Angels News: Halos Insider Predicts Who Will Fill the Sixth Starter Spot
The Angels have filled out their roster very nicely over the course of the last few weeks. They needed a starting pitcher — they got that in All-Star LHP Tyler Anderson. They needed to add some infield depth — they got that by trading for utility man Gio Urshela. They needed to fill a corner outfield spot — they did that by trading for power-hitting OF Hunter Renfroe. And they needed some bullpen help — and they've started to do that through minor league deals with RHPs Chris Devenski and Jonathan Holder.
The Angels roster already looks much better than it did last year, but there are still some question marks. One comes at the shortstop position, which could be sorted out through a huge splash signing. The other, however, is in that sixth and final rotation spot.
The Angels have deployed a six-man rotation to somewhat limit Shohei Ohtani's workload, and all indications point to them continuing that in 2023. So with Anderson joining Shohei Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval, Reid Detmers and Jose Suarez, they still have one more spot to fill.
Griffin Canning could be a candidate to fill that role, but Sam Blum of The Athletic has another option in mind in RHP Chase Silseth.
"Silseth, though, is the pick here. He’s a hard-throwing righty to balance out a rotation with four lefties who don’t throw particularly hard. Silseth has all the tools to be a good starter. His key is going deeper into games."
Silseth started seven games for the Angels in 2022. He went 1-3 with a 6.59 ERA, allowing 21 earned runs in 28.2 innings. He had 24 strikeouts to 12 walks, and allowed seven home runs. He didn't have good numbers by any means, but he did show a lot of promise in the minors.
In Double-A in 2022, he went 7-0 with a 2.28 ERA in 15 starts. He struck out 117, walked 28 and allowed opponents to hit just .191.
Silseth is still just 22-years-old, so a full offseason of work could get him ready to go for a bigger workload come next season.
