Former GM’s Draft Strategy, COVID-19 Shutdown Harmed Angels Pitcher’s Development

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 4, 2024

John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Last season, Jack Kochanowicz realized he needed to change something if he wanted to reach the big leagues because what he was doing wasn't working.

He had spent two straight seasons in Single-A and had an earned run average of over 6.00. For a 2019 third-round pick, change was urgent.

“I kind of just decided, OK, what I’m doing is not working,” Kochanowicz recalled in an interview with Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. “I was just accepting that I need to make some changes.”

When Kochanowicz was drafted by the Angels, Billy Eppler was the general manager. Eppler was known to sit pitchers for the remainder of the season immediately after their draft. The timing of this was brutal.

The COVID pandemic hit in 2020 and Kochanowicz had suddenly lost two seasons. He didn't pitch in a minor league until 2021, nearly two years after he was selected by the Halos.

“COVID happened,” he said. “After I stopped competition for a while, I came back, and that four-seamer didn’t have the same hop that I wanted.”

Jack Kochanowicz is the @FamilyCooling Player of the Game after pitching 6 innings, allowing zero earned runs and four strikeouts in the Angels' 3-0 victory. #RepDetroit pic.twitter.com/DNE4u5hzqJ

— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) August 29, 2024

During those two years, the right-hander lost the zip on a fastball that had eluded opponents' bats for so long. He struggled in 2021 and 2022, which led him to experiment with a sinker. Last spring, he went all-in with the sinker.

“It just gave me a different type of movement,” Kochanowicz said. “Once I saw that, I was like OK, I can trust this. I can roll with this.”

The 23-year-old has taken his sinker to the big leagues this season, and he has impressed his teammates and coaches. Another slight change in his mechanics has given him a 2.45 ERA over his last four starts.

He's the only Angels pitcher this season to put together four straight quality starts — at least six innings with three earned runs or fewer. If he can pull it off again on Thursday in Texas, he’ll be the first Angels pitcher since 2018 to make it five in a row, and the first rookie to do it since Andrew Heaney in 2015.

Manager Ron Washington said he sees a new pitcher since his rough beginning in July.

“He’s been pounding the strike zone with a lot more consistency,” Washington said. “He’s had some success. When you have success, it fuels confidence. We don’t want him to change anything. We just want him to keep pounding the zone with that good sinker he’s got. Keep mixing in his offspeed pitches. Just keep doing what he’s doing.”

The 23-year-old confidence is sky-high over the last four starts, but he understands that there is room for improvement.

“It feels great,” he said. “It’s just continuing to trust it. Continuing to trust that, if I’m down in the zone with it, it’s going to work.”