The Official Los Angeles Angels 2017 Minor League Statlines & Prospects thread

[totdprods]

5 minutes ago, John Smith said:

Baseball America Prospects Chat:

Scott (Los Angeles): Can you say something nice about Matt Thaiss or Jahmai Jones?
J.J. Cooper: Matt Thaiss is a very polished hitter. His chance of making a big league impact depends on how much power he ends up producing–since he’s a first baseman, that’s a concern. Jahmai Jones is a very toolsy player performing in short-season ball. It’s a great year for him, but we also need to see how he handles full-season ball. So those are nice things and some caveats.

That's about what I expected. As I mentioned in the 'turn the farm system around' thread, it's going to be at least one more year of having the worst farm before these guys start getting enough real attention to crawl forward in the rankings. And I think that's okay. Keeps the kids hungry. 

[ScruffytheJanitor]

9 hours ago, John Smith said:

Baseball America Prospects Chat:

Scott (Los Angeles): Can you say something nice about Matt Thaiss or Jahmai Jones?
J.J. Cooper: Matt Thaiss is a very polished hitter. His chance of making a big league impact depends on how much power he ends up producing–since he’s a first baseman, that’s a concern. Jahmai Jones is a very toolsy player performing in short-season ball. It’s a great year for him, but we also need to see how he handles full-season ball. So those are nice things and some caveats.
 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/baseball-america-prospect-chat-15/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=57be5f3204d301313acc2efa&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter#Q7ibdbAcyimQd5qP.97

I'd put defense as having a greater impact on his ability to be a major league regular. 1st basemen don't need to hit 30 homers a year to have value. As long as he can be an above average defender, his bat will play. 

[Angel Oracle]

8 minutes ago, ScruffytheJanitor said:

I'd put defense as having a greater impact on his ability to be a major league regular. 1st basemen don't need to hit 30 homers a year to have value. As long as he can be an above average defender, his bat will play. 

Kotchman before the concussion?

[Second Base]

I'd also debate the power components importance for ac1B. Adrian Gonzalez has had a very productive career and isn't your classic power hitter. Lots of doubles and 20 HR's a year works.

[totdprods]

Just now, ScottyA_MWAH said:

I'd also debate the power components importance for ac1B. Adrian Gonzalez has had a very productive career and isn't your classic power hitter. Lots of doubles and 20 HR's a year works.

Doubles are underrated. I wonder more if Thaiss can actually develop into even an average fielding 1B/LF. Is there anything on his defense or how he may project out? I took him to be sort of a Cron-type.

[eaterfan]

18 minutes ago, ScottyA_MWAH said:

I'd also debate the power components importance for ac1B. Adrian Gonzalez has had a very productive career and isn't your classic power hitter. Lots of doubles and 20 HR's a year works.

I don't think that's fair to AG. He's hit 27+ HRs in 7 of his 11 full seasons and hit 30+ 4 times. This is despite playing home games in Petco (pre moving the fences in) and Dodger Stadium, both of them are notorious for zapping power. When they say 30 HR for a prospect they mean in a neutral environment. Granted, even if Thaiss is only 3/4 or half of AG he will be a productive player in MLB for a long time.

[totdprods]

What do you think about Justin Bour being a sort of Thaiss comp? Or Mitch Moreland?

[ScruffytheJanitor]

4 hours ago, totdprods said:

What do you think about Justin Bour being a sort of Thaiss comp? Or Mitch Moreland?

Latter-career Mattingly with less defense?

[Chuck]

4 hours ago, totdprods said:

What do you think about Justin Bour being a sort of Thaiss comp? Or Mitch Moreland?

I think Mitch Moreland with a higher BA and OBP.

Bour is a pretty thick dude with some incredible raw power. 

[totdprods]

10 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

I think Mitch Moreland with a higher BA and OBP.

Bour is a pretty thick dude with some incredible raw power. 

I will admit I have never even seen Bour, haha.

[Chuck]

9 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I will admit I have never even seen Bour, haha.

[totdprods]

4 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Ohhhhhh, ok. 

That's awesome, btw.

