\ud83d\udd25 ERA (0.33)
\ud83d\udd25 Wins (4)
\ud83d\udd25 Strikeouts (31)#RepTheHalo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/gpvgVzLp7y<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201c(Stephen) Strasburg and (Max) Scherzer, those two guys were pretty darn good when I caught them,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cJust the way they attack hitters, the way they executed stuff, the calmness they had on the mound, I feel like Sori\u2019s up there with those guys, which is saying a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n As a boy, Soriano seemed destined to be a hitter. He was born in Santo Domingo in October 1998, just after the Dominican Republic\u2019s favorite son, Sammy Sosa, had slugged 66 homers for the Chicago Cubs. But Soriano gravitated to the mound, inspired by different Dominican stars: Pedro Mart\u00ednez at first, and then Luis Severino.<\/p>\n He signed with the Angels for $70,000 in 2016 and pitched well for four seasons until undergoing Tommy John surgery in January 2020. As he recovered, the Pittsburgh Pirates took him first overall in the Rule 5 draft that December.<\/p>\n After two games for Class-A Bradenton in 2021, Soriano hurt his elbow again. He flew to Pittsburgh for a second Tommy John surgery, and briefly considered quitting, leaning on family to help him through.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen those things happen, you try to be strong and confident you can come back, but it\u2019s hard to do,\u201d Soriano said. \u201cEspecially because, when you come in for the first one, you start recovering and you start feeling better \u2014 and then that happens. At the moment you feel very bad, frustrated. You feel like you don\u2019t want to play anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Had Soriano avoided the second surgery and pitched for Pittsburgh through the end of that 2021 season, he would probably still be a Pirate. But when the second operation made that impossible, the Pirates \u2014 in the spirit of the Rule 5 draft \u2014 returned him to the Angels after the season.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the Rule 5 happened, at the moment I felt weird because my whole (career) I was an Angel,\u201d Soriano said. \u201cA couple months later I felt fine because they treated me very well, but when I had to come back, I felt weird again. Just one year and I had to come back. But when I got here, I felt like I was at home.\u201d<\/p>\n In the three-season span from 2020 through 2022, Soriano pitched only 16 2\/3 innings. The Angels built him up as a reliever in 2023, and though he was wild, it was tempting to keep him on that path.<\/p>\n \u201cEventually, we thought he could be at the back end (as) the ninth-inning type guy,\u201d general manager Perry Minasian said. \u201cBut what made us convinced, what made us believe and take the risk of starting him, was the brain. He\u2019s a good guy, and his brain works.\u201d<\/p>\n These days, Minasian said, Soriano stands at the sweet spot of his career. He understands himself better as a pitcher, works diligently to stay healthy and even decided he was ready to do interviews without an interpreter. When he became a father last summer, Soriano wore a T-shirt featuring a cartoon baby and the words \u201cLittle Sinker Boy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLast year when I realized my wife was pregnant, I had the idea to do something funny for the guys,\u201d Soriano said. \u201cI was thinking a lot, and at some point I thought, \u2018Let me do this and see if they like it.\u2019 They said, \u2018Oh yeah, this is gonna be funny.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n All those sinkers gave Soriano the best ground-ball rate in the American League from the time he reached the majors through the end of last season. Throwing fewer of them \u2014 while exploring the upper reaches of the strike zone, too \u2014 is making him a star.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody knows he\u2019s got a good sinker,\u201d Maddux said. \u201cThat\u2019s not all he\u2019s got good. He\u2019s got a good curveball, a good splitty, his four-seam is an offset to the two-seam \u2014 and he enjoys himself when he\u2019s out there. And that\u2019s probably the greatest thing about him.\u201d<\/p>\n Is well-traveled Craig Kimbrel on a path to Cooperstown?<\/p>\n When the New York Mets added Craig Kimbrel to their bullpen last weekend, manager Carlos Mendoza casually referred to him with the ultimate baseball superlative.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s still got weapons and he\u2019s here to help us,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cThis guy is well on his way to being a Hall of Famer.\u201d<\/p>\n As a nine-time All-Star with 440 saves, ranking fifth on the career list, Kimbrel can certainly make a case. Then again, his production has been fairly ordinary for a while now. In his first eight seasons (2010 through 2017), Kimbrel had a 1.80 ERA and a 222 ERA+. In the next eight seasons, before joining the Mets, he had a 3.83 ERA and a 110 ERA+.<\/p>\n If Kimbrel does get to Cooperstown, though, he will set a modern record: most teams in a Hall of Fame career. The right-hander, who turns 38 next month, has pitched for the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros and the Mets.