Angels prospect Jack Kochanowicz to start in his MLB debut on Thursday
A former third-round draft pick, Kochanowicz has posted a 2.90 ERA in his last nine starts at Double-A, including complete games in two of his last three outings. He will be the 12th pitcher to start a game for the Angels this season.
ANAHEIM — The Angels have a new piece to try in their patchwork rotation.
Right-hander Jack Kochanowicz will make his major league debut with a start against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.
Kochanowicz will be the 12th pitcher to start for the Angels, who are trying just about anything to fill a rotation that lost Patrick Sandoval, Reid Detmers and Chase Silseth to injuries and/or poor performance.
Kochanowicz is the Angels’ No. 7 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He’s ranked No. 13 by Baseball America.
“It’s just been obviously a lifelong dream and just kind of at a loss for words,” Kochanowicz said on Wednesday. “Just so excited to get out here.”
The 22-year-old was the Angels’ third-round pick in the 2019 draft out of Harriton High in suburban Philadelphia. The Angels added him to the 40-man roster last winter, so he was in big league camp for the first time this spring.
Kochanowicz (pronounced ko-HAHN-o-witz) has spent all of this season in the rotation at Double-A, posting a 4.55 ERA in 18 starts. He has 79 strikeouts and 23 walks in 91 innings.
Recently, though, he’s been better.
Kochanowicz had a 2.90 ERA over his last nine games, including complete games in two of his last three outings.
“Feeling great,” Kochanowicz said. “Just gotten in a good groove. Just trusting my stuff. I feel like I’m in a good spot right now.”
Although Kochanowicz was in the Angels’ clubhouse on Wednesday, he won’t officially be added to the active roster until Thursday.
In the meantime, left-hander Kenny Rosenberg was added to the roster in order to provide coverage for a bullpen that was worked heavily after short outings by starters on Monday and Tuesday.
The Angels will have to make another move to open a spot for Kochanowicz on Thursday. They could simply send Rosenberg back to Triple-A, or they could keep Rosenberg and make another move.
Right-hander Davis Daniel was optioned in order to open the spot for Rosenberg. Daniel had a 5.82 ERA in three starts. After pitching eight scoreless innings in his first big league start on June 27, he allowed 11 earned runs in nine innings in his next two outings.
Rosenberg could also work his way into consideration for starts at some point.
He missed a few weeks at Triple-A with a strained quadriceps, but he’s allowed three runs in nine innings in two starts since coming back from the injury. Rosenberg, 29, had a 3.92 ERA in 33 innings in the majors last season.
The Angels have another rotation question mark on Sunday, the final game before the All-Star break.
It would be Roansy Contreras’ turn to start, but he has an 8.22 ERA in his three starts, and he hasn’t yet gotten an out in the fourth inning.
“We haven’t made a plan on that yet,” Angels manager Ron Washington said of the Sunday start. “We just have to wait and see how things shake out. Right now, (Contreras) is going to work like he is (starting), and we’ll see where it goes.”
The Angels have left-hander Tyler Anderson and righty José Soriano scheduled for Friday and Saturday against the Mariners.
NOTES
Outfielder Jo Adell was not in the lineup on Wednesday because he has the virus that has been going around the clubhouse, Washington said. Infield coach Ryan Goins was also out sick. …
When Logan O’Hoppe hit two homers against Max Scherzer on Tuesday night, he became the 18th player ever to hit multiple homers against the future Hall of Famer. One of the others was Angels outfielder Kevin Pillar, who did it in 2015. Pillar was the first right-handed hitter ever to hit multiple homers in a game against Scherzer. O’Hoppe was the seventh.
UP NEXT
Mariners (RHP Luis Castillo, 7-9, 3.72 ERA) at Angels (RHP Jack Kochanowicz, MLB debut), Thursday, 6:38 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM