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Angels Starter Makes Prominent All-Rookie Team
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- Angels Starter Makes Prominent All-Rookie Team
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
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.
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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.
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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.
