Young Angels pitcher impressing everyone thanks to key pitch usage decision

The Halos are already looking to 2025 considering that the organization is well-below .500 in the standings with a month of games remaining.

However, there is something to be said about their current young crop of players on the big league roster. Zach Neto has climbed the ranks as a reliable shortstop and Ben Joyce continues to blow away the league.

Alongside those names is another rookie. Jack Kochanowicz, a right-handed starter, has been up and down in the big leagues over the last several weeks. The 2019 third round draft pick has turned four consecutive quality starts dating back to August 11, dropping his ERA from 14.14 to 4.96 in 25 2/3 innings.

Kochanowicz is making a name for himself and has turned to one particular pitch to level himself among the rest of Major League pitching. He's turned into a certified sinkerballer, throwing the pitch almost 70 percent of the time this year.

Kochanowicz has elected for the sinker almost three times the amount of his second-most thrown pitch in 2024, firing it 318 times. He's gone to the curveball 109 times.

The one issue from tossing a sinker this often is that hitters are beginning to expect it. Kochanowicz throws a hard sinker, averaging 95.7 MPH on it, but it can be handled by batters if he misplaces it. This has resulted in a slightly-higher wOBA than he'd hope for (.362), but this has made his curveball even more impactful.

Hitters have struggled against his hook, batting just .208 against the curveball this season with a .199 xBA. The heavy sinker has offset his breaking pitches nicely, so it may take some time to develop the perfect formula for his pitch sequences.

Kochanowicz already appears on track to improving this approach. In his last start, he spun six scoreless innings against the Tigers alongside four strikeouts. Two of those punch-outs came on an unexpected sinker, as Parker Meadows and Spencer Torkelson went down looking.