The Angels secured their pitching reinforcements right away this offseason, signing both Kikuchi and Hendricks in November to headline and bookend their rotation, respectively. After the trade deadline, Houston had Kikuchi amp up his slider usage 20 points to 37%, which fueled a 10-start surge that saw him post a 2.70 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 25.9% K-BB in 60 innings. That made the Angels comfortable giving the 33-year-old southpaw a three-year deal worth $64 million. Was the slider usage behind the 99-point drop in Kikuchi’s BABIP from Toronto to Houston, or was it some deserved regression setting in that happened to coincide with the arsenal change? Guess we’ll find out soon enough!
Even at his best, Hendricks seemed to live on a tightrope, as he thrived with a command-and-control profile that is out of place in today’s velo- and spin-heavy environment. Despite possessing a fastball that would struggle to break a pane of glass, Hendricks consistently beat the odds from 2015-20, finessing his way to the ninth-lowest ERA (3.17) and 11th-best WAR (19.3) in the league (min. 500 IP). Cracks began to show in 2021 (in his game — the glass pane remained intact), as his strikeout rate plummeted and his home run rate surged. Since then, he has the fourth-highest ERA in baseball at 4.80, with more of the same projected in 2025.
After a huge 2022 with the crosstown rival Dodgers, Anderson completely cratered in his first year as an Angel, but he was able to rebound last season, dropping his ERA 1.62 runs to 3.81 to go along with a 20-point dip in WHIP (to a more palatable 1.29) in 179.1 innings. Projections are essentially splitting the difference between the two seasons, making him more of a classic innings-eater than an impact arm this year.
The upside of this group is primarily found in the arm of Soriano, with a glint of hope still lingering around Detmers. Soriano enjoyed a breakout season in 2024, unleashing 100-mph sinkers on the league en route to a 1.7-WAR season in 113 innings. Arm fatigue slowed him in the second half, limiting him to just five starts, so adding volume and taking 30 turns in the rotation will be just as important as improving his performance in 2025. Detmers’ slider has a stranglehold on me; I just can’t quit this dude. His 6.70 ERA is deceptively high when we look at his 18.2% K-BB rate and 3.77 SIERA. Content warning, but I must bring up his vomit-inducing 1.9 HR/9, which was the second highest in baseball (min. 80 innings). Throw in a league-worst .357 BABIP and the ERA starts to make sense. The projections acknowledge the tangible upside if he can get the rest of his arsenal back in line. He’ll have to showcase his stuff in shorter stints out of the bullpen and earn his way back into the rotation. Truthfully, he could be an instant hit in the ‘pen and stay there all year if things go well.
Freshly named fifth starter Kochanowicz pulled off quite the magic trick last year, netting a 9.4% strikeout rate in 65.1 innings work, the lowest such rate in at least that many innings since Scott Diamond ripped off a 9% mark in 131 innings in 2013. His 96-mph sinker doesn’t miss bats, but it does keep the ball down (57% groundball rate), so as long as the defense is turning the grounders into outs consistently, he can string some success together in waves. The bill will eventually come due on allowing that much contact, though; it always does. More of the same groundball goodness in spring was enough to secure Kochanowicz a rotation spot in an upset over Detmers.
Silseth has shown the occasional flash, though his inability to keep the ball in the park with any consistency has limited his upside. Eric’s middle reliever tag for him on the 2023 Angels prospect list is looking more prescient by the day. Dana, the team’s top prospect, will get some more seasoning in the high minors after debuting directly from Double-A last year and should be the first man up if a long-term opportunity opens up in the rotation.
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com