Angels report cards: Grading Chase Silseth's resurgent 2023 season

Chase Silseth was one of many Los Angeles Angels pitchers competing for the team's sixth starter job in Spring Training. He faced an uphill battle and did lose to Griffin Canning, but Silseth looked impressive in a couple of his starts. He wound up pitching so well in the minors to the point where the Angels had to call him up to help them out in the bullpen.

This began Silseth's weird year of being both a starter and reliever while going up and down between the majors and AAA Salt Lake.

Silseth struggled mightily in 2022 when he got his chances in the majors but looked a lot better this past season and looked like a player who can not only help now, but can be a contributor in the future as well.

Chase Silseth deserves a B+ for his 2023 season

Silseth's dominance in AAA earned him an early call-up as he was promoted to be a part of the Angels bullpen in late April. He was expected to be a late-inning arm and at first, he showed potential there thanks to an uptick in velocity. His first three appearances went about as well as they could've hoped for as he did not allow a run in five innings pitched and did a fine job in two close games.

Some later struggles in relief led to his demotion back to AAA where the Angels this time were committed to stretching him back out into being a starter. He'd pitch well in the minors once again and after the all-star break he took Jaime Barria's sixth starter spot and ran away with it.

Silseth's first start of this season came at home against the Yankees and it was the best he had ever looked. He allowed one run in 5.2 innings pitched, giving up four hits and two walks while striking out ten batters. This was his first of four straight dominant starts against teams that finished above .500.

Over those four starts, Silseth posted a 1.59 ERA in 22.2 innings pitched, striking out 31 batters while allowing 20 base runners. He led the Angels to wins against the Yankees, Braves, and Astros while losing against the Mariners in what was arguably his best start of the season. He allowed two runs in seven innings pitched while striking out 12 batters in a tough loss.

Silseth was a bright light in an abysmal second half for this Angels team. His ability to face hitters for a third time was an amazing development as stamina seemed to be a major issue in his rookie year. Silseth proved, albeit in a small sample, that he's a very capable big league starter.

The right-hander suffered a brutally unlucky injury at the end of August that derailed the final month of his season, but Silseth has his name squarely in the mix for a rotation spot in 2024. If the Angels choose to not add another starting pitcher, there's a good chance he'll report to Spring Training as the front runner for the fifth starter spot.