What is going on over in Los Angeles right now with the Angels?
If you’re a Major League Baseball fan, you need to tune into an Angels game when José Soriano is pitching. What he has been able to do so far this season is incredible and unheard of. The Angels ace took the mound for his sixth start of the season on Wednesday and went five shutout innings against the Toronto Blue Jays. At first glance, it looks like a good start on paper. Five shutout innings to go along with four strikeouts. Pretty good. Also, the Angels would go on to win, 7-3.
Overall, a solid outing. But when you look at his season stats, you’ll see a trend that is eye-popping. Soriano has made six starts now. In five of those six starts, he didn’t allow an earned run. He allowed just one earned run in his third start of the season. That’s it. He has pitched 37 2/3 innings for the Angels so far this season and has given up just one earned run. That’s a 0.24 ERA, if you were wondering. That 0.24 ERA is also the lowest mark by a starter in the big leagues since 1913 in a hurler’s first six starts, per MLB’s Sarah Langs.
“José Soriano has a 0.24 ERA,” Langs wrote. “That’s the lowest ERA in a pitcher’s first 6 starts of a season since earned runs became official in both leagues (1913), min 30 IP.”
Soriano is a good pitcher, but who could’ve seen this coming? He logged a 4.26 ERA in 31 starts last year for Los Angeles. The year before, he had a 3.42 ERA in 22 total appearances, including 20 starts. He was a full-time reliever in 2023 with a 3.64 ERA in 38 outings.
Now, we’re looking at the hottest pitcher in baseball. Soriano is 5-0 on the season so far to go along with his 0.24 ERA in 37 2/3 innings pitched. He already has racked up 2.6 wins above replacement, which is tops in baseball. Soriano has an impressive 43-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio so far this season. Simply put, he has done everything right and pitched better than every other starter in Major League Baseball. It’s hard to deny that fact. Tarik Skubal is the two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, but he hasn’t reached this ERA in his first six starts of any season.
There are legends all over the place in the majors still, like Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Jacob deGrom, among many others, who never reached this mark. Paul Skenes is the baseball world’s darling as a starter right now, and he hasn’t done this. The list goes on and on because there isn’t another starter out there who has pitched to the level Soriano has to begin a season in their first six starts.
No matter which you root for, you should tune to an Angels game the next time Soriano is starting.
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