The Cavalry Is Coming: Why Angels Fans Shouldn't Panic About the Pitching

Sunday in Houston wasn't pretty. Jack Kochanowicz walked five batters in four innings, the bullpen couldn't hold things together late, and the Angels dropped the series finale 9-7 despite scoring seven runs. Back to back losses to close out the series has some fans already hitting the panic button on the pitching staff.

Don't.

But before we get to Sunday, let's talk about Saturday. The Angels had that game. They had it completely. A 5-3 lead heading into the sixth inning with the offense humming and the crowd at Daikin Park getting restless. Then Walbert Ureña walked onto the mound and the wheels came off in historic fashion. Eight runs. One inning. Three errors. A game the Angels should have won — and by most reasonable measures deserved to win — turned into an 11-9 loss. The offense scored nine runs that night. Nine. On most nights that's more than enough. That one stings because it wasn't a talent problem. It was an execution problem, and it's correctable.

Now back to Sunday. Yes, the rotation has questions right now. Kochanowicz is talented but raw, and today was a reminder that command issues at the big league level get punished fast. Five free passes against a lineup like Houston's is a recipe for exactly what happened — six runs in four innings and a deficit the offense couldn't fully dig out of. Drew Pomeranz didn't help matters in the eighth, giving up three runs and effectively putting the game out of reach.

But context matters here. Kochanowicz came into Spring Training on the outside looking in. Alek Manoah was ahead of him for the fifth rotation spot and Grayson Rodriguez was projected to take the fourth. Kochanowicz pitched his way onto the roster with a 1.98 ERA in the Cactus League while Manoah imploded with a 9.39 ERA and Rodriguez landed on the IL with dead arm. Kochanowicz earned his spot — but he's essentially filling a role that was never supposed to be his. That's important context when evaluating his struggles.

And here's the bigger thing nobody is talking about while they're busy writing the obituary on this rotation — the Angels are playing shorthanded right now and they know it.

Grayson Rodriguez hasn't thrown a single pitch in an MLB game yet this season. He's been dealing with dead arm since a Spring Training start on March 11 and the Angels wisely put him on the injured list rather than rush him back. This is the same pitcher they traded Taylor Ward to Baltimore to acquire. They gave up a real piece for him. Rodriguez is a legitimate top-of-the-rotation arm, and when he's healthy and back in the fold this rotation looks completely different.

Then there's Ben Joyce, who underwent labrum surgery on his right shoulder last May. At his best Joyce was one of the hardest throwing relievers in baseball — the kind of arm that changes a bullpen's identity. He's expected back at some point this season. And Kirby Yates, a proven closer-caliber reliever, was placed on the 15-day IL on the last day of Spring Training.

Three legitimate pitching pieces sitting in street clothes while the Angels try to get through the early part of the schedule with what they have.

And what they have is actually pretty good. While the focus has been on the rotation struggles, the bullpen has quietly been one of the better units in the American League through four games. Sam Bachman has been nothing short of electric — three innings pitched, zero hits, zero runs, and five strikeouts including a perfect inning where he sat down all three batters he faced without breaking a sweat. Chase Silseth has been equally impressive, appearing in multiple games without allowing a run and consistently getting the Angels out of trouble when called upon. Add in Ryan Zeferjahn picking up a win with two clean innings in Game 2 and Jordan Romano pitching in both of the first two games without surrendering a hit, and you have the makings of a bullpen that can genuinely compete.

That's the group before Joyce, Yates, and whatever Rodriguez eventually provides when he's stretched out and ready to join the rotation.

Soriano was dominant in his Opening Day start. Detmers looked sharp in Game 2. The foundation is there. The offense has been flat out electric — thirty-four runs in four games against Houston. Seven runs today and it still wasn't enough. That lineup is real and it's going to carry this team through the rough patches while the pitching staff gets whole.

A 2-2 start against one of the better teams in the American League, on the road, while playing without three significant pitching pieces and giving away at least one game that should have been a win, isn't a crisis. It's a preview of a team that's going to get better as the season goes on.

The cavalry is coming. And honestly, the guys already here aren't too bad either.