The Angels are calling up right-hander Jack Kochanowicz to start Thursday’s game, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register on X. The righty is already on the 40-man roster but will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. The Halos announced that righty Davis Daniel has been optioned to Triple-A with lefty Kenny Rosenberg recalled to take Daniel’s spot tonight. A move will be required to get Kochanowicz onto the roster tomorrow, which might just be Rosenberg getting optioned back down, depending on what happens in tonight’s contest.
Kochanowicz, 23, was a third-round pick of the Halos in the 2019 draft. He didn’t pitch in the affiliated ranks in the months following that selection and then the minors were wiped out by the pandemic in 2020, delaying his professional debut.
He has since been working his way through the system with a grounder-heavy approach. He has thrown 326 innings in the minors to this point in his career with a 5.44 earned run average. His 19.1% strikeout rate in that time is subpar but he’s limited walks to a 7% clip and has had strong ground ball rates at every stop so far. Major league average is at 42.4% this year but Kochanowicz has been between 48 and 63% at every stop of his career so far. His .317 batting average on balls in play and 61.4% strand rate are both a bit on the unlucky side, so perhaps he’ll be able to have some better results with stronger defenders behind him.
Kochanowicz was added to the Angels’ 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Baseball America and FanGraphs both currently list him as the club’s 13th-best prospect, highlighting his high-90s velocity. MLB Pipeline is a bit more bullish and has him up in the #7 slot while Keith Law of The Athletic had him in the #12 spot coming into the year.
The Angels recently lost Patrick Sandoval to season-ending surgery while guys like Reid Detmers, Chase Silseth and Zach Plesac have struggled and been optioned to Triple-A, with Daniel now in that pile as well. The rotation currently consists of Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning, José Soriano and Roansy Contreras. Kochanowicz will take the ball tomorrow, though it’s unclear if it’s just a spot start or if he’ll get a lengthy rotation audition. He still hasn’t pitched at Triple-A but the Halos will skip him over that level for now. With the All-Star break next week, they could survive with a four-man rotation for a time and call someone else up to take the fifth spot once needed.
It’s possible that the Angels will make some trades at this year’s deadline that thin out that group. The club is 37-54 and clearly in seller mode going into the deadline. Their farm system is poorly regarded, which will perhaps make it tough to contend in the seasons to come. That should leave the front office open to considering trades of players even if they have some club control beyond the current campaign. Anderson has one year left on his deal, for instance, while Canning has one year of arbitration remaining.
Some recent reporting has suggested that the club prefers to hold onto Anderson, Canning and other players with similar windows of control, though it’s possible that’s posturing for negotiation purposes. The trade deadline is July 30.
Central League legend.
This guy has an ERA of 4 and a half in AA. Never pitched in AAA.
This is why they are talking to the Pirates about Ward.
Last 5 games he has a 1.85 ERA with 2 complete games.
Ok but that means he was terrible before those 5 games. And that’s still AA. I mean hey he’s probably their best bet at the moment but like I said that’s why they are talking to the Pirates, a teak with pitching to spare.
Dude he has an ERA of over 5 for his career. He’s been good for all of 5 starts at AA and that’s about it for his entire minor league career.
Like I said lots of AAA parks are tough to pitch in. That doesn’t mean they need to skip AAA.
I said I think he very well could be their best option. Not mad champ.
Give the kid a shot. The organization can’t really do any worse with the current options available.
I know I mentioned the most recent 5 starts and how great they were, but even over a longer stretch of his last 11 games he has a 3.09 ERA over that time. He was already on the 40 man, Sandoval is out, Daniel had a bad stretch, and it’s the perfect time to give him a spot start. What does his career ERA matter if he starts to consistently pitch well like he has? No pitcher can have a rough start to their professional career but then figure it out? If Anderson gets traded it will be nice to have his debut out of the way and see if he can be a part of the rotation.
It’s called player development. Any prospect can turn into a successful major leaguer if they make the right adjustments. Jim Edmonds wasn’t anything special as a prospect and then suddenly became a monster in the summer of 1995.
Honestly, I’m fine with Angels pitchers avoiding AAA. Our AA and home ballpark are close to sea level. AAA park is over 4000 feet in elevation and so are many others in the PCL.
Yeah many AAA parks are tough to pitch in. I think you gotta take that into consideration. Not saying he isn’t the best option but the Angels could use more young pitching.
Really shocked more teams haven’t invested in larger parks for their PCL affiliates.
Why?
1). I live in a AAA city. It’s like Fenway, meaning there isn’t a lot of room.
2). What would that accomplish, a lot of extra singles, doubles and triples?
It is so hard being a fan of this team
I hate myself every day. I hate Arte more.
Don’t you mean the Angels have no choice but?
Kid has a huge fastball but the questions have always been about his secondary pitches.
I’d love to see him stick as a starter, but bullpen arm is probably his path to sticking in the bigs.
Always enjoy seeing a guy fulfill his dream and make MLB, though.
There will be a delay before he can actually take the field.
The person who puts the player names on the backs of player jerseys is
upset by this promotion and it will take extra time for him to get
“KOCHANOWICZ” on the back of the jersey.
Actually been watching this guy. Continual progress this season, and has 2 CG’s in his last 3 starts.
62% GB rate.
ERA per month this year
APR 9.00
MAY 4.63
JUN 3.12
JUL 1.93
Not an uber prospect, but from where the Angels are at, maybe a Canning replacement if Griffin gets traded.
I think Anderson and Canning both get traded and then Kochanowicz and Bachman take their spots. Unless Detmers can figure it out again.
Any team desperate enough to trade for Canning might as well call up a triple-A pitcher. They’ll have similar results.
Where are Kochanowicz mechanics and analytics critics on this.
All I know about the kid is he was drafted in 2019 and was not considered a good prospect coming into this year.
Harriton HS represent!