like my stuff was really good today. It could just be a product of them being Major League Baseball players they get paid a lot of money too. They just could have gotten out there and just really executed a game plan really well. Or there could be something there. I don’t know.”
The Angels, who were at home on Wednesday, fell to 7-12 on the year with the 8-4 loss to Oakland. Canning, for his part, is still winless on the season (0-3) and now has a 4.42 ERA in 18.1 innings pitched thus far.
The 24-year-old recently overcame a throwing elbow scare, so to feel good physically but still get rocked has to be discouraging for him. If the issue for Canning is indeed tipping off his pitches, perhaps he can learn something from this fellow hurler.
