Patrick Sandoval

Patrick Jordan Sandoval (born October 18, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Sandoval was born and raised in the Orange County city of Mission Viejo, California.

He attended Mission Viejo High School, where he was a multi-sport athlete and became a notable baseball prospect with selections to all-county and all-league teams.

Patrick Sandoval was born on October 18, 1996, in Mission Viejo, California, to Jorge, originally from Mexico City, and Robin.

He grew up attending Angels games at Angel Stadium and his favorite player was then-Cardinals first baseman and eventual Angels teammate Albert Pujols, doing a book report on his biography in the third grade and emulating his batting stance in Little League.

When he was 8 years old, Sandoval was a member of an Angels-themed Little League team and tried pitching for the first time that year.

Sandoval attended Mission Viejo High School, where he played baseball and football as a punter.

In 2013, his sophomore season, Sandoval posted a 7–5 record and a 2.58 earned run average (ERA).

As a junior, the Orange County Register named Sandoval as a top player in the county to watch during the 2014 season, alongside eventual major leaguers such as Griffin Canning and Kolby Allard.

He gained further media attention on April 30 for throwing a two-hit shutout against Capistrano Valley High School to aid Mission Viejo in its CIF Southern Section (CIF-SS) playoff hunt and improve his season stats to a 6–2 record with a 2.38 ERA.

He threw another shutout on May 13, blanking Trabuco Hills High School and receiving praise from his coach for inducing an increased amount of whiffs.

At the conclusion of the season, the Register named Sandoval to its All-County second team and he was also selected to the All-CIF-SS first team.

On August 10, Sandoval partook in the Perfect Game All-American Classic at Petco Park in San Diego, pitching 2⁄3 of an inning and recording a strikeout.

In November 2014, his senior year in high school, Sandoval signed his National Letter of Intent to play college baseball for Vanderbilt University.

Initially committed to play college baseball for Vanderbilt University and later for the University of Southern California, Sandoval forewent college when he was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 11th round of the 2015 MLB draft.

On March 31, 2015, Sandoval threw a two-hit shutout against top-ranked San Clemente High School.

On May 11, he switched his collegiate commitment from Vanderbilt to the University of Southern California (USC).

Sandoval finished his senior season at 9–3 with a 0.97 ERA.

On June 6, Sandoval threw a complete game while giving up two hits and one unearned run to aid Mission Viejo in its 3–1 victory over Chino Hills High School in the CIF-SS Division 2 championship game.

Following the season, he was selected to the Register's All-County first team and was named the CIF-SS Division 2 Most Valuable Player.

The Houston Astros selected Sandoval in the 11th round, with the 319th overall pick, of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft.

Sandoval initially signaled intent to eschew his draft selection and attend USC, but he ultimately signed with the Astros after they offered him a $900,000 bonus; at $800,000 over-slot, it was the largest bonus given to a player picked beyond the first 10 rounds of the 2015 draft.

Astros scouting director Mike Elias called Sandoval a "premium" prospect and noted that his scouting department had been closely following his development throughout the spring.

After signing, Sandoval made his professional debut that season in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League (GCL) with the GCL Astros.

In his first professional game on August 1, 2015, he pitched two innings while giving up eight hits and five runs (four earned) and striking out three against the GCL Phillies.

He finished his first professional season at 0–3 with a 6.08 ERA in six starts.

On June 22, 2016, the Astros assigned Sandoval to the Rookie-level Greeneville Astros of the Appalachian League, where he pitched to a 2–3 record and 5.30 ERA in 13 games (eight starts).

On May 14, 2017, Sandoval was promoted to the Class A-Advanced Buies Creek Astros of the Carolina League.

In one start with Buies Creek, he surrendered three earned runs across 2 2⁄3 innings for a 10.13 ERA.

On June 19, Sandoval was demoted to the Class A Short Season Tri-City ValleyCats of the New York–Penn League.

In four starts with Tri-City, Sandoval went 1–1 with a 3.79 ERA across 19 innings.

On July 11, he was promoted to the Single A Quad Cities River Bandits of the Midwest League.

Quad Cities primarily used Sandoval as a starter but intermittently used him out of the bullpen.

In nine appearances (seven starts), he compiled a 2–2 record with a 3.83 ERA with 48 strikeouts across 40 innings.

Between the three teams, Sandoval had a 3–4 record and 4.09 ERA in 14 games (11 starts) and 78 strikeouts.

After spending multiple seasons in the Astros farm system, Sandoval was traded to the Los Angeles Angels for Martín Maldonado in 2018.

He made his major league debut in 2019 and spent his first two brief seasons alternating between the starting rotation and the bullpen.

Sandoval began 2021 as a reliever but was moved into the starting rotation shortly thereafter.

On August 19, 2022, he threw a shutout at Comerica Park on 97 pitches, becoming the first Angels player in six seasons to throw a Maddux.

Sandoval pitched for the Mexico national baseball team during the 2023 World Baseball Classic and earned All-WBC honors.