Jose Soriano’s All-Star campaign could face hurdle from his own Angels teammates

Los Angeles Angels starter José Soriano has slowed down a bit since his torrid start to the 2026 season, but make no mistake: He remains a worthy All-Star just weeks away from the Midsummer Classic. The 27-year-old ranks 10th in the American League in innings pitched (95), 10th in ERA (3.32), and 11th in strikeout rate (25.4%). Considering each league gets to place 12 pitchers on the roster (at least three of which have to be relievers), it doesn't feel far-fetched to suggest that Soriano has earned his way into the All-Star Game, irrespective of the Angels' ineptitude.

Of course, said organizational incompetence will limit the amount of players the team can send; a last-place squad naturally won't be as deserving of multiple candidates as a first-place one. Mike Trout is the team's lone finalist on the position player side of things, and if he gets in (even if he can't play due to injury), he'll satisfy the minimum requirement of one All-Star per team.

But even beyond Trout's own excellent and stardom, the Angels have two other starting pitchers who could harm Soriano's chance of making his first All-Star Game.

Angels' 3 All-Star-worthy pitchers may crowd each other out of Midsummer Classic

Knowing that the AL can only roster nine starting pitchers -- and, more likely, will only have seven or eight in favor of an extra reliever or two -- significantly harms the Halos' chances of getting multiple starters into the big summer dance.

Reid Detmers is perhaps Soriano's biggest internal competitor, given that he ranks even higher in innings pitched (99.2, fifth in AL) and strikeout rate (27.6%, sixth). His 3.88 ERA may scare off some more traditional-minded onlookers, but the southpaw's FIP (2.96) and fWAR (2.9) put him among the five best pitchers in the Junior Circuit this year.

And what about rookie sensation Walbert Ureña? He hasn't thrown enough innings to qualify for the leaderboards, but he sits between his teammates in ERA (3.14), FIP (3.25), and fWAR (1.2). Unlike Soriano, whose best performances came in April, Ureña also has the benefit of recency bias, seeing as he posted a 1.64 ERA in May and a season-best 3.66 FIP in June.

Any of the three would be worthy representatives of the Angels at the Midsummer Classic, but it's unrealistic to expect them all to go. For this writer's money, Detmers is the clear-cut choice (assuming he isn't traded by mid-July), though perhaps Soriano's headline-marking start earned him enough brownie points with his fellow players to get the nod as well.

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