Celebrating Angels starter's José Soriano's magnificent 2024 season

José Soriano was placed on the 60 day IL on September 7th, ending the coverted reliever's 2024 campaign. The 25-year-old Dominican Republic native was a revelation for the Angels in his new role, but the increased workload certainly took a toll. Soriano suffered from arm fatigue during a season in which he covered 113 innings, causing his official shutdown.

Due to injuries for both Jo Adell and Kevin Pillar, the Angels brought up Jordyn Adams and Bryce Teodosio. Teodosio needed to be added to the 40 man roster, so Soriano was moved to the 60 day in order to make room. Adell and Pillar's seasons are likely over as well, barring quick recoveries for the outfielders. Returns have not been ruled out, but it stands to reason they will not rush them back.

Soriano was a bright spot for the Angels pitching staff, amidst a season in which they have allowed the 2nd most runs to score in the American League. Soriano, much like Ben Joyce, did an incredible job of limiting hard hit line drives and fly balls. Of all pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings this year, Soriano's 0.64 HR/9 ranked 7th and his 59.7% ground ball percentage ranked 2nd (trailing only Framber Valdez).

Soriano deploys a highly effective splinker to compliment his turbo sinker, riding 4-seam, biting slider, and big knuckle-curve. His ability to bust his mid to upper 90s sinkers on right-handed hitters' hands was a massive reason for his whopping 60.6% GB%.

Soriano's stuff has always been off the charts, but as a reliever he sold out for whiffs. His development into a pitch-to-contact starter allowed him to not walk as many batters in past seasons while limiting hard contact. Soriano still walks more batters than average, but that is trending in the right direction. His 29.1% hard hit% ranked 27th amongst pitchers who threw at least 100 innings in all of baseball. Soriano blossomed as a guy who both caused soft contact and induced negative launch angles.

Soriano's season was highlighted by an outstanding start against the Seattle Mariners on July 23rd, earning a win after tossing 7.2 innings, allowing just 3 hits, 1 run, inducing 10 ground balls, with needing only 100 pitches thrown.

Soriano will be a lock for the Angels' 2025 starting rotation given what he showed this year. His evolution into an impact starter bodes well for the Angels' pitching development, showcasing an ability to both hone in pitchers with big arms who had command issues in the past and covert relievers into starters.