TEMPE, Ariz. — Benji Gil, who is the manager of Team Mexico and the Angels’ infield coach, had a simple explanation for why he picked Patrick Sandoval to start Mexico’s matchup against Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.
“I just think he’s awesome,” Gil said Saturday morning, officially announcing what had been tentatively planned for weeks. “I think he’s a great matchup for anybody.”
Of course, there is more to the decision than that. Gil is also trying to keep his starters working on the schedule that fits with their teams, and also to plan for Mexico’s future games in the WBC.
Dodgers ace Julio Urías, Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Taijuan Walker and Houston Astros righty José Urquidy are also in Mexico’s rotation.
Gil said Urías will start Mexico’s opener, on March 11, against Colombia. Sandoval then starts the next day against Team USA at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Mike Trout, who is the captain of Team USA, said Sandoval has been “giving me that little look” in the clubhouse already.
Mexico is the favorite to join the USA in advancing from the five-team pool in Arizona. Urías would be in line to pitch the quarterfinal March 17 or 18 in Miami, and then Sandoval could pitch the semifinal March 19 or 20.
Sandoval, who will be able to pitch only about four innings, against Team USA, said he’s pumped for the opportunity.
“It’s a great challenge,” said Sandoval, who will work three innings for the Angels on Sunday. “Obviously they have an insane lineup, so it’ll be fun. It’ll be a good little tuneup for the season. … It’ll be cool to face a lineup like that before the season and see where your stuff’s at, and compete at a really high level. Hopefully it’ll be a little tuneup for a playoff situation later on this year. It’s going to be fun.”
Angels manager Phil Nevin also revealed that he has Sandoval scheduled to start the second game of the season – after Shohei Ohtani pitches the opener – and that would also line up Sandoval to pitch the Angels’ home opener April 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“There’s a lot of things that he has worked very hard on and he’s earned these opportunities, and he’s excited about all of them,” Nevin said. “I’m excited to watch (the WBC start against Team USA). I just got my ticket yesterday. So I’ll be there. Right behind home plate. Front row.”
The two spotlight games for Sandoval come on the heels of his second consecutive season as one of the Angels’ best starters. He posted a 2.91 ERA in 27 starts last season.
“I think last year his great season kind of went under the radar,” Gil said. “Obviously, this won’t make up for all of it. And it’s a pitch limit, so they’ll only see three or four innings, but if they see four innings of really good pitching against basically an All-Star team, and even more intensity than an All-Star Game, a more meaningful game, then it’ll come to light how good he really is.”
STILL TRYING
Right-hander Carlos Estévez has been experimenting, at the urging of the Angels, with pitching more at the top of the strike zone.
In the small sample of two games, it’s not working, but neither the Angels nor Estévez are saying there is any reason for concern.
“I just feel like I haven’t gotten going yet, like 100%,” Estévez said Saturday morning. “I still feel kind of weird. I think I’m going to get it. I just need to face more hitters and once I’m comfortable with it, I think I’m going to be fine.”
Estévez has walked six of the nine hitters he’s faced in two games this spring.
The Angels signed Estévez to a two-year, $13.5-million deal over the winter, coming off a season in which he had a 3.47 ERA pitching for the Colorado Rockies. The Angels believe he’ll be even better out of the hitter-friendly environment of Coors Field.
Estévez throws a 98 mph fastball, and his slider was a much better swing-and-miss pitch on the road than at home. Estévez said he still doesn’t have the feel yet for the slider, in addition to trying to get a hang of fastballs up in the zone.
He’s still open to change, though.
“With the way that the game has changed and stuff like that, I would like to try it,” Estévez said. “It’s not I’m not gonna do that because I’ve been doing this for years. You see guys that pitch completely different than what they used to and they have been in the league forever. I can try.”
Estévez also said he’d like to pitch a little more often in spring training to get settled. He has pitched in just two of the Angels’ seven exhibition games.
“I’m the type of guy that the more I pitch, I get better and better,” he said. “I’m new here. Still trying to figure out stuff.”
Estévez is on the reserve roster for the Dominican Republic’s WBC squad, but he said he doesn’t need to join that team for its games in Miami unless they need him for the active roster.
NOTES
There are still plenty of choices for Nevin in how he could use his infielders. Barring injury, they’ll have Jared Walsh, Anthony Rendon, David Fletcher, Luis Rengifo, Gio Urshela and Brandon Drury on the Opening Day roster. Rendon is a third baseman and Walsh is a first baseman, but the other four could play at least three or four positions. “I gotta be honest, now it’s starting to keep me up at night, as we get closer,” Nevin said. “I start thinking about Opening Day, what it looks like, who (the Oakland A’s) might throw at us. We’re gonna have a bench of a lot of guys that might be starting a lot of places. There are going to be some difficult conversations, but I think everybody’s on board and understands that.” …
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Nevin said the Angels are still undecided whether to develop right-hander José Soriano as a starter or reliever. Soriano was the Angels top pitching prospect before undergoing two Tommy John surgeries. Now he’s in big-league camp and a part of the 40-man roster. He was scheduled for his second outing of the spring Saturday. “You can see him coming in and blowing it out for one inning or if he can sustain it and he can go for five, six innings, then obviously that’s a great spot for him too,” Nevin said. …
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