Andrew Heaney Needs More Time And That’s Cool
- Updated: April 8, 2015
(Image via Twitter)
The Angels are going to open the season with four starting pitchers in the rotation instead of five, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
I suspected that was a possibility, as they (like a lot of teams) have an early off day which they can use to their advantage in setting up a rotation and carrying either an extra bench bat or relief pitcher before truly starting the day-to-day grind of the season in mid-April.
With the four man rotation news, though, it would appear Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano are out of luck, considering Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Matt Shoemaker and Hector Santiago are in the fold.
This is smart for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the development of both Heaney and Tropeano, and here’s why.
I write some things about the Colorado Rockies, occasionally. One of the Rockies biggest story lines this spring is the ascension of their two top pitching prospects, Eddie Butler and Jon Gray. The Rockies brought Butler up last year before he was ready, it was a disaster, he got injured, he scuffled, and then he went back down.
Now, they had him fighting for a job again this spring, until he got injured, and he’s out of the running (for a little while). They’ve turned to Gray as a potential rotation savior (who’s never pitched in the majors!) and are considering making him an Opening Day member of the rotation. This is called “rushing.”
The Rockies are not very good, and they also have a lot of injured pitchers, so they have to do things like that. The Angels, though, don’t have the same problems.
They’ve got injured pitchers, sure, with Tyler Skaggs done for the season and Garrett Richards still working back, but they’ve also got the depth to soften the blow.
I know Hector Santiago isn’t as sexy a pick as Heaney or as dominant a pick as Richards, but there’s something to be said about the numbers he puts up as a fourth or fifth starter. A lot of teams would take a guy like that. Don’t take him for granted!
So, Santiago and his ilk can allow Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano to develop themselves for a bit in AAA. No rush, no pressure, no bright lights in the big leagues until they are ready. That’s a great thing. And maybe in about three months, we’ll be talking about what a revelation Heaney is once he reaches Angel Stadium.
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