Chase

Silseth

The final nail in the coffin in his bid for the fifth spot in the rotation may have been a five walk performance in 2 2/3 innings on Monday. The fifth starter role for the Angels will now come down to Reid Detmers or Jack Kochanowicz with Detmers likely being the favorite to get the first crack.

He struck out two and handed out a staggering five free passes. The rough outing does little to aid Silseth’s chances of beating out Reid Detmers and Jack Kochanowicz for the final spot in the Angels’ rotation. The 24-year-old has shown flashes of potential in the past, but it’s never come together at the highest level since breaking into the big leagues back in 2022. He can be safely ignored in most fantasy formats at this juncture, especially given the overabundance of intriguing late-round arms with much higher ceilings.

It probably would have been worse if Silseth hadn’t picked off Zac Veen and Michael Toglia on separate plays. Silseth was making his first start of the spring today, getting the nod over Reed Detmers after three relief appearances. He’s thus far amassed an 8.71 ERA and a 13/5 K/BB in 10 1/3 innings. Silseth’s right arm remains plenty interesting, but after being limited to 35 innings last season, he probably belongs in the minors for now.

The Angels assured Kyle Hendricks that he would have a spot in the rotation when they signed him this offseason. That means four rotation spots are locked up with Hendricks, Tyler Anderson, Yusei Kikuchi, and Jose Soriano, and everybody else is competing for one spot. Kochanowicz has an interesting case for the job since he posted a 2.78 ERA in his final nine starts of the season and pounds the strike zone with a good sinker that induces plenty of groundballs. However, Blum gives Detmers the leg up in the competition but acknowledges that the left-hander “will be on a much shorter leash this year, given how poorly he performed in 2024.” Also, Detmers “still has minor-league options, so he has flexibility” where the Angels could start him in the minors if he doesn’t have a great spring training.

Silseth ended up requiring surgery after experiencing a setback in late June. The 24-year-old righty was limited to just a pair of starts this season for Los Angeles due to elbow issues. No word on the exact nature of the surgery or how long he’ll wind up being sidelined.

Silseth said the problem is resolved now, so it looks like he’ll be back pitching soon. Silseth opened the season in the Angels rotation, but he went on the IL with elbow inflammation after two starts. Since joining Salt Lake on a rehab assignment last month, he has a 9.50 ERA and a 10/13 K/BB ratio in 18 innings over four starts.

Silseth has struggled in a handful of minor league rehab starts over the last few weeks and will get some additional time out of the spotlight in the minors to continue ironing things out. The 24-year-old showed some extremely promising signs during spring training, but struggled in a pair of early-season starts prior to landing on the shelf with elbow inflammation.

The 24-year-old right-hander also issued three walks while striking out a pair in the ballgame. He has been abysmal through three starts at the Triple-A level this season, posting a 10.22 ERA, 2.43 WHIP and a 9/11 K/BB ratio over 12 1/3 innings. He did get up to 92 pitches (56 strikes) in the outing though and with the recent injuries to Jose Soriano and Patrick Sandoval, the Angels may have no choice but to bring Silseth up and roll him out at some point next week.

Giving up three runs in five innings for Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday wasn’t good enough to get Silseth back to the majors just yet. The Angels have off Thursday and Sunday this week, so there’s little harm in keeping Silseth down for now. If he pitches well Friday, he’ll probably be added to the rotation next week. Silseth has been out since early April with elbow inflammation.

Silseth has made a couple rehab starts at this point for the Angels’ Rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate and will face some higher level minor-league competition before return to Los Angeles’ starting rotation mix in a few weeks. The 24-year-old righty has been out since early April recovering from elbow inflammation.