Angels @ White Sox: Opening Series Preview
Mar 26, 2025 - Written by Alex Sukyas
Photo Credit : @AngelStadium - X
Opening Day Roster
Baseball Season is finally back! Rosters have been finalized and your Angels Opening Day roster is set! Here is your projected Opening Day lineup and roster:
LF Taylor Ward
1B Nolan Schanuel
RF Mike Trout
DH Jorge Soler
2B Tim Anderson / Luis Rengifo
C Logan O’Hoppe
3B Yoan Moncada / Luis Rengifo
CF Jo Adell
SS Kevin Newman / Luis Rengifo
The Angels rotation is looking like new signing LHP Yusei Kikuchi will be SP1 (confirmed), RHP Jose Soriano will be our SP2, LHP Tyler Anderson being the SP3, and RHPs Kyle Hendricks and Jack Kochanowicz being the SP4 and 5. The bullpen is to be LHP Reid Detmers, RHP Ian Anderson, LHP Garrett McDaniels, RHP Ryan Johnson, RHP Ryan Zeferjahn, LHP Brock Burke, RHP Ben Joyce, and RHP Kenley Jansen will be the closer.
Game 1: March 27
Photo Credit : @MLBTradeRumors - X
The Angels will kick off the season in Chicago on the 27th against the White Sox. So how will the Angels likely look for opening day? It has already been announced that LHP Yusei Kikuchi will be taking the mound for Opening Day. This will be Yusei’s first ever opening day start, when in his past seasons he’s started mostly the 2nd or 3rd game of the season. This spring Kikuchi has had a decent showing with a 3.00 ERA & 16 Ks in 12 Innings pitched. However, the average batter he faced during spring was around a AAA skill level. Per Fangraphs, Kikuchi will be facing a projected White Sox Lineup of:
3B Miguel Vargas
CF Luis Robert
DH Andrew Benintendi
1B Andrew Vaughn
2B Lenyn Sosa
LF Travis Jankowski
RF Michael A. Taylor
SS Brooks Baldwin
C Korey Lee
With this lineup, the White Sox will be starting RHP Sean Burke for Opening Day. Burke made his debut last season, appearing in 2 games and pitching 19 innings with a 1.42 ERA and accumulating 22 Ks. Now this spring as a starter, he started 4 games, pitched 12 innings, and had a high 6.75 ERA. He only struck out 8 batters and the average batter he faced was at a AAA level.
Game 2: March 29
Photo Credit : @MLBTradeRumors - X
For game 2, the Angels will be starting RHP Jose Soriano, who had a good showing this spring. Soriano started 6 games, pitched 20 innings, and had a 3.60 ERA with 21 Ks. He also faced AAA batters on average. This is Soriano’s second year as a starter, as his first was as a reliever. As a starter last year, Soriano had a 3.42 ERA, went 6-7, and had 97 Ks. Soriano had reportedly been working on his off speed pitches heavily this offseason, so that will be interesting to see what had changed this season. Soriano will likely be facing RHP Jonathan Cannon, the White Sox have not confirmed a starter for neither game 2 or 3 as of this articles release. This is Cannon’s second year, after he had a below average rookie season. Last year, Cannon went 5-10 with a 4.49 ERA and 91 Ks across 124.1 IP.
Game 3: March 30
Photo Credit : @Angels - X
For game 3, the Angels have not yet named their starting rotation after game 2, but will likely be starting Tyler Anderson. Anderson is coming off of a strong 2024 season, where he was selected as an All Star. Anderson went 10-15 with a 3.81 ERA in 2024. He pitched a total 179.1 Innings and racked up 142 Ks. Anderson was the Angels lone all star last season, and hopefully he can lead the other pitchers to get named to the same honor. As for this year, Anderson had a disappointing Spring training. He started 5 games, pitching 17 innings. However, he had a 7.41 ERA and 12 Ks. The White Sox will likely start RHP Davis Martin. Martin debuted in 2022, going 3-6 in 9 starts (14 total appearances), and pitched 63.1 Innings. He had a 4.83 ERA with 48 Ks. Martin then had to undergo Tommy John Surgery and was forced to sit out the 2023 season. He returned in 2024 going 0-5 across 10 starts (11 total appearances). He pitched 50 innings, recording a 4.32 ERA and 47 Ks.
Conclusion
Statistically, the series looks in favor of the Angels assuming everyone plays to their best. However, anything could happen and we will hopefully see the Angels win out the series!
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