Is José Soriano ready to become the Angels' ace next season?

José Soriano just recently became a starter, and now he is the Angels' best. Converted from a reliever to a starter last season, Soriano took the league by storm.

How did he do so? He throws turbo sinkers and generates a ton of ground balls. Soriano's fastball (he predominantly throws sinkers, but he does mix in some four-seams) and his ground ball percentages both rank in the 97th percentile of MLB. His sinker averages 97.7mph and he generates ground balls 60.1% of the time (59.7% according to FanGraphs). Soriano is basically the starting pitcher version of Ben Joyce.

Expectations are high for Soriano given what he showed Angels fans and coaches last season. Tyler Anderson posted the better year-long stats, but Soriano was the most efficient Angels pitcher in 2024. Soriano eclipsed Anderson in the following stats, although he did pitch 66 fewer innings: fWAR, K/9, BB/9, HR/9, GB%, xERA, FIP, and xFIP. Of all pitchers who threw at least 100 innings in 2024, Soriano's 0.64 HR/9 ranked 9th. His ground ball percentage ranked 3rd.

His teammates speak highly of him too. “He’s a fun one to work with because I feel like he’s wise beyond his years,” said his catcher, Logan O’Hoppe. “He keeps his composure always. His stuff is obviously what it is. It’s some of the best I’ve seen.” Those are certainly the qualities you want in an ace.

Soriano was shut down with arm fatigue, given the far increased workload, and there are definitely injury risks attached to the soon-to-be 26-year-old as he continues to develop in the rotation. Soriano had Tommy John surgeries in back-to-back years. Two Tommy John surgeries is as big of a red flag as anything when it pertains to a pitcher's durability. Add in his 97.7mph average and you have a recipe for another arm injury in the not-so-distant future.

Soriano will be leaned on heavily. As the Angels roster is currently constructed, he will either be the Angels' Opening Day starter or toe the rubber in the second game of 2025. He's that important to the present and future. The Angels will be active this winter, and a starting pitcher addition via free agency is highly likely. Perhaps a reclamation project like Walker Buehler?

The Angels, more so than many other teams, run through starting pitchers. Including a couple bullpen days where the Angels started Joyce and Brock Burke, the Angels started 18 pitchers last year. They need Soriano healthy and available. In order to compete, like their manager, GM, and owner say they will, they need Soriano to pitch like a bona fide ace.