Welcome back for another installment of Up-and-Coming Dynasty players. Last week I talked about Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto and this week I’m sticking to the Angels organization as the spotlight falls on starting pitcher Chase Silseth.
Right now, Silseth is rostered in 7% of Yahoo leagues and 4.5% of ESPN leagues while he’s rostered in 65% of Fantrax leagues.
When it comes to evaluating Silseth, looking at his past is not a good indicator of why I think he is an up-and-coming dynasty player. That is because if you look at his body of work in college and first season in the minors, there would be no reason to think he would have any success in the majors.
In this case, it is looking at what he did last year with the Angels and a gut hunch. My gut is telling me that Silseth is a very under-the-radar player, one who I think will be a solid member of your pitching staff, especially in deep leagues.
College & Minor League Statistics
| YEAR | W-L | G-GS | IP | H/9 | K/9 | BB/9 | K/BB | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 – NCAA | 1-1 | 18-2 | 20.2 | 6.5 | 10.5 | 2.6 | 4.0 | 4.35 | 1.02 |
| 2021 – NCAA | 8-1 | 18-18 | 97.1 | 10.4 | 9.7 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 5.55 | 1.449 |
| 2021 – RK/AA | 0-2 | 3-2 | 5.1 | 11.8 | 11.8 | 1.7 | 7.0 | 10.13 | 1.50 |
| 2022 – AA | 7-0 | 15-15 | 83.0 | 5.6 | 11.9 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 2.28 | 0.95 |
| 2023- AAA | 4-1 | 11-11 | 45.2 | 6.7 | 9.7 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 2.96 | 1.18 |
When looking at the statistics above, you probably are wondering why the Angels even drafted Silseth. His college career started at Tennessee and finished at Arizona with a pit stop at the College of Southern Nevada, a junior college in which he made five starts in 2020 before COVID shut the season down.
For the Volunteers and Wildcats he was a combined 9-2 with a 5.34 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. He allowed a combined 9.7 H/9, 9.8 K/9, and 3.2 BB/9 with a 3.69 K/BB ratio. Those are not the numbers that lead one to get drafted, but the Angels took a chance on Silseth by drafting him in the 11th round in 2021 and signing him for an above-slot bonus of $485,000.
The investment in Silseth was not immediately seen as the right-hander pitched in three games at the Rookie and Double-A level that year and had a 10.13 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. But Silseth turned the corner in 2022 in a big way. In 15 starts at Double-A, he went 7-0 with a 2.28 ERA and 0.95 WHIP to earn a promotion and seven starts with the Angels.
Major League Statistics
| YEAR | W-L | G-GS | IP | H/9 | K/9 | BB/9 | K/BB | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1-3 | 7-7 | 28.2 | 10.4 | 7.5 | 3.8 | 2.0 | 6.59 | 1.57 |
| 2023 | 4-1 | 16-8 | 52.1 | 7.1 | 9.6 | 4.5 | 2.1 | 3.96 | 1.28 |
| 162 AVG | 9-7 | 27 GS | 145.0 | 8.2 | 8.9 | 4.2 | 2.1 | 4.89 | 1.38 |
Chase Silseth started the 2023 season at Triple-A Salt Lake City and had two stints there and showed that his 2022 minor league numbers weren’t a fluke. In 11 starts he went 4-1 with a 2.96 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. Between his two stops in Salt Lake City Silseth pitched out the bullpen for the Angles in late April through May.
At that time, he did not look like a pitcher who was ready for the majors, much like he didn’t look ready in those seven starts in 2022. In 18.2 innings he had a 5.30 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP thanks to 13 walks, though he did have 15 strikeouts. But after being sent down to Triple-A in early June, Silseth refined his mechanics and earned a promotion back to the Angels in July.
The magic he found at Triple-A finally carried over with the Angels. In his two July starts he had a 1.69 ERA and 0.84 WHIP, allowing only seven hits and two walks with 14 strikeouts in 10.2 innings of work. August wasn’t as kind to his ERA and WHIP as he had a 4.26 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 19 innings over four starts, though he did have an 11.4 K/9 ratio.
In his final August outing, he was hit in the head on a throw during a rundown and suffered a concussion, forcing him to miss a month of action. In his one and only September start he allowed only one run on two hits and three walks in four innings.
For the season Chase Silseth finished with a 4-1 record with a 3.96 ERA and 1.28 WHIP and a 9.6 K/9 ratio. In six starts from July 19 through the end of the season, Silseth was 3-0 with a 3.34 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with 38 strikeouts in 29.2 innings of work. Opposing hitters had a .200/.273/.400 slash line against him, though he did give up six homers.
Silseth has shown the ability to rack up strikeouts. Last season with the Angels he had a 25.3% strikeout rate over his 52.1 innings. And if you look at his Pitch Tracking numbers below, you can see he had success against opposing hitters with most of his pitches.
2023 Pitch Tracking
| Pitch Type | Number | Percentage | MPH | AVG | SLG | EV | Whiff% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four Seamer | 309 | 34.8 | 95.0 | .255 | .553 | 92.7 | 24.8 |
| Slider | 205 | 23.1 | 82.0 | .163 | .326 | 88.7 | 33.7 |
| Split Finger | 148 | 16.7 | 87.2 | .137 | .294 | 88.0 | 34.5 |
| Sinker | 131 | 14.8 | 94.3 | .344 | .469 | 87.1 | 14.0 |
| Cutter | 77 | 8.7 | 90.4 | .167 | .167 | 85.0 | 26.8 |
| Curveball | 18 | 2.0 | 79.3 | .500 | 2.00 | 85.6 | 0.0 |
Chase Silseth, who turns 24 in May, has a fastball that averages 95 mph, but it tends to be a little flat, making it easy for hitters to have success against the pitch as seen by their .553 slugging percentage last season.
He was hurt by the long ball at times last season, but his 48.9% ground ball rate actually ranked in the 80th percentile last season. That is thanks to a very effective slider and split finger as well as a sinker and cutter.
While you can’t put too much stock into spring training numbers, Silseth had a great Cactus League showing, posting a 2.03 ERA and 0.68 WHIP. In 13.1 innings of work, he allowed only 1.4 BB/9 while posting a 10.1 K/9 rate.
If you are in a deep league or rebuilding, Chase Silseth is the perfect pitcher to take a chance on. He will get plenty of opportunities to succeed with an Angels team that is not expected to compete for a division title this season. If he can harness his fastball and avoid having it hit out of the park, coupled with his ability to strike hitters out, he will be a pitcher who will be better than the average major league starter.
I hope you’re right Jakkers or itll be another long season in ANA. He and Detmers could both be above average for sure. The only 3 starters any sane organization would have replaced with FA’s this past winter.
Other 3 I mean
Canning could be decent, emphasis on could. But he’s so up and down it’s maddening.
Detmers has the most upside, of course. Silseth won’t be a No. 1 or 2, but if he grows into a 3, that’s a solid dynasty starter.
I think Detmers is the best of them. Canning could be a surprise, but he’s so inconsistent that I can’t put a lot faith behind that statement.
Had my eye on Silseth since last year, so timely article. Thanks! Speaking of up and coming pitchers, been getting some hype about Garrett Crochet and so far so good. What do you see there?
There has never been a doubt about his talent. Problem is injuries have plagued him. What I find interesting is the Sox using him as a starter as he’s been a reliever basically since college.
He will strike out lots of hitters. But his problem has been lack of command. The walk rate has been horrible. In super deep leagues, he is worth a chance as there is no harm to add him at this point.
I’ve personally been wanting to see three or four starts before I decide to add him or not.
Thanks for reading.