[ettin]

21 hours ago, John Smith said:

Baseball America Prospects Chat:

Scott (Los Angeles): Can you say something nice about Matt Thaiss or Jahmai Jones?
J.J. Cooper: Matt Thaiss is a very polished hitter. His chance of making a big league impact depends on how much power he ends up producing–since he’s a first baseman, that’s a concern. Jahmai Jones is a very toolsy player performing in short-season ball. It’s a great year for him, but we also need to see how he handles full-season ball. So those are nice things and some caveats.
 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/baseball-america-prospect-chat-15/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=57be5f3204d301313acc2efa&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter#Q7ibdbAcyimQd5qP.97

The only thing I'd say about this is that although 1B is traditionally looked at as a "power" position, you can have power out of other positions (even non-traditional positions like 2B and SS) that compensates for a lack of it at 1B. Personally I think Thaiss will have the potential to provide a high wRC+ that may not originate from power but moreso from excellent contact ability, on-base skills and an all-fields power-alley approach that results in a Joe Mauer type profile where he can hit the ball well just not out of the park.

[Second Base]

I still think that Thaiss is going to profile similarly to Kole Calhoun except at 1B.  That isn't a bad thing.  

[NachoPop]

is 1B the only other position thay have been playing Thaiss at? I assume they've completely ruled out catcher

[eaterfan]

13 hours ago, ettin said:

The only thing I'd say about this is that although 1B is traditionally looked at as a "power" position, you can have power out of other positions (even non-traditional positions like 2B and SS) that compensates for a lack of it at 1B. Personally I think Thaiss will have the potential to provide a high wRC+ that may not originate from power but moreso from excellent contact ability, on-base skills and an all-fields power-alley approach that results in a Joe Mauer type profile where he can hit the ball well just not out of the park.

Joe Mauer is an interesting case. It will be really hard to compare anyone to him. On the one hand the dude only had one year where he hit 20 HR or more. But he also brought a ton of value by being able to hit and play a decent to good catcher. Mauer later moved to 1B but it wasn't until he turned 31. He clearly is at the tail end of his prime. He's averaged about 2 WAR in his 3 seasons as a 1B. That's fine but nothing special. I wonder how his offense would have translated had he been at 1B in his prime. But on the other hand it doesn't make sense to expect that Thaiss will bring Mauer's prime offense to the table. 

[ettin]

9 hours ago, eaterfan said:

Joe Mauer is an interesting case. It will be really hard to compare anyone to him. On the one hand the dude only had one year where he hit 20 HR or more. But he also brought a ton of value by being able to hit and play a decent to good catcher. Mauer later moved to 1B but it wasn't until he turned 31. He clearly is at the tail end of his prime. He's averaged about 2 WAR in his 3 seasons as a 1B. That's fine but nothing special. I wonder how his offense would have translated had he been at 1B in his prime. But on the other hand it doesn't make sense to expect that Thaiss will bring Mauer's prime offense to the table. 

I said Joe Mauer type in terms of what type of hitter he's more likely to turn into, meaning more of gap-to-gap type who hits for high average with a higher on-base percentage not Mauer specifically.

[eaterfan]

1 hour ago, ettin said:

I said Joe Mauer type in terms of what type of hitter he's more likely to turn into, meaning more of gap-to-gap type who hits for high average with a higher on-base percentage not Mauer specifically.

You mean he's not going to steal Mauer's identity? My point was that it's hard to say how much value a Mauer type hitter has at 1B because when Mauer was at his best he wasn't playing 1B. But really I mean how much value does a poor man's Mauer provide since Thaiss is unlikely to be as good a hitter as Mauer was.

[totdprods]

Getting close to roster expansion...

Bees lost to Las Vegas, 11-7. 
Scribner: 4IP, 8H, 6ER, 1BB, 3K, 2HR - AAA ERA is still 2.43 though
Mahle: 1.1IP, 6H, 5ER, 2K, 1HR
Ortega: 2-6, 1 double. Now hitting .317 on the year in SLC, with an .801 OPS. 
Choi: 1-2, replaced by Nava halfway through game. Hurt? Hitting .345 in SLC with a .935 OPS.
Sherman Johnson: 0-3, 1 walk, hitting .223 in SLC, but with a .331 OBP! If I recall, his season last year was similar. Maybe he rebounds next year like he did this year in Arkansas.
C Anthony Bemboom: 2-3, 2 triples, 2 walks. Probably just org filler, but really good walk/strikeout numbers in career. Bandy/Bemboom would be the best named catcher platoon in the bigs.

