This Angels' rotation was never going to be good enough

While the Angels positioned themselves more for 2026 and beyond, they stated clearly that they expected to field a competitive team this season -- the playoffs were clearly a goal for this team when Arte Moreno decided to open his wallet during the offseason. However, in retrospect, the Angels were never serious enough in building their rotation to have any form of reasonable success or genuine postseason hopes in 2025. 

The biggest mistake made by the Angels, which could have been a lot worse if not for some serious health luck this year, was the front office ignoring any depth-building moves for the starting rotation. The Angels starters have all remained completely healthy this season, with the only starts missed being due to a lack of production from Jack Kochanowicz. And while they never needed a starter to fill in for injury, their lack of depth within the organization is what prompted them to give Kochanowicz such a long leash, costing them games every fifth day. 

Simply put, the Angels rotation just was never going to be good enough 

Yusei Kikuchi has been an amazing signing. He has absolutely delivered on his contract, and while teams want their ace capable of going deeper into games than the average Kikuchi outing does, he has been a phenomenal addition. Kikuchi would be one of the best #2 starters in the league if the Halos had a true ace. 

For José Soriano, much of the same applies. He has largely been exceptional, flashing ace potential nearly every time he took the mound. He was prone to about one disastrous start every month and struggled mightily in the 4th inning of games, but overall it’s been a successful season for Soriano. While he may never quite reach the ace tier of starting pitchers, having him take the bump as the second or third starter is a rock solid place to have him. If he does make the jump to ace, all the better.

This is where things get bad for the rotation. While the two aforementioned starters were maybe assigned one spot too high in the rotation, the rest of the starters were just plain bad. Tyler Anderson flashed at the start of the season, but has been abysmal since May. June was the worst month of his career, and he hasn’t bounced back in similar fashion to his typical seasons. 

Kyle Hendricks’ stats might paint him as worse than he was, but the only positive from 2025 was the hometown kid finally getting to play for the Angels. Sure, he went deeper into games than most of the rotation but he was consistently giving up 3+ runs in most starts. But Hendricks is 35-years-old, the Angels knew what they were signing. Counting on him throughout a season was risky business, and it just did not pay off. 

Then there’s Jack Kochanowicz, who was arguably the worst regular starter in the American League this season. The strong start to his career from 2024 did not roll over, as he was consistently hit around each time he took the mound. 

Most people argue about quality versus quantity. The Angels decided to go into 2025 with neither of those in their rotation, and it damned their playoff chances from Opening Day.

More LA Angels News from Halo Hangout