José Soriano, the Angels’ 27-year-old starting pitcher who opened the season looking like a potential staff ace, took a 107.4-mph comebacker off his upper chest and shoulder area in the first inning against Tampa Bay on June 13. He pitched through the injury, putting up five scoreless innings in an eventual 8-0 victory.

When one of his coaches reached out to him that night, asking how he was feeling, the right-hander responded: Did I win the game?

Soriano’s competitive mentality has kept him coming back to baseball despite his injury setbacks.

“He’s a friendly killer,” pitching coach Mike Maddux said. “The nicest guy in the world. I just want to be on his side.”

Soriano’s journey in baseball reads better as a line-item report of how many times the sport has tried to knock him out: a Tommy John surgery in 2020, another in 2021, right arm fatigue and an abdominal infection in 2024 and a right forearm contusion in 2025.

Yet, Soriano started this season on a historic tear, posting the lowest earned-run average (0.24) in a pitcher’s first six starts of a season since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.

In April, he seemed like a Cy Young contender with a 5-0 record and five scoreless starts. In 11 starts since, he’s gone 3-4 and his ERA has increased to 3.32, and in his two outings after getting hit with the comebacker, he’s given up nine runs in eight innings.

Against the Baltimore Orioles last week, Soriano lasted only three innings, giving up six hits — including two homers by catcher Samuel Basallo — and five runs, though the Angels came back to win the game in extra innings.

“Baseball’s cruel,” Soriano said after the game. “Some days you can be the best player. Some days you can be the worst, so I don’t let these things affect me. I just try to forget about those things and keep my mind loose and be the same person every day.”

For the Angels, that steady presence has been appreciated during a turbulent season that includes the team firing general manager Perry Minasian and replacing him with interim GM John Mozeliak, as well as another injury absence for Mike Trout.

Despite his recent struggles, Soriano has been the subject of trade deadline speculation, with the Angels reportedly not wanting to move him and other young players. Soriano, who is under team control through 2028, has started 68 games for the Angels since 2024, including 31 last season when he led the team in wins with 10.

Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe said his batterymate “doesn’t need to change a thing.”

“He’s gotten better every year I’ve been around him, so I don’t know what that ceiling is,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s a ceiling.”

Soriano seems to bring the best out of his teammates. The other Dominican pitchers on the team, Walbert Ureña and José Fermin, speak of Soriano as if he were their older brother, happy to dole out advice on an array of subjects. Ureña, a 22-year-old right-hander who has emerged as another potential ace, speaks of Soriano with a giddy amusement mixed with a solemn respect for how the starter has survived in the big leagues.

“Being with him here at this moment is special,” Ureña said. “Every day watching him doing his stuff, his routine, learning about it. All his family is here too. It’s amazing. It’s everything for me, being here with him.”

Soriano has created a sense of home for players who don’t get to be around their families for most of the season. He remembers what it’s like to not speak English as a young player in the minors, when he was taken under the wing of former Angels pitcher Carlos Estévez, whom O’Hoppe described as Soriano’s mentor.

Giving back to younger players on the team continues that legacy.

“Doesn’t matter who it is, I can help,” Soriano said. “I know how hard it is. First year here, sometimes you don’t know the language, and it’s hard when you don’t have someone [who] can help you, so that’s why I try to help everybody I can.”