The Los Angeles Angels got some great starting pitching in the second half of the season from Walbert Urena.
Los Angeles Angels fans didn’t have much to cheer about this season, but their starting pitching was a definite bright spot in the second half, as Baseball America recognized their excellence in part by selecting starter Walbert Urena as a member of its All-Rookie team.
Urena remains an amazing story. The 22-year-old Ureña finished the 2025 season at Double-A before he shined at spring training with his 100-mph sinker to make the Angels’ Opening Day roster.
He opened the season with two relief appearances before being demoted to Triple-A to build up as a starter. Something clicked in at that point, and when Ureña joined the Angels’ rotation in mid-April he took off, ranking third among rookies with a .210 opponent average, fourth with a 2.97 ERA and fifth with 142 strikeouts.
The list of starters he joins on this team is impressive. It includes Nolan McLean of the New York Mets, Parker Messick of the Cleveland Guardians, Didier Fuentes of the Atlanta Brave and Payton Tolle of the Boston Red Sox.
Other starters that were noted include Jake Bennett from the Red Sox, Andrew Alvarez of the Washington Nationals, Bubba Chandler of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Trey Yesavage from the Torongo Blue Jays.
The Angels have a new ownership group coming in with a lot to figure out, but Urena will undoubtedly be a key part of their plans. He was remarkably consistent through most of the season, although he did have a couple of sketchy starts late as his innings count began to add up.
That will be a big issue with Urena going forward, and there are a lot of moving parts and pieces. Ryan Johnson also impressive as a starter, and George Klassen had his moments before he got hurt.
The veteran aspects of the rotation aren’t impressive at all. There’s lefty Yusei Kikuchi, who’s under contract for one more season at $21 million, but Kikuchi is a mediocre innings-eater who got hurt early and returned to the rotation late in the season.
There’s also Grayson Rodriguez, who provided tons of bad starts after the trade that sent outfielder Taylor Ward to the Baltimore Orioles, and no one knows at this point if Rodriguez will be with the team, much less in the rotation.
It’s a confusing situation, but one thing that’s not up for debate is that Urena belongs and then some as the Angels put together their rotation for next year.
