LA Angels: Ranking the 5 AL West aces entering the 2023 season

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The Los Angeles Angels have one of the best pitchers in baseball, Shohei Ohtani, heading their staff in 2023. How does Ohtani compare to the other aces of the AL West?

Ranking the AL West's aces heading into the 2023 season.

5) RHP Paul Blackburn - Oakland Athletics

Paul Blackburn came out of nowhere and was a first-time all-star in 2022. The reason he was an all-star was because he pitched for the Athletics and they needed a representative, but Blackburn had a solid season overall before being shut down with an injury after making 21 starts.

Blackburn had a 4.28 ERA in 111.1 innings pitched. With how poor Oakland's pitching staff is, Blackburn was one of their better arms.

Cole Irvin was Oakland's best pitcher in 2022 but he was just traded to the Orioles leaving Blackburn as the unquestioned ace. He is not ace material and is undoubtedly the worst ace in this division.

4) RHP Luis Castillo - Seattle Mariners

The Mariners traded a ton to acquire Luis Castillo at the trade deadline from the Reds and for good reason. He's a legitimate ace who transformed their rotation from good to great. Castillo leads a staff joined by the likes of Robbie Ray, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby. Despite the good pitchers in the staff, Castillo is the best one.

Overall in 2022, Castillo went 8-6 with a 2.99 ERA in 25 starts. He threw 150.1 innings despite missing the first month of the season with injury. In those innings, he struck out 167 batters (10.0 K/9) and walked 45 (2.7 BB/9). He's a guy who can reach triple digits with his fastball and has one of the nastiest changeups in the game.

Castillo showed how good he was in the postseason when he threw 7.1 scoreless innings in the Mariners' first postseason game in over 20 years leading them to a win in Toronto. He then threw another 7 innings allowing just three runs to the eventual champion Astros. He is a force the Angels will have to deal with which is not fun.

3) LHP Framber Valdez - Houston Astros

The Astros do not have the best of everything in the division, as with Justin Verlander departing, Houston lost the best pitcher in the AL West. Verlander is coming off arguably his best season in the bigs and another Cy Young Award. Thankfully he is on the other side of the country and in the other league pitching for the New York Mets in 2023.

Now onto Framber Valdez, the heir apparent to Verlander. Valdez is an elite pitcher who had at one point this past season a string of 25 consecutive quality starts which broke a single-season record. He was one quality start shy of tying the overall record of 26 consecutive quality starts set by Jacob deGrom and Bob Gibson.

Valdez allowed two runs or fewer in all four of his postseason starts including seven scoreless innings against the Yankees in the ALCS. Houston lost an ace but had one waiting in the wings the entire time.

2) RHP Shohei Ohtani - Los Angeles Angels

As much as I wish I could put Shohei Ohtani at number one, I just can't do that. Ohtani has developed from a pitcher with absurd stuff who hadn't really put it all together into one of the best pitchers in the game.

Ohtani went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts and 166 innings pitched. He led the league with an 11.9 K/9 while walking just 2.4/9, a significant improvement for a pitcher who once struggled with his command at times. Ohtani should've been a Cy Young finalist, but settled for a fourth-place finish.

The Angels plan on using Ohtani every sixth day instead of the sixth game, so hopefully he can make more starts and help the Angels win more games with his golden right arm. It's been a pleasure to watch this guy pitch and I hope I can do it while being happy for many years to come.

1) RHP Jacob deGrom - Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers signed the best pitcher I've ever seen after inking Jacob deGrom on a five-year deal. That deal comes with a ton of risk as they guaranteed him five years and a lot of money. If he is healthy, there's no doubt in my mind that it'll end up being a bargain for Texas.

deGrom won back-to-back Cy Young Awards for the Mets in 2018 and 2019. He then finished third in the shortened 2020 season. 2021 was going to be his best yet and one of the best pitching seasons we've ever seen until he got shut down with an injury following the all-star break. deGrom had a 1.08 ERA while striking out 14.3 batters per nine before getting shut down.

The right-hander missed the first four months of this season but looked like the same guy who was the best pitcher in the game prior to his injuries in 2021 and 2022. If he can stay healthy, I expect him to be the best pitcher in this division. If not, Shohei could easily take that title away with a repeat of his 2022.

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