ANAHEIM, Calif. -- As the Angels have to make a decision on all position battles on the roster, manager Ron Washington announced that Jack Kochanwoicz will serve as the team's fifth starter in the opening day starting rotation while Reid Detmers will move to the bullpen for the first time in his career.
The battle between Kochanowicz and Detmers officially came to a close after Sunday night's exhibition game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kochanowicz was called into Washington's office where he was greeted by general manager Perry Minasian and pitching coach Barry Enright and was informed the job was his.
"He said you earned the spot. Just continue to be who you are and don't change who you are. Just keep doing it."
Kochanowicz said that he gave everyone in the room two hugs each and called his parents and girlfriend to let them know the news.
Pitching in four games during spring training, Kochanowicz has a 2.92 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and seven strikeouts in 12.1 innings.
Kochanowicz said that winning the job was a dream come true for him but that it was ultimately in the back of his head as he was focused on making the MLB roster.
"After what I did last year, I just think I showed that I could help win games in any role that I was going to be in."
Last season was Kochanowicz's debut in the MLB. He appeared in 11 games for the Angels and finished the season with a 2.99 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 65.1 innings of work.
"Watching the way Kochanowicz pitched. And he's been doing it since September. All the way through spring training. He won the job. Not that Detmers lost it," Washington said. "We had to make a choice."
Kochanowicz primarily relied on his sinker as his main pitch last season, using it 73% of the time. Followed by his sinker was his curveball at 18%.
Washington later went on to say they spoke with Demters on Sunday and said that he is ready to take on a new role as a reliever and will join newly acquired pitcher Ian Anderson as long inning relievers for the Angels.
"He just wants to pitch. And whatever he needed to do to help the team, he's willing to do it," Washington said. "Not saying he's going to be a bullpen piece for the rest of his career but right now that's what he fits for us."
While Kochanowicz won the job as the fifth spot of the rotation, Detmers didn't make the decision easy on the Angels, appearing in six games during spring training, Detmers has a 2.79 ERA with a 1.09 WHIP with 17 strikeouts in 19.1 innings.
In his last two outings, Detmers saw time out of the bullpen as a reliever and pitched over three innings striking out nine batters and giving up seven hits and three earned runs.
"I'm looking forward to it, to be honest with you," Detmers said. "Whatever way I can help this team do to win is what I'm gonna do and right now it's out of the bullpen."
Splitting time between the majors and minors last season, Detmers appeared in 17 games for the Angels where he pitched a career-low ERA of 6.70 and a 4-9 record.
After finding out that he will be serving as a reliever for the Angels, Detmers said that the team still views him as a starter and didn't rule out the opportunity to rejoin the Angels starting rotation in the future.
"It was a happy meeting and I'm just excited about this season."
