Chase Silseth

Silseth continues to tease with his fantasy potential around issues both in and out of his control. The highlights of his 2023 season include a 12-strikeout performance against the Mariners in early August and a 10-strikeout performance against the Yankees in late July while his lowlights include getting chased before the fourth inning with 4+ earned runs against both the Orioles and Rays along with being concussed by an errant throw during a rundown in a start against the Mets in late August. Between Salt Lake and Anaheim, Silteth worked 98 innings with 104 strikeouts, 46 walks, and 10 homers despite his groundball tilt. Both his slider and splitter generated whiffs a third of the time, but his fastball is average at best yet he throws it over half the time because he falls behind in the count more than he should. Better execution and command would allow Silseth to take a nice step forward in 2024 as long as his body holds up.

The combination of the Angels wanting to stick with a six-man rotation and Silseth dominating at Double-A Rochester earned the young righthander seven starts in The Show. Silseth was underwhelming as his 9.3% K-BB and seven homers allowed in 28.2 innings indicates. Silseth throws five pitches, relying mostly on a four-seam fastball, splitter and slider while occasionally mixing in a sinker and curve. There is an adequate velocity delta between his pitches to keep batters off balance, but he needs to exhibit the same control and command shown in the minors. Silseth will likely be given a chance to win a rotation spot in the spring, but he's more likely to begin the season in Triple-A, a level in which he's yet to pitch. Despite his struggles at the major league level, Silseth is in play as a speculative starter in draft and hold formats.

It's not often we see a pitcher called up with fewer than 35 innings of minor-league experience, but that's exactly what happened with Silseth this season. An 11th-round pick last June, Silseth became the first player from the 2021 draft class to reach the majors when his contract was selected by the Angels in mid-May. He was dominating at Double-A Rocket City to begin the year, fanning 37 in 26 innings to earn the aggressive promotion. The 22-year-old right-hander has more than held his own through two big-league starts, with his split-finger pitch and slider in particular showing good swing-and-miss potential. Silseth is one of the biggest pop-up prospects of the year so far, especially on the pitching side, and he's already on the streaming radar in mixed leagues despite the ultra-thin professional track record.