Griffin Canning (SP, LAA) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: First and foremost, happy 23rd birthday to highly-touted prospect and current Los Angeles Angels starter Griffin Canning. The UCLA alumni got the call from the Angels in part due to a fantastic stint at Triple-A Salt Lake this year in which he produced a stifling 0.56 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in three starts across 16.0 IP. This run came off the back of zero HR allowed, a tricky 9.6 K/9, and a fantastically improved BB/9 of 1.1. He started off a bit slow in the majors, but earned his first MLB win on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers with two ER and seven strikeouts in 5.1 IP.

He continues to excel in the K/BB department, as he has produced figures of 12.1 and 1.9 through his first two starts. In conjunction with a 0.9 HR/9 and a .304 opponent BABIP despite just 29.2% hard contact, his FIP of 2.40 suggests that his ERA is a bit inflated at this early point. His next start will come against a Baltimore Orioles squad that is only managing a team OPS of .680, albeit in hitter-friendly Camden Yards, though Canning's 0.6 HR/9 for his professional career indicates that he isn't one to mightily struggle with the power ball. With a fastball that has been hovering around the mid-90s thus far and a curveball that scouts finger as potentially the best pitch in his arsenal, Griffin Canning appears poised to seek whiffs and shut down the Orioles as a late birthday present to himself.