The Los Angeles Angels starting rotation has taken a few hits this season. Reid Detmers was sent down to Triple-A after several bad outings, Patrick Sandoval was lost for the year with Tommy John surgery on the horizon and Chase Silseth is still working his way back from an early injury. All of that was a perfect storm for an unexpected starter on Thursday night: Jack Kochanowicz.
The Angels needed a starter on Thursday night against the Seattle Mariners in the opener to the final series before the All-Star break. They turned to Kochanowicz, a 23-year-old right-hander who was taken by the Angels in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft. He ranks as the No. 7 prospect in the organization via MLB Pipeline.
He turned heads by throwing complete games in two of his last three outings, but had never thrown a pitch above Double-A before the Angels called him to start on Thursday. While the young starter had some momentum, the early results showed the gap between Rocket City and the Majors.
Kochanowicz gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits with one strikeout in three innings of work. The first five batters he’s faced reached base safely and the first four did so with base hits. It was far from perfect, but it gave him some learning lessons in future starts, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“Definitely a dream come true but not exactly what I wanted,” Kochanowicz said. “But I feel like it’s a good outing to build off of and keep going.”
“It’s just about continuing to trust myself,” Kochanowicz said. “It’s the main thing and not letting it do too much in my head, but just trusting myself. It’s the same game, but I have to just trust myself.”
Manager Ron Washington spoke about what went wrong for the young pitcher in his MLB debut and echoed a similar sentiment of learning experience.
“He has a lot of sink on his ball, but in that first inning, he left it too high,” said manager Ron Washington. “He came out in the second inning and sort of cleaned up a little bit. But they just started working him pretty good. I didn’t think it was going to get any better. I thought he went far enough. It’s an experience for him.”
It’s unclear if Kochanowicz will stay a part of the Major League rotation after the All-Star break. Either way, getting the chance to start a Major League game is huge for a young pitcher trying to work his way through the minor league system. Even if he is sent down, he can go with the confidence of having pitched at the highest level.
Caden Dana representing Angels at Futures Game
The MLB All-Star Futures Game is a chance for some of the game’s best prospects to show their ability on a big stage. The American and National League’s best — at least one top prospect from each team — will play a seven-inning game as a part of All-Star Weekend festivities. And the Angels have selected their top prospect, Caden Dana, to participate.