The 22-year-old Mission Viejo native gave the LA Angels big crowd on hand (including a reported 300 people in his own personal rooting section) a look at just how high his ceiling could be. Canning started the game with three perfect innings, striking out the side in the second inning, and struck out six in a row at one point.
Some initial impressions:
- He’s willing to throw his breaking stuff, and does so effectively. Unlike most young pitchers, Canning threw his fastball less than half the time. Most of the time, Canning would go between fastball and 90 MPH slider, but he would also throw a big bender of a curveball that’s reminiscent of Cliff Lee‘s big curve, with a big drop as it comes towards the plate.