Jack

Kochanowicz

Soriano will follow Opening Day starter Yusei Kikuchi with a favorable matchup against the floundering White Sox. The remainder of Los Angeles’ starting rotation has been set, but the exact order has yet to be finalized between Tyler Anderson, Kyle Hendricks and Jack Kochanowicz.

Kochanowicz’s groundball ability is very real, but he’ll be producing those grounders in front of a thoroughly mediocre Angels infield. It’s one more reason to think he’s the wrong choice to open up as the team’s fifth starter. He did have a nice spring, though, with his 2.79 ERA in 19 1/3 innings.

Angels manager Ron Washington made it official that Jack Kochanowicz has locked up the fifth spot in the rotation with Detmers moving to relief. It’s a substantial hit to his immediate fantasy appeal. The 25-year-old southpaw struck out 17 over 19 1/3 innings this spring in Cactus League action. His stuff should play up in shorter relief outings, but we’re not anticipating him generating enough volume to make an impact in shallow mixed leagues.

That seems like the right call. Washington still wouldn’t confirm whether Reid Detmers or Jack Kochanowicz would open up as the fifth starter. Washington left the door open for Anderson to start games in the future.

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.

Kochanowicz didn’t have his best command, as he walked three against just one strikeout. The 24-year-old was impressive in his previous spring starts, but saw his ERA jump from 1.00 to 2.92 with this shaky Cactus League outing. Kochanowicz seems likely to be a backend starter for the Angels, and while he doesn’t miss many bats, his ability to (usually) throw strikes while limiting hard contact makes him an intriguing streaming option.

The 24-year-old right-hander struck out two and didn’t walk a batter in the impressive showing. He was so efficient in navigating his four innings that he needed to finish his work for the day in the bullpen just to reach his scheduled pitch count. Kochanowicz has been awfully impressive so far this spring, registering a 1.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and a 6/1 K/BB ratio over his first nine innings.

Kochanowicz will have his Cactus League outing pushed back with Caden Dana getting the start in Kochanowicz’s place.

Kochanowicz fired a scoreless inning to open the contest, but he gave up a pair an inning later thanks to some poor defense in left field from Taylor Ward. He did strike out three, which is encouraging to see considering how much he struggled to miss bats in 2024. He was still effective regardless of that, and has a good — if not guaranteed — chance of being a starter for the Angels to open 2025.

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.