Mets prospects Nimmo (.347), Cecchini (.317), and Conforto (.435) each had three hits. Would have been great to get one of them at the deadline.

Travelers lost to Tulsa, 2-1. 
Not much of note on either hitting or pitching side.
Edward Paredes 1.2 IP, 2K - journeyman lefty, 29 years old. His season line: 42IP, 25H, 11ER, 21BB, 51K, .172BAA, 2.36 ERA

Inland Empire lost to Rancho Cucamonga, 6-3. 
Hermosillo: 0-4
Jared Foster: 1-3, with a double, but most his second straight game with a walk. He now has 3 walks in 147 A+ at bats.
Taylor Ward: 1-3, another HR (8), two RBIs - hitting .371 in his last ten games, with 4 HRs, 10 RBIs, 5 BBs, and 4 Ks. 

Burlington Bees lost 3-0 to Peoria. 
Faced a good Cards SP prospect in Ryan Helsley - 10-3, 1.82 ERA in 27 G through his career. He threw 5IP, 1H, 8K.
He was up against Jesus Castillo, acquired for Joe Smith. 
Jesus Castillo: 5 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. In 5 starts with LAA, 25IP, 26H, 7ER, 1HR, 5BB, 20K, 2.52 ERA - he has a 2.95 ERA on the season over 12 starts.
Jahmai Jones: 0-4, 1 K. In 8 games at Burlington, .200/.242/.233/.476
Brennon Lund: 0-4, 3 Ks. After demolishing Orem to a .984 OPS, he's hitting .269/.310/.327/.636 in 38 games in Burlington. 
Matt Thaiss: 2-4, hitting a respectable .286/.368/.435/.802 in 44 games at Burlington. 21 walks to 22 strikeouts.
Troy Montgomery: 1-4, 2 K, also hitting a respectable .278/.368/.426/.794 in 29 games at Burlington. 
Jordan Zimmerman: 1-2, 1 BB, 1 K - only 162/.254/.219/.473 slash in 30 games. Had a 1.117 OPS in Orem.
Connor Justus: 0-2, 1 BB, 1 K - hitting .191/.326/.282 in 33 games at Burlington. 

Orem Owlz lost to Idaho Falls, 8-6.
LJ Kalawaia: 3-4, 1 BB, 1 RBI, 1 SB. Started ice-cold, now hitting .359 in last 10 games. 
Zach Gibbons: 1-3, 2 BB - .364/.451/.556/1.008 - will he follow Lund/Zimmerman, or Thaiss/Montgomery next level?
Jose Rojas: 2-4 - old for league, but putting up great numbers for a SS - .308/.375/.486/.861 - also born in Anaheim
Keith Grieshaber: 3-3, 3 RBIs - solid .316/.361/.386/.747 line on the year

Arizona Angels lost 0-3 to AZL Diamondbacks. 
18 year old, 6'3" RHP Elvin Rodriguez had another good start: 4IP, 4H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 HR. 
Virtually identical numbers between the DSL and AZL Angels, so he's adjusted just fine in the states.
Elvin's '16 line split between DSL/AZL Angels: 4-2, 1.53 ERA - a .158 BAA, .78 WHIP
14 G, 11 GS, 58.2 IP, 32 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 3 HR, 1 HB, 14 BB, 57K



 

[bloodbrother]

Jahmai Jones just hit his first HR for Burlington

[KevinJ14]

Steve Wendt‏@steve_wendt

Alex Meyer fans Andre Ethier on nasty 1-2 slider.

 

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Steve Wendt‏@steve_wendt

Alex Meyer's line for @66ersBaseball 2.1IP, 3H, 3ER, 1BB, 3Ks. 41 pitches. FB 94-97...Personally thought he threw much better than the line.

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Steve Wendt‏@steve_wendt

.@mhermosillo10 w monster night for @66ersBaseball v RC. 4-for-4, 2 2Bs, BB, SB & 5R. He and Moyer have been on combined 10 times in 10 PAs.

 

[KevinJ14]

TheJerryEspinoza‏@JEspinoza1634

Alex Meyer