Angels Right-Hander José Soriano Has Impressed Many To Begin 2026 Season

The Los Angeles Angels open up a three-game road series against the Cincinnati Reds after dropping its final two games and the series to the Atlanta Braves.

After the Angels defeated future Hall of Famer and Braves lefty Chris Sale 6-2 in the first game of that series, the Braves battled back to win 7-2 and 8-2 to win the series. Los Angeles will now travel to Cincinnati to take on the Reds, a team that has been outplaying expectations thus far.

The Angels will send right-hander Jack Kochanowicz to face Reds righty Chase Burns in the opener.

Kochanowicz got roughed up by the Houston Astros in his first start, allowing six runs (five earned) on four hits and five walks with three strikeouts before dealing over 5.2 scoreless innings against the Seattle Mariners and allowing four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

Burns has dazzled in his first two starts, throwing five one-hit shutout innings with three walks and seven strikeouts against the Pittsburgh Pirates and six one-run innings with five hits, one walk and nine punchouts.

The second game will feature Angels prospect righty George Klassen and Reds lefty Brandon Williamson. Klassen struggled mightily in his first career start as he allowed two runs on three hits and five walks with four strikeouts over 2.2 innings of work. Williamson had a disastrous first start against Pittsburgh, allowing six runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three, but bounced back with 6.2 scoreless innings and allowed just three hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

The finale will feature Angels ace right-hander José Soriano and Reds lefty Andrew Abbott. While Abbott has been solid so far through three outings (17 innings, 3.18 ERA, 1.41 WHIP), perhaps nobody has been a better pitcher in the American League than Soriano.

The 27-year-old is 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA, 0.65 WHIP and 21 strikeouts across 20 innings of work to begin the season. MLB.com’s Brent Maguire named Soriano as one of 10 players opening eyes early this season.

“Soriano has always possessed electric stuff, but it’s gotten even better this year -- he’s averaging 97.5 on his fastball and generating a 33.8 percent whiff rate,” Maguire wrote Friday. “Most encouraging, Soriano is starting to throw more strikes, a frequent problem in the past. With an elite ground-ball rate (he leads all qualified pitchers with a 66.0 percent ground-ball rate since 2025) and improved stuff and command, Soriano has the makings of a true breakout performer.”

He dominated the Astros (6.0 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 7 K), Chicago Cubs (6 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K) and Braves (8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 10 K) and has been exactly who the Angels needed at the top of the starting rotation.

First pitch of the opener is at 6:45 p.m. EST on Apple TV.