Setting The Tone Away From Home: 4 Key Takeaways From The Series Win in Cincy
April 17, 2026 - Written by Jack Argent
José Soriano this season 🔥
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 13, 2026
4-0
0.33 ERA
27.0 IP
9 H
31 K
0.67 WHIP pic.twitter.com/kUDtB7vwYf
Over this past weekend, the Angels traveled to Cincinnati for a 3 game weekend set against the Reds. In this series, the Angels proceeded to take two out of the three games to secure their first series win at Great American Ballpark since June 2007. The main factors that propelled the Angels to the series victory were hitting for power, dominant starting pitching, and strong plate discipline in which they drew 26 walks as a team over the weekend. From breakout starts to big time swings, here’s the full breakdown of the Halos series win.
Jack Kochanowicz Brings me to Tears:
The Angels kicked off the three game set with a primetime game on Apple TV against the Reds that included a very intriguing pitching matchup between young arms Jack Kochanowicz and Chase Burns; two pitchers with some high velocity stuff, but can have their fair share of control problems. This would come to fruition with both arms walking four hitters a piece, however, Kochanowicz was able to dominate the game with his sinker as he threw that pitch for strikes 68% of the time. Furthermore, Kochanowicz was also able to get hitters to chase that pitch 26% of the time along with other factors such as a 57% of sinkers in the zone, 72% resulted in swings, and 4 out of 11 sinkers were thrown for first pitch strikes. And although Reds hitters posted a 94.9 average exit velocity and 8 hard hit balls off Kochanowicz, he was able to force 12 ground balls by utilizing downward movement with his sinker and changeup. This limited the Reds ability to hit the ball hard, as out of the 21 balls put in play against Kochanowicz, only 5 resulted in hard hit line drives or flyballs. Although it is still April and there is still some significant improvement, getting seven innings of only two hits allowed and one earned run allowed from Jack Kochanowicz after the disaster which was his 2025 season is more than likely something that most Halos fans wouldn’t have predicted going into the new season.
We Better Hope Soler’s Suspension Gets Reduced:
Along with Kochanowicz’s dominance on the mound, the Halos can also point to Jorge Soler’s titanic grand slam in the top of the 8th inning as the moment that symbolized it as the finishing blow in a 10-2 series opening blowout in favor of the Angels. What Soler did in this bases loaded situation was something that most baseball fans are accustomed to seeing. So with 2 outs and the bases loaded, Soler climbed in the box looking to end any hope of Cincinnati mounting a comeback. The at bat started with Soler fouling off an up and in fastball, sending a message that Soler is looking to demolish a baseball, the following three pitches from Reds reliever Kyle Nicolas were not close to the zone. This brings the count to 3 balls, 1 strike, a count where a power bat like Soler is looking to go yard and let everyone in the stadium know about it. So he hunted the fastball, got his pitch, and didn’t miss a single stitch, resulting in the Angels lead ballooning to a 10-1 advantage. And although Reds superstar shortstop Elly De La Cruz would hit a solo shot off Mitch Farris in the bottom of the inning, Farris cruised through the last 4 outs to conclude the 10-2 series opening victory.
However, there was a possibility that Soler would not even be allowed to play in this game due to an incident that occurred in the previous game that involved an altercation with Braves pitcher Reynaldo Lopez. Moments after finding out each player’s respective suspension lengths, both Soler and Lopez made the decision to appeal their suspensions. As for Lopez, he was able to get his suspension reduced to 5 games; which for a starting pitcher is technically zero games because those games make up the length of time between starts. As for Soler, MLB took a little longer to come to a conclusion and we found out on Wednesday that his suspension had been reduced to 4 games, meaning he will be able to return on Sunday. Soler’s bat provides value to the Halos lineup so a minimal punishment is huge to keep the Halos afloat.
George Klassen Isn’t Big League Ready Just Yet
After winning Friday’s game in dominant fashion, the Angels turned to rookie right hander George Klassen to start game two of the series. But unfortunately for Klassen, his problems with controlling the strike zone in his big league against the Seattle Mariners carried over to last Saturday’s start against the Reds. And instead of letting Klassen off the hook, the Reds made him pay. As in the bottom of the 1st, Klassen struck out TJ Friedl to start the inning, but the next four hitters would reach base via: walk, single, error at first, and another walk; loading the bases for Nathaniel Lowe with only one out and already putting a run on the board. Klassen had spent most of his outing working from behind in the count, and this at bat was no different. So on a 2-1 count, Lowe got a changeup right in his swing path and yanked it down the line for a bases clearing double down the right field line pushing the Reds lead up to 4 runs.
After finally getting out of the first, Klassen’s second inning was no better, Klassen gave up a home run to Spencer Steer on top of giving up 2 more walks and 2 more hits while only being able to record 3 more outs before getting pulled in the 3rd inning after walking Tyler Stephenson. The inability to command his fastball and secondary pitches resulted in his final line showing five walks, four earned runs, four hits allowed in just 2 innings of work. Klassen’s long term development is something the Angels need to ensure doesn’t fall flat and at least a year or two more of low pressure minor league games can hopefully be a solution to his control and command over his fastball that has good velocity and life to it when he does throw it well. However, throwing fastballs for strikes at a rate under 50% just won’t get it done at the major league level.
José Soriano. Nothing Else, That’s All
With the two teams splitting the first two games of the series, the Angels turned to their ace José Soriano, looking to take the series finale behind another dominant start from Soriano. Going into this start, Soriano had only given up one run, seven hits, and he also posted a ridiculous 21 to 6 strikeout to walk ratio. And his start on Sunday was just another chapter in a historic stretch of pitching to start the new season. Soriano’s sinker and fastball were continuing to work very well together as the average velocities of 97.9 MPH on his fastball and 97 MPH were maintained across 106 total pitches. Furthermore, his knuckle curve was an excellent swing-and-miss pitch once again, as out of the 24 knuckle curves he threw, 50% of them were considered chased by hitters out of the strike zone.
Another way that made Soriano’s knuckle curve as lethal was that he was able to post a 42% called strike plus whiff percentage which is a big deal because Soriano was able to not only get hitters to swing and miss, he was also able to freeze hitters when they were looking fastball. All and all, Soriano left the mound by doing something that hasn’t been done since 1900. Soriano is the first pitcher to record over 30 strikeouts, allow less than 2 runs, and give up less than 10 hits in their first four appearances that cover over 25 innings. Although a lot can be said about where he is now, but to see him progress from a reliever who would be used to eat innings to a frontline ace and elite level starting pitcher is a testament to the incredible level of work he has put in over the years.
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