Photo by: Cristina Byrne-Sternberg/Rocket City Trash Pandas

By Chuck Richter, AngelsWin.com

Welcome to the show Ryan Aguilar! You’re joining a distinguished group of University of Arizona players to make their debut this year, as you’ll be the 5th former UA player to do so.

Not every prospect has a direct or easy path to the Major Leagues. In fact, no two prospects follow the same trajectory over the course of their careers. This is why we love interviewing and getting to know Angels prospects—each has his own story to tell.

Take Ryan Aguilar, for example. An Orange County player out of Esperanza High School, Ryan was drafted in the 31st round of the 2015 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. He split time between 1B, CF, and RF throughout his time in the minors, while working on improving his offense. In 2019, the 6’2” lefty started to put things together, only to have the 2020 wiped out by Covid.

Back in December, 2021 Ryan signed with his hometown team as a Minor League Free Agent in what appeared to be a depth move for the organization on their AA roster. But then things really started to click for Ryan. He began to hit—for power, average, on-base percentage, and even mixing in some speed. By last week, things were really heating up for him, as he was named the AA Southern League Player of the Week ending August 21st after he went 7/16 (.438 AVG) with 2 HRs, 6 runs scored, 6 RBIs, and 6 walks (for a .591 OB%) and a .938 SLG%!

Ryan has been an indispensable part of the AA Rocket City Trash Pandas this year and is a big part of the reason why they have done so well this season. Ryan is currently tied for 3rd in OB% for the league (sitting .001 points behind the league leader) and is sporting a .280/.427/.517 line with 15 HRs and 11 SBs.

Chuck Richter, our Founder and Executive Director recently caught up with Ryan to find out more about him as a player and his experience in the Minors. Please click below to watch our interview with him.