Angels rookie George Klassen has more control issues in loss to Reds

Jeff Fletcher, The Orange County Register on Apr 11, 2026

Published in Baseball

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CINCINNATI — It was quickly apparent that this wasn’t going to be George Klassen’s day.

The Los Angeles Angels’ rookie right-hander issued three first-inning walks on his way to allowing four quick runs in a 7-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds Saturday.

Klassen gave up five runs in two-plus innings, eventually leaving the game with a fingernail issue.

Whether the fingernail was bothering him the entire time wasn’t immediately clear. He was obviously not the version of himself he or the Angels hoped for, though.

Klassen, 24, is one of the Angels’ top pitching prospects. Control, however, has been a problem in each of his two big-league starts. He has walked 10 in just 4 2/3 innings.

His walks in the first were an issue, but so was a misplay by first baseman Nolan Schanuel. He couldn’t handle a soft spinning one-hopper that was ruled a hit. The big hit was Nathaniel Lowe’s three-run double down the right-field line.

Although it took Klassen 38 pitches to get out of the inning, the Angels sent him back for the second. He gave up a solo homer and issued another walk, but escaped without further damage.

After Klassen issued a leadoff walk in the third, head athletic trainer Mike Frostad came out to check on his finger, and Klassen was pulled.

Klassen’s fingernail issue and ineffectiveness – regardless of how much those two were related – raise the question of what the Angels will do when his rotation spot comes up again Thursday at Yankee Stadium. Right-hander Ryan Johnson, whose illness opened the door for Klassen, is not eligible to return until next Saturday.

The Angels could bring back right-hander Walbert Ureña, who gave up four runs in five innings in his last Triple-A start. They could also just go with a bullpen game, using Shaun Anderson or Mitch Farris for the bulk innings.

In the meantime, left-hander Brent Suter gave the Angels a chance to stay in the game by pitching 3 2/3scoreless innings on just 39 pitches. He has a 2.08 ERA this season, averaging more than two innings per relief appearance.

Ryan Zeferjahn then picked up six outs, keeping the Angels at a two-run deficit, before right-hander Chase Silseth entered and allowed two more runs to score on wild pitches.

Before the game got away in the eighth, the Angels had plenty of chances.

Reds starter Brandon Williamson walked six and hit a batter in his four innings. The Angels scored only three runs, two on a Mike Trout double. That was their only hit in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position. They also hit into two double plays.

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki wasn’t around to see the end of it because he was ejected for the first time in his managerial career. Logan O’Hoppe had led off the eighth by apparently reaching first base on a third strike that got back to the screen. But plate umpire Adam Beck called O’Hoppe out for being inside the running lane along the first-base line.

Suzuki came out to argue and got tossed.

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