Ron Washington Sets Major Goal for Angels Starting Pitcher This Year

Last season, the Los Angeles Angels introduced José Soriano as a major league starting pitcher.

The only reason why it ended early was due to arm fatigue. With the team out of playoff contention, it didn't make sense for him to pitch through discomfort.

Now, manager Ron Washington wants to see Soriano go from 113 innings to about 160. His previous high was 82.1 innings in 2019 and that was two Tommy John surgeries ago.

Soriano posted a 3.42 ERA over 22 games, with 20 of those being starts. He was known for his pitch efficiency, often inducing ground balls with a sinker that averaged 97.7 mph.

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Since joining the rotation on April 10, 2024, he posted a 3.36 ERA, 3.98 SIERA, and 2.1 FanGraphs WAR across 20 starts. During that stretch, he led all Angels starters in those three categories.

“I thought it was awesome, for a first-timer,” Washington said when Soriano's season ended. “I thought he did a great job. When he’s out there, he leaves everything out there, so he’s creating a lot of energy. He’s just got to learn to control it. And once he learns how to control it, I think he’ll be able to go deeper into the season.”

The Angels have higher expectations for Soriano this season. He is penciled in as one of the starting five but where he will slot in exactly is to be determined.

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Soriano was sent into the offseason with a plan. Washington said the team was going to stay on top of him to make sure he was on schedule and healthy.

“I think his winter workout will be much more vigorous because he cares, and I know he doesn’t want to have to go through a season and all of a sudden hit a wall,” Washington said. “So we’re going to be on top of him. We’re going to give him a program, and then he’ll get this experience again, and I think he’ll take it a little further than he took it this year. And as each year comes and goes that he’s healthy and able to go out there and take the baseball, he’ll become the pitcher that we all know he’s capable of being.”

Whatever the plan was seemed to have worked because Soriano said he feels good.

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