George Klassen’s path to Anaheim hasn’t been smooth, but the Angels may be watching him turn the corner at exactly the right time.
The right-hander came to the organization in the 2024 Carlos Estévez trade deadline deal, then hit a rough stretch in 2025 when a line drive off his head knocked him off track. By Opening Day this season, he’d already been leapfrogged by Tyler Bremner as the club’s top pitching prospect.
Klassen kept pushing, though, and that persistence got him to his MLB debut in April. The first look wasn’t pretty: two starts, seven runs allowed over 4⅔ innings, and a quick trip back to Triple-A.
Then the Angels’ rotation opened up at the deadline. Los Angeles shipped José Soriano to the Toronto Blue Jays for a package led by top prospect Arjun Nimmala, creating a long-term vacancy, and Klassen got the call to fill it.
So far, he’s making that second chance count.
After holding the Miami Marlins to no runs over four innings in his return start, Klassen took another step forward against the Texas Rangers earlier this week in an AL West matchup. He worked six efficient innings, allowed two runs, and picked up his first big league win.
The outing looked composed from the start. He opened 17 of 24 at-bats with first-pitch strikes, missed bats at a high clip with both his slider and changeup, and saw his command sharpen as the night went on. He didn’t issue a walk after the second inning, either.
That doesn’t mean the Angels should expect a finished product every time out. Pitching development rarely moves in a straight line, and Klassen is still very much in that process. But the ingredients are obvious: big stuff, ground-ball ability, and a chance to keep working in a rotation that could be wide open.
Los Angeles has already moved Soriano, and Reid Detmers could be on the way out as well after nearly being dealt to the Chicago Cubs at the deadline. Add in the struggles of rookie Ryan Johnson, who has a 6.71 ERA and -0.5 fWAR, and Grayson Rodriguez, who has a 7.20 ERA with nine homers allowed in 55 innings, and the Angels could be looking at major competition for four of their five rotation spots next year alongside Walbert Ureña.
Klassen isn’t being handed anything. But he’s putting together the kind of second impression that matters. If he keeps trending this way down the stretch, he’ll have a real shot at an Opening Day role for the 2027 season.
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