The Angels lost to the San Diego Padres, 4-1, in a spring training game at Peoria Stadium on Sunday.
PUJOLS PLAYS FULL GAME: Albert Pujols became the first Angels regular to play all nine innings of a spring training game. In his final at-bat in the ninth inning, Pujols launched his first home run of the spring over the left-field wall. After going 2 for 4, he is hitting .394 for the spring.
ON THE MOUND: Ohtani finished an impressive two-way outing by giving up only one run, two hits and collecting five strikeouts in four innings. In the bullpen, closer Raisel Iglesias and relievers Chris Rodriguez and Mike Mayers each threw one scoreless inning. Right-hander Ty Buttrey allowed three runs in one inning, although only one was earned after right fielder Dexter Fowler dropped a fly ball to begin the inning.
RODRIGUEZ’S ROLE: Maddon said he could see Rodriguez, the 22-year-old ranked as the club’s second-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, in either a starting or bullpen role. A starter by trade, the hard-throwing right-hander is bouncing back from a couple injury-plagued minor league seasons this spring and has given up four runs in 6⅓ innings with 10 strikeouts.
“That’s a question that’s been bandied about a bit,” Maddon said. “I don’t know the answer to that specifically. If you look at him right now, he looks like a relief pitcher to me. But that doesn’t mean he can’t start. Just looking at the way he comes after you, the physical stuff, how intimidating he can be, in the short term, it’s very interesting.”
UP NEXT: Griffin Canning will pitch when the Angels host the Chicago Cubs in Tempe on Monday. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. TV: Fox Sports West. Radio: AM 830.
