1 critical goal for each member of the Angels' starting rotation in 2025

Jack Kochanowicz must round out his arsenal to take his game to the next level

Finally, the last member of the starting rotation, 24-year-old Jack Kochanowicz, sees a golden opportunity present itself. The sinkerballer's impressive spring built upon a brief, but at times impressive showing in 2024 where he pitched to a 3.99 ERA over 65.1 innings and 11 starts.

Kochanowicz leans on his power-sinker that regularly tops 96 miles per hour to generate groundballs at an impressive clip, posting a 57% ground ball rate last season. Those ground balls paired with an aptitude for limiting walks with just 1.38 BB/9 in 2024, drove his success.

While there's a lot of positives to that kind of performance, his extreme reliance on the sinker at times cost him. He through that pitch 72% of the time last season, making him extremely predictable. As the book grows on him, opponents will adjust and be better able to handle the sinker.

Therefore, he must further develop his repertoire this season and round out his arsenal to keep hitters off balance. The measure of success for him will be in improving his strikeout rate, as his 3.44 K/9 ranked dead last among all starters who threw at least 50 innings last season.

Kochanowicz doesn't need to transform himself into a strikeout artist, but he will need to develop his four-seamer and breaking ball more and generate a few more punch outs to compliment his stellar ground ball rate.

If he's able to do that, he could be come a very solid mid-rotation caliber option. If not, he may find himself replaced by teammate Reid Detmers or another member of the Angels' collection of young arms who are nipping at his heels.

If Kochanowicz along with his rotation mates are all able to achieve these goals, the Halos will find themselves with a rotation that, while lacking star power, could be better than league average in 2025.

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