Angels spring training: Reacting to Chase Silseth dominating the LA Dodgers

When you think of the Angels' fifth starter competition, the first two names that come to mind are Reid Detmers and Jack Kochanowicz. Those two young hurlers have been at the center of the battle, and the most commonly named favorites.

However, a different young Angels' pitcher, 24-year-old Chase Silseth, just made his own case for consideration after a dominant performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, February 28th.

Silseth came in as a reliever and struck out six batters in 2.2 innings, including some brand names like Will Smith, Hyesong Kim, and Michael Conforto. The outing wasn't flawless, Silseth allowed 2 hits and 1 earned run, but it was the flashes of dominance that reminded fans what the sometimes forgotten youngster can do.

At times at the big-league level Silseth has shown tantalizing potential, but he's also been slowed by injuries that have made his role unclear. Easily forgotten in the conversation, the Angels have planned to give him an opportunity to start this spring, and performances like Friday's outing against the Dodgers show why.

Taking a closer look at Silseth's outing, it's clear he's working on tweaks to his repertoire that could drive impressive results. Twitter account @BeyondTheHalo did a deep dive on his pitch mix against the Dodgers, which showcased ways he optimized his arsenal to impressive results.

He increased his splitter usage and generated a devastating 33% whiff rate while also upping his sinker usage and reigning in his four-seamer. He abandoned his sweeper entirely, instead leveraging his slider 19.5% of the time as his primary breaking pitch.

The results speak for themselves as Silseth was able to keep Dodgers hitters off-balance and often looking foolish in the process. How he continues to deploy his pitches and the effectiveness of them will be a key to watch as he makes his case for the fifth starter role.

As spring training progresses, the field for the Angels' fifth starter role is growing

Reid Detmers has made two starts logging 5.0 innings with a 3.60 ERA so far this spring. Jack Kochanowicz was slowed by an illness, but in his first start he struck out three batters in 2.0 innings of work, showing a positive sign after a league-worst 3.44 K/9 last season.

Top prospect Caden Dana struggled in his first appearance, but rebounded with three perfect innings and three strikeouts against the Chicago Cubs in his second outing. After already getting a taste of big-league action last year at just 20 years old, he can't be counted out as a candidate just yet.

Silseth, though, may have been the most dominant to date. The right-hander should be a shoo-in for a role on the big league pitching staff, the question will be whether that's in the bullpen or in the rotation. His appearances from here on out will be critical to determining that fit.

The Angels' top four rotation spots seem to be locked down for opening day. Yusei Kikuchi will lead the way with Jose Soriano, Tyler Anderson, and Kyle Hendricks behind him. However, as all of these young hurlers have shown, there is a lot of young potential waiting in the wings.

The 162-game regular season is a slog, and often teams use much more than five starters due to injuries. However, injuries notwithstanding, there's a very good chance that the five starters the Angels finish the year with will look much different than the five who will start the season.

For a team that has been devoid of young starting pitching talent for so long, the performances you see this spring could be the beginning of a new era, one that could see the Angels' rotation suddenly flooded with talented young arms for the first time in decades.

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