ANAHEIM — Jack Kochanowicz will start Monday night’s series opener against the Boston Red Sox, giving the Angels right-hander another chance to try out his new toy, a one-seam changeup that he leaned heavily on in last Wednesday’s 5⅓-inning, two-hit, two-run, eight-strikeout effort in a 3-2 win over the New York Yankees.
“I was definitely happy with the way it was coming out,” said Kochanowicz, who induced seven of his 12 swinging strikes in Yankee Stadium with his changeup. “When you’re getting swings like that, you know it’s working.”
Pitching coach Barry Enright suggested the grip change – one that helps Kochanowicz get the same spin on his changeup that he does on his 96-mph sinker – before a June 13 game in Baltimore in which Kochanowicz allowed two runs before a fifth-inning rain delay ended his night.
The result is a changeup that not only sinks but fades away from left-handed hitters, who are batting .305 with a .937 OPS and 13 homers in 200 plate appearances against Kochanowicz this season. The 24-year-old has held right-handed hitters to a .254 average, .665 OPS and two homers in 137 plate appearances.
“I think it will be a good weapon–having something to go away [from left-handed hitters] is huge,” Kochanowicz said. “The changeup I was throwing before, it was going down, but it didn’t have that traditional fade to it. I wanted more horizontal movement.”
Kochanowicz averaged 90.9 mph on the 18 changeups he threw in New York, up from the 89.7 mph he averaged on the pitch in his first 14 starts.
One was a 94-mph changeup that struck out reigning American League most valuable player Aaron Judge in the first inning, a pitch Statcast identified as a sinker but Kochanowicz said was a changeup.
Ideally, Kochanowicz would like to keep his changeup in the 90-mph range to differentiate it more from his sinker and 96-mph four-seamer.
“I saw that–it surprised me, definitely,” Kochanowicz said of his 94-mph “off-speed” pitch to Judge. “I think I was just fired up for the at-bat. He’s the best hitter in the world.”
TROUT PASSES TEST
Mike Trout gave his bruised left knee its first real test since coming off the injured list in late-May when he scored from first base on Taylor Ward’s third-inning double Saturday night. He may not have aced it, but he passed.
“It wasn’t bad,” Trout said on Sunday. “Just dealing with the soreness after games. I felt it a little bit running, but it’s not getting worse.”
Trout has made all 21 of his starts since his return at designated hitter, and Montgomery couldn’t put a date on a potential return to the field.
“It’s limited now,” acting manager Ray Montgomery said of Trout’s pregame defensive work, “but I think in his mind, there’s a progression coming. Exercising caution is the most important thing, but in the same breath, he wants to get back out there. You guys know him.”
Trout has historically chafed at DH days, believing he is a better hitter when he plays both sides of the ball, but the need to keep the three-time AL MVP’s bat in the lineup currently outweighs the risk of aggravating the knee injury by playing him in the field.
“It’s really hard for him,” Montgomery said of Trout being relegated to DH. “I can’t relate. I was never that talented. When you do what he does for as long as he’s done it, to have to be restricted in what you do, it’s tough.”
Is Trout getting antsy to return to right field?
“No doubt,” he said. “I like being engaged. It’s a little different because you (don’t) have the defense to get your mind off of hitting. It’s definitely a different mindset, but at least I’m in the lineup.”
DAY OF REST
Zach Neto was not in Sunday’s lineup, a scheduled day off for the shortstop and leadoff man who had started all but one of the Angels’ 58 games since returning from right-shoulder surgery on April 18.
Neto hit .281 with an .820 OPS, 10 homers and 26 RBIs in his first 49 games but entered Sunday with a .189 average (7 for 37), .539 OPS, no homers and no RBIs in his previous nine games.
“Obviously, there’s never a good time for a guy to have to get a rest,” Montgomery said, “but at some point you have to step in and say you need a rest.
UP NEXT
Red Sox (RHP Walker Buehler, 5-5, 5.95 ERA) at Angels (RHP Jack Kochanowicz, 3-8, 5.38 ERA), Monday, 6:38 p.m., FDSN West, 830 AM.