Griffin Alexander Canning was born on May 11, 1996, he is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
The Los Angeles Angels selected Canning with the 47th pick in the second round of the 2017 MLB draft. He signed with the Angels for a $1,459,200 signing bonus, but did not pitch in 2017.
He made his professional debut in 2018 with the Inland Empire 66ers of the Class A-Advanced California League, and after pitching 8.2 scoreless innings, he was promoted to the Mobile BayBears of the Class AA Southern League.
On April 30, 2019, the Angels promoted Canning to the major leagues, and he made his debut that night, against the Toronto Blue Jays, recording six strikeouts over 4+1⁄3 innings pitched.
In 2020, Canning went 2-3 with a 3.99 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 11 starts. He was tied for the AL lead among pitchers with three defensive runs saved and made just one error out of 16 chances. Canning went on to win his first Gold Glove Award that season.
In 2021, Canning went 5-4 with a 5.60 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 13 starts. On July 3, 2021, Canning was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake. On August 10, 2021, the Angels announced that Canning would miss the rest of the season with a low back stress fracture.
Griffin has never divulged any information about his parents, he is a very private person who likes to keep his personal life away from media attention.