One month through the season, Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jose Soriano has looked like the best pitcher in baseball.

Soriano was named the Angels’ Opening Day starter, their third different opening day starter since losing Shohei Ohtani in free agency. Despite this, Soriano didn’t have high expectations entering the season.

In 2025, Soriano had a 4.26 ERA in 31 starts. His one bright spot was the lack of home runs he gave up. He gave up just 12 home runs in 2025, the lowest rate among qualifying starters.

Soriano has always been able to throw hard, with an average fastball of 97 miles per hour. However, he allowed too many base runners. In 2025, he allowed eight hits per nine and four walks per nine.

This season, he’s changed his strategy on the mound. He uses his fastball more while using his sinker less. This has helped him throw more strikes, reducing his walks per nine from four to three.

More importantly, it’s made him harder to hit. He has just four hits per nine, the best hits per nine in the American League. The increased reliance on his fastball has led to his strikeout percentage rising from 21% in 2025 to 30% in 2026. The more selective use of his sinker has caused hitters to be under his pitches more. In 2025, only 8.6% of contact off Soriano was considered under. In 2026, that number has risen to 18%. 

The Angels have a 12-17 record this season. However, they have a 6-0 record when Soriano starts, including Soriano getting the win in five of those starts. 

Despite the Angels’ struggles, they’ve had good performances from many players. Soriano has a 0.24 ERA, Mike Trout has a .961 OPS, Zach Neto has a .360 on-base percentage, and Oswald Peraza has a .280 batting average.

A fight broke out during the Los Angeles Angels-Atlanta Braves game between Jorge Soler and Reynaldo Lopez, leading to their seven-game suspensions. 

The Braves won the game 7-2. 

In the bottom of the first, Soler hit a home run off a hanging slider from Lopez. During his next at-bat, Soler was hit by a pitch.

In his third at-bat, Lopez threw a pitch high and inside, close to Soler. Soler took offense to that and charged the mound. Both players were ejected for the fight. Tyler Kinley came in to pitch for the Braves while Jeimer Candelario pinch-hit for Soler. 

The Braves were already leading 4-2 when the fight happened. They extended their lead later with an Ozzie Albies home run, Drake Baldwin RBI single and Matt Olson RBI groundout. 

Austin Riley had a huge game for the Braves with two hits and one RBI. Riley has gotten off to a cold start to the season, as he currently has a batting average of .190. Jo Adell had two hits for the Angels. Adell made headlines earlier in the season when he hit three home runs against the Seattle Mariners. 

After the game, Lopez told reporters that he did not intend to throw at Soler. 

“It’s just a shame, the situation and how things unfolded,” López said through a translator, “On my part, there was never any intent to hit him at any point. So, again, it’s just a shame.”

Despite this, Braves manager Walt Weiss understood why Soler was mad.

“I know it didn’t look good because of Soler’s numbers against Lopey, and he hit a homer, he hit him. It didn’t look good,” Weiss said. “Lopey’s not throwing at him. I don’t allow our pitchers to throw at people just because they can’t get ’em out. Our job is to get ’em out. But I understand why Soler got angry. And he’s a really mild-mannered guy. So, I think the switch flipped for him.

With the All-Star break looming within the next week, one date is circled on the calendar: July 30, 2024 – when the MLB’s trade deadline is. Across the coming days, we will see teams make executive decisions regarding their rosters. Two major trades occurred before the deadline: Luis Arraez was moved from the Marlins to the Padres in May, while Aaron Civale was sent to the Brewers from the Rays on July 4.

The Mets are 2.5 games back of the Cardinals for the third wild card spot as of July 5, 2024. New York went on an insane tear to get them to this position, going 14-6 since June 11. This run is highlighted by Grimace’s first pitch on June 12, which some believe contributed to the Mets’ turning of the ship. The Mets owned the MLB’s best record in June, going 16-8.

Look for the Mets to shop the market for some pitching – notable names include Erick Fedde and Chris Bassitt. Despite wanting to buy, the Mets could sell as they have three starters on the last year of their contracts while relievers Adam Ottaviano and Jake Diekman are regressing. Jose Quintana, Sean Manaea or Luis Severino could be moved to a team that is also contending.

The Angels sit at 36-50 and fourth place in the AL West. Los Angeles is taking offers for their closer, Carlos Estevez. Thus far, Estevez has pitched 27 innings and has a 3.00 ERA, in addition to striking out 27 batters and walking three. The closer won the American League’s Reliever of the Month award in June. Interest is pouring in as the Yankees, Royals, Padres, Mets and Cardinals are rumored to have interest in the right-handed hurler. Estevez is owed just $3 million for the rest of 2024, so teams need to commit just over $2 million to cater to the pitcher’s salary – that alone is a bargain for a top reliever on the market.