The Angels are in a familiar spot, picking up the pieces after a poor performance from their rotation led to another disappointing season.
While much has gone wrong for the Angels during what is now an 11-season playoff drought, one of the most consistent failures has been in the starting rotation.
The Angels rank 26th in the majors this season with a 4.85 ERA from their starting pitchers. It will be the seventh time in eight years that they rank in the bottom half of the majors in that critical metric.
This season, at least eight of the top 12 teams in starters’ ERA are going to the playoffs.
Looking to 2026, the only two pitchers locked into the rotation are right-hander José Soriano and left-hander Yusei Kikuchi.
The Angels could go get one or two mid-range or lower starters via trade or free agency, as they did last year. But any significant boost to their rotation is going to have to come from within, which is a route that hasn’t worked lately. Soriano is the only starter to come through the Angels farm system to amount to anything since the days of Jered Weaver and Garrett Richards. (Shohei Ohtani was immediately a major leaguer when the Angels signed him.)
The Angels believe they are finally positioned to change that. They thought that last year, only to have Soriano and Jack Kochanowicz take steps backward and pitchers like Reid Detmers, Chase Silseth and Sam Bachman pitch out of the bullpen. The prospects they were most excited about last year are still prospects.
Despite failing to see any improvement in the big league results from the rotation, the Angels still have faith in their stable of young starting options, which was bolstered by the No. 2 pick in the summer’s draft.
A rival scout who has watched the Angels entire farm system for the last several years said there is help on the way, although he differs with the industry consensus on which pitchers are the best.
“I think they have some guys who have a chance to fit that starter’s role for them and have some impact at the big league level,” the scout said. “They just have to learn how to pitch at the big league level. As you know, it’s a different beast.”
After Kikuchi and Soriano, the pitchers who figure to be competing for an opening day rotation spot are right-handers Victor Mederos, Caden Dana and Kochanowicz, and left-handers Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri and Detmers. (Silseth and Bachman will compete for jobs in 2026, but at this point, they appear to be more likely as bullpen options.)
Detmers, 26, is the most intriguing choice. After getting shifted to the bullpen this season, he was at times dominant. Assuming his current elbow injury isn’t a long-term issue, the Angels will be able to decide if they want to try him in the rotation again next season or keep him as a high-leverage reliever.
Dana, 21, who starts on Tuesday at Milwaukee, has a 6.32 ERA in four big league games and he had a 5.93 ERA at Triple-A. The Angels still believe he made progress this season. His nine strikeouts in 4⅔ innings in his last start suggest he has the stuff to be a winner.
“I think Caden has No. 1 stuff, but at the end of the day, he’s probably going to be a No. 3 starter,” the scout said.
The scout is also high on Mederos, who changed his career trajectory when the Angels reworked his mechanics this year. Mederos, 24, had a 3.39 ERA in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League, and then a 7.41 ERA in five big league games. Mederos is missing the end of this season with what the Angels have called shoulder inflammation.
“I thought he should have been with the big league club after I saw one of his starts (in Triple-A),” the scout said. “I like him. I think he can start for them. I think he can be in that 1-3 hole in their rotation.”
Kochanowicz, 24, had a 6.81 ERA in the majors in a nightmarish season. The Angels believe he has the talent, based on what he showed in 2024. They are going to try to get him back to pitching at the bottom of the zone, which is his strength. The scout said Kochanowicz has “a great arm, but he’s not a starter.”
Farris, 24, and Aldegheri, 23, both pitched well at Double-A this season, and Farris is now in the big league rotation. The scout projects both as potential back-end starters, but starters nonetheless.
All of those pitchers have been in the big leagues. Behind them is a group of right-handers with little or no major league experience, but some high-end talent. These pitchers are all long shots to open the 2026 season in the rotation, but any of them could pitch in the majors at some point next year. The group includes George Klassen, Chris Cortez, Ryan Johnson, Walbert Ureña, Joel Hurtado and Tyler Bremner, who was just drafted.
Klassen, 23, touches 100 mph, giving him stuff that is unmistakably good enough for the majors. His 5.35 ERA at Double-A was unimpressive, but his season was interrupted by a line drive to the head. He struck out 126 in 102⅔ innings. The only question is whether he can develop the control and complementary pitches to make him a starter, as opposed to a reliever.
“It’s power, power, power,” the scout said. “I think he pitches to the radar gun. … At the end of the day, I’ve got him as a seventh-, eighth-inning bridge guy. I don’t think he has the traits of a starter at the big league level.”
Cortez, 22, could be the sleeper of the entire organization. He had a 4.28 ERA at Class-A in his first year as a professional this season, and he’s currently listed as the No. 16 prospect in the system by Baseball America. The scout, as well as some within the Angels system, love Cortez, though.
“I’ve got him as the best of all their pitchers I’ve seen this year,” the scout said. “He’s No. 1 for me. … He’s got a big fastball. It’s a devastating pitch when he gets it down and away. I think his slider is a plus pitch with swing and miss. The cutter is very serviceable. He is durable. The pitch that needs to come is the changeup. When that pitch comes, he’s going to be a problem for hitters.”
Johnson, 23, began this season in the big league bullpen. He struggled, and was sent down to Class-A, where he dominated as a starter. Although the prospect rankings generally consider him to be one of the Angels’ top pitchers, the scout is skeptical and thinks of him as a future reliever.
Ureña, 21, posted a 4.39 ERA at Double-A. He’s still young and inconsistent, but the stuff is there. The Angels like him, but outside evaluators are mixed.
Hurtado, 24, had a 2.76 ERA at Double-A, in just 81⅔ innings. Like Cortez, he could be a sleeper.
“I’ve got him as a mid-rotation starter, like a 2 or 3,” the scout said. “He ranged from 98 to 93. He knew how to pump the brakes on the fastball. He does not allow hitters to sit on specific pitches.”
Bremner, 21, is the Angels’ No. 1 pitching prospect, based solely on his amateur career. A product of UC Santa Barbara, he has not pitched a professional inning yet. Once he gets going in the minors next season, the Angels are likely to push him as quickly as his performance allows.
Beyond that group are some right-handed starters who could contribute in 2027 or beyond, most notably Barrett Kent and 2025 draft picks Chase Shores and Nate Snead. Right-handers Trey Gregory-Alford and Dylan Jordan and left-hander Johnny Slawinski are all still teenagers, so it’s too early to say what they may become.
The Angels desperately need at least one or two pitchers from that list to become at least as good as Soriano, and two or three of them to become competent back-of-the-rotation starters. Turning a couple of them into high leverage relievers wouldn’t hurt either.
If they keep whiffing on pitching as they have for most of the past decade, next September will look the same as this one.
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Caden Dana, 4-2, 6.32) at Brewers (RHP Freddy Peralta, 16-6, 2.69), Tuesday, 4:40 p.m. PT, FanDuel Sports Network West, 830 AM