<\/p>\n That\u2019s 10 teams, one more than modern record-holders Rickey Henderson and Goose Gossage. Only one Hall of Famer played for more teams than that duo, but you\u2019ve got to go way back to find him.<\/p>\n Dan Brouthers suited up for 10 franchises from 1879 to 1896 \u2014 then added an 11th, in 1904, when John McGraw gave him a ceremonial cameo for the New York Giants at age 46. Brouthers, a first baseman, hit .342 in a career spent mostly with defunct franchises, including the Troy Trojans, Buffalo Bisons, Detroit Wolverines, Boston Reds, Louisville Colonels and the 1800s version of the Baltimore Orioles.<\/p>\n 5 questions (and Off the Grid) with \u2026A\u2019s coach Marcus Jensen<\/p>\n For devoted Immaculate Grid players, Marcus Jensen is a legend. Jensen played only 145 major-league games<\/a>, but spread them across seven teams in seven seasons from 1996 to 2002. He\u2019ll work for any team-crossover square involving the San Francisco Giants, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers. (The Grid below is from last month.)<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been brought to my attention a few times,\u201d Jensen said recently. \u201cLike, \u2018I used your name and it was point zero-zero-zero-something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Now in his 12th season as a coach for the Athletics, Jensen has found the stability that eluded him as a player. But while he had about 10 times more plate appearances in the minors than he did in the majors (roughly 4,000 to 400), at least Jensen had the chance.<\/p>\n One grandfather, Arthur \u201cMickey\u201d Kemper<\/a>, caught for a barnstorming Negro League team called the Toledo Bearcats, and also served as an umpire. Another grandfather, Lauritz \u201cBabe\u201d Jensen<\/a>, played five seasons in the affiliated minors, including three for the New York Yankees from 1946-48, when he hit .295 but never got the call.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had a monster team up in the big leagues,\u201d Jensen said.<\/p>\n Before a recent A\u2019s game at Citi Field, the 53-year-old Jensen shared a few thoughts on his eventful baseball life.<\/p>\n A powerful heritage: \u201cThe barnstorming teams would play the major (Negro League) teams because they\u2019d come through as they were traveling to the next city. (Kemper) also umpired at the same time. He played against Josh Gibson, so he\u2019d tell stories about playing against him, and umpiring when he was there. It\u2019s a fascinating generation of baseball, a fundamental stage for African-Americans. He made due under the circumstances, but he was also happy to see the progression of baseball, especially in my (hometown) of Oakland, Calif., a number of great baseball players he used to tell me about that weren\u2019t far removed from the Negro Leagues who were getting opportunities that guys he played with weren\u2019t. So he\u2019d plant seeds with me all the time and give me the history.\u201d<\/p>\n An MLB career of pride and frustration: \u201cProbably a little bit of both, not being able to maximize opportunities that I had. I was still learning the craft, kind of labeled as a defensive guy who was still trying to figure things out at the plate. And once you get removed from the game and get on this side of it, it\u2019s the old adage: Had I known then when I knew now, the process may have been easier. But that was my journey \u2014 kind of a journeyman catcher, trying to find a home.\u201d<\/p>\n A golden moment at the 2000 Olympics: \u201cThat\u2019s a highlight of my career. That year was interesting, because I was up with Minnesota for a lot of the year and then I got sent down, and it was kind of like when one door closes, another one opens. I had played in the Pan-American Games the year before and did pretty well, so that created an opportunity for the Olympics. We had a pretty dominant pitching staff. I would split time with Pat Borders. We rotated each game, and it just kind of worked out where Pat got the gold medal game. He had actually gotten hurt, and I think the rotation brought him back in line to catch that game. I wouldn\u2019t have missed that opportunity either, if I was him.\u201d<\/p>\n Knuckling under in a one-game Red Sox career: \u201cI caught Tim Wakefield. I was happy to say that I did not (have any passed balls), but I was exhausted after the game because you had to bear down on every pitch. We didn\u2019t win that game<\/a>, but it was fun. He\u2019s my one and only knuckleballer.\u201d<\/p>\n What does a quality control coach do?: \u201cIt varies among every organization. Kotsay had the position prior to me, before he was managing, and it was a different role for him. It\u2019s primarily just a title \u2014 for me, it\u2019s handling the catching and the base-running game. (A\u2019s catcher Shea Langeliers) can swing it, obviously. He\u2019s got power and he\u2019s growing in both facets of it, coming into his own but still understanding there\u2019s room to improve on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n Classic clipMike Scott\u2019s \u201csplit-finger trash ball\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_6576.jpeg\")
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