Angels Win Opening Series Due to Starting Pitching
The Los Angeles Angels took their opening series of the 2025 season against the Chicago White Sox, winning a rain (and hail) delayed Sunday matinee by the score of 3-2. They begin a three-game series against the Cardinals in St. Louis today. While three games is hardly a large enough sample size to clear up early questions about the team, it’s more than enough time to add to the list of questions that Angels fans had going into the season.
Strong Starting Pitching to Open 2025 Season
The Angels’ pitching kicked off the season with strong performances from their starters. Yusei Kikuchi, Jose Soriano, and Jack Kochanowicz all opened the season with quality starts. The three quality starts to open the year hadn’t been done by the Angels since 2011. Yet, all quality starts are not created equal.
Game One: Yusei Kikuchi
In game one, Kikuchi didn’t issue a walk in the Angels 8-1 Opening Day loss. He did, however, give up three extra-base hits, including a home run to Austin Slater. Kikuchi’s combination of three earned runs over six innings is the worst quality start one can have. Still, the White Sox did the majority of their damage against Ryan Johnson, the Angels rookie who skipped the minor leagues. After a clean seventh inning, Johnson was shelled in the eighth, giving up four hits, including two home runs.
Game Two: Jose Soriano
Luckily, the Angels had Jose Soriano take the mound for game two. As mentioned in the 2025 Season Preview, Soriano was a lightning rod of hope last season. So it comes as no surprise that he was ready to go in 2025; simply put, he was electric in getting the victory. He allowed only two hits, both singles, and two walks over seven innings. He had five strikeouts to finish off his pitching line. If there’s any issue to be had with Soriano’s start it’s that manager Ron Washington didn’t leave him out there to pitch the eighth inning since he’d only thrown 73 pitches to that point. On the other hand, it was nice to see the 1-2 punch of Ben Joyce and Kenley Jansen at the back of the bullpen.
Game Three: Jack Kochanowicz
In the rubber match that was game three, young righty Jack Kochanowicz had five marvelous innings. Unfortunately, the first inning was not one of those innings. After being given a 2-0 lead, which was the same amount of runs the Angels scored in the first two games combined, Kochanowicz immediately gave it back. Nick Maton led off the game for Chicago with a home run. Then, ex-Angels catcher Matt Thaiss drove in Luis Robert Jr. with a single. The next five innings saw Kochanowicz give up just one hit which was quickly erased by a double play. He saw the minimum 15 batters through those five innings. Also worth noting is that he didn’t allow a walk and struck out four batters. Kenely Jansen locked down the game for his second save of the season.
Angels Offense is Absent in Chicago
The Angels scored five runs in three games against the team considered the worst in baseball by nearly every media outlet. Five runs!!! The team only had 19 hits in 27 innings. Two home runs, one of which was Kyren Paris’s eighth inning blast that was the difference maker in game two. Two doubles. No one on the team has multiple extra-base hits. On the other hand, they did strikeout 23 times, including four apiece from Jorge Soler and Tim Anderson. Again, there’s no need to overreact...yet. Mike Trout’s slow start isn’t cause for concern because a healthy Trout is an MVP candidate. But not every offense they face is going to be as anemic as the White Sox.
Notes and Transactions
- Outfielder Jo Adell left Saturday’s game with hip tightness after beating out a ground ball for an infield single. Adell remains out of the starting lineup against the Cardinals. Kyren Paris will once again get the start in center field.
- The Angels acquired left-hander Jake Eder from the Chicago White Sox for cash considerations. Eder was a Top-100 MLB prospect before having Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2021 season. Since then, he’s struggled to regain the form that got him invited to the 2021 Futures Game.
- The Salt Lake Bees started the season 1-2. Caden Dana gave up a run, three hits, three walks, and had four strikeouts over four innings. Not a terrible start for the Angels top prospect as pitching in the Pacific Coast League is detrimental to even the best pitchers’ ERA health.