Jose Soriano hot start creates slim chance of ending two-decade Angels drought

Jose Soriano's electric right arm has long tantalized Los Angeles Angels fans desperate to see the team find a legitimate top-of-the-rotation starter. Now in his third full season as a starter, Soriano has dazzled in the early going, hinting that he might be on the verge of a breakout, and perhaps even more.

Two starts aren't enough to make any sort of proclamation, but the big right-hander has yet to allow a run and has surrendered just four hits over his first 12 innings pitched. If that trend continues, he could be on a Cy Young path.

The Angels have long been devoid of legitimate ace-like performance. The last Cy Young winner to don a Halos jersey was Bartolo Colon back in 2005. He's only the second Cy Young winner in franchise history and broke a 41-year drought since Dean Chance first won the award for the club back in 1964.

Soriano faces a crowded field. Two-time reigning Cy Young champ Tarik Skubal stands out as the favorite yet again. Garrett Crochet in Boston is a serious challenger. Within the division, Los Angeles' rivals, the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros, have real contenders, too, in Bryan Woo and Hunter Brown, respectively. And that's to say nothing of Max Fried and budding ace Cam Schlittler over in New York.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, there are some real developments that could put the 27-year-old up in the conversation with these elite hurlers, but there are still some boxes he'll need to check in order to prove that he's for real.

Jose Soriano's early-season dominance could mean more than just breaking the Angels' Cy Young drought

There's been a real change in Soriano's arsenal that should have fans believing that his breakout is for real. As we saw over the spring, he's reduced his sinker usage from 49% in 2025 to 28% so far, while throwing a lot more four-seam fastballs up in the zone. The result has been a rise in chase rate (27% in 2025 up to 34% in 2026) and whiff rate (27% to 35.4%), while still generating ground balls at nearly the same rate (66% to 64.3%).

That variation is important. Previously, Soriano had almost entirely relied on pitches breaking down in the zone. That made it easy for his mistakes to get hammered. Now, though, by changing hitters' eye levels more consistently, he'll be able to keep them off balance more and generate more weak contact and more whiffs. That last part could help him increase his rather pedestrian strikeout rate and help avoid those innings that get away from him when the ball just seems to find spaces where the defenders aren't.

Another thing to track is the usage and performance of his curveball. So far, it's been his most frequently used pitch, coming in with a 30% utilization. It's also gotten great results, with a 52.2% whiff rate so far. Continuing that sort of dominant performance will be key.

The biggest barrier to a Cy Young season, and what we'll need to see over time, is whether or not Soriano can be consistent. Last year, we saw him put together a number of dominant starts but also more than his fair share of clunkers. There wasn't much in between, and that's what has been the greatest stumbling block to him establishing himself as a true, frontline starter.

The changes he's made bode well, but we'll need to see them bear fruit over time. And even if he comes up short of a Cy Young, it won't matter if he proves that, finally, after all these years, the Angels have found a true ace.