Angels Finally Announce Winner of Biggest Spring Competition

The news means Reid Detmers will start the season in the bullpen. Jose Suarez and Chase Silseth were also candidates for the final spot in the rotation; however, Suarez was effectively eliminated from the race after being trade to the Atlanta Braves over the weekend.

In 2024, Kochanowicz produced a 3.99 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 10 walks across 65.1 innings pitched. The right-hander followed up his performance last season with a strong showing in Cactus League, logging a 2.92 ERA, seven strikeouts, and four walks across 12 innings pitched.

In one of his spring outings, Kochanowicz tossed four perfect innings.

“All I can do is go and pitch,” Kochanowicz said earlier this spring, via MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger. “It's really out of my hands, so I just have to go out there and throw. I don’t think about that at all while I'm pitching. I'm sure it's always in the back of everyone's head. Everyone wants to be on that team. But it’s out of my control.”

Kochanowicz and Detmers were the favorites to win the spring competition.

Detmers logged a 6.70 ERA with 109 strikeouts and 38 walks across 87.1 innings pitched in 2024. There were highs and lows for the 25-year-old last season, but he remains confident in his abilities.

Now, as the Angels' fifth starter, Kochanowicz will look to build off his solid performance from 2024.

“Last year gave me a ton of confidence, just that my stuff really does work at that level,” Kochanowicz said. “I think I just have to continue to go to my strength, which is getting ground balls. The strike outs will come as long as I improve the other stuff. But I just need to stay with my strengths.”