The Los Angeles Angels are forced to pick up the pieces in 2024 after losing iconic two-way star Shohei Ohtani to the rival Dodgers, but there is still plenty to look forward to for this upcoming season.
Ohtani opened the last two seasons for the Angels and with him out of the picture, it was unclear who would be the Opening Day starter for them in 2024, until now.
Team reporter Erica Weston shared that lefty Patrick Sandoval will be the Angels’ Opening Day starter for 2024.
Angels announce Patrick Sandoval is their Opening Day starter
— Erica Weston (@EricaLWeston) March 19, 2024
The 27-year-old is coming off a disappointing season where he went 7-13 with a 4.11 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 144.2 innings over a career-high 28 starts.
It was a step back for Sandoval after a career year in 2022, when he posted a 2.91 ERA over 27 starts.
Tyler Anderson, Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning, and Chase Silseth are projected to round out the starting rotation, while Sandoval is going to be relied upon to make a big leap as the de facto ace of this staff with Ohtani gone.
The Angels finished in the bottom-ten last season in most of the major pitching stats, including quality starts, ERA, home runs given up, walks surrendered, and hits allowed.
Those poor numbers included Ohtani’s 10-5 record and 3.14 ERA, so there is a lot of room for improvement for this rotation.
The offense could surprise people as Mike Trout is healthy, Jo Adell is looking for his breakout year, and hopefully the team can get a rebound from Anthony Rendon after a disastrous start to his Angels tenure, but ultimately, the Angels need a lot more from their rotation in 2024, so hopefully Sandoval can get things started on the right foot.
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