Angels call up top pitching prospect in desperate move to save their ailing rotation

LA continues to shuffle their rotation around as they are giving one of their top pitching prospects a shot at the big leagues.

Los Angeles Angels v Cincinnati Reds
Los Angeles Angels v Cincinnati Reds / Dylan Buell/GettyImages

The Los Angeles Angels have a number of problems they are trying to solve, and one of the bigger ones is their starting rotation. Losing Patrick Sandoval for the year was bad enough, but the rest of the Angels' rotation outside of Tyler Anderson has left a lot to be desired. Hell, Reid Detmers was so bad after the first month or so of the season that the Angels sent him back to the minors even though they really, really needed starter depth.

LA had hoped that calling up Davis Daniel would help solve some of this problem, but he crashed back to earth in a big way after his first impressive start . Now, it looks like they are trying out another pitching prospect, as Jack Kochanowicz is being recalled by the Angels.

LA Angels News: Prospect Jack Kochanowicz to make big league debut for Angels on Thursday

The Angels picked Kochanowicz out of high school with their third-round pick in the 2019 draft and protected him from the Rule 5 draft this past offseason. While the move to call up Kochanowicz does come at the expense of Daniel's spot on the roster, this move could be the one that actually sticks. While Kochanowicz's 4.55 ERA in the minors in 2024 doesn't exactly scream "promote now", he has been much better than that recently, and he has a big time fastball and a slider, which has improved significantly since he changed his arm slot.

The one issue with Kochanowicz is walks, which has remained a recurring problem even during his recent hot streak in the minors. Some games he pounds the zone and can be really tough to solve for opposing hitters. However, he will just randomly have games where he can't land his pitches for strikes, and he can get into trouble when that happens.

Will calling up Kochanowicz solve all the Angels' pitching problems? Absolutely not. However, he does have the arm talent to be a successful big league pitcher, and a strong MLB debut would go a long way to getting the Angels on the right track long-term.

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