One of the biggest Achilles' heels of the 2025 Los Angeles Angels was the starting rotation. The unit finished with a 4.91 ERA, third-worst in baseball. Youngsters like Jack Kochanowicz struggled, and veterans like Kyle Hendricks and Tyler Anderson seemed to be running on fumes.
Last winter's big free-agent acquisition, Yusei Kikuchi, was brought in to be the staff ace. While he had his moments, ultimately, Kikuchi was miscast in the role. That's not as bad as it seems. Kikuchi had looked like a back-of-the-rotation starter for the majority of his career, and in 2025, he showed that at least some of the improvements he made with the Houston Astros stuck.