Angels drop their spring training rotation ahead of opener vs. Mariners

The Angels announced both their spring training and Opening Day starters recently. Yusei Kikuchi will open the regular season, but Jack Kochanowicz will start the first spring training game for the Halos. Kochanowicz will start against the Mariners, Reid Detmers will go next against the Guardians, followed by Kyle Hendricks against the Giants, and José Soriano against the Padres.

The OC Register's Jeff Fletcher reported that Tyler Anderson will start the fifth game against the Reds, but MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger wrote that Chase Silseth will open that game. Silseth is stretched out to start, but it makes more sense that Anderson will go that game. Fletcher and Bollinger should probably fight. Yusei Kikuchi gets to do whatever he wants during camp, and will probably tell the coaches which games he wants to throw in.

Angels drop their spring training rotation ahead of opener vs. Mariners

Does it mean anything for the fifth spot in the rotation that Kochanowicz will start before Reid Detmers? Probably not. It's hard to not think this is somewhat of a signal from the coaches and front office as to who they want to win the job, but it's likely just logistical and nothing more. Unlike the regular season, the rotation is arbitrary during spring training.

If Kochanowicz's offseason bullpen videos are any indication, he could be turning many heads during camp right now. Detmers is the more complete pitcher in theory, but perhaps Kochanowicz is showing vast improvement on his four-seam and breaking balls to the point where he is the odds-on favorite for the no. 5 starter. At the end of the day, it's still a competition and how Kochanowicz and Detmers look in these games will be a key factor for who wins the job... regardless of who pitches what game.

The team's results do not matter during spring training games, but the individual's performances definitely do. How the pitchers ramp up over the course of spring training will be closely monitored, especially when you factor in that hitters start to catch up to the pitchers the more spring training progresses. Kochanowicz and Detmers' starts are must-watch television for die-hard Angels fans, especially once Opening Day is a couple weeks away and they are more built up.

It will be great to see Kyle Hendricks and José Soriano as well. Hendricks' debut with the Angels will be fun, especially if he shows any mechanical differences that Perry Minasian said the Angels would make with him. The crafty, right-handed righty will be making his first appearance for a non-Cubs team in his career. Soriano will be a sight for sore eyes, as he went down mid-season last year with arm fatigue. The coaches will definitely be telling him to not go all-out in the game so he does not ramp up too quickly. Of all the starters, it would not be surprising at all to see Soriano's outing be the shortest. It could easily last just one inning, where the others will likely throw at least two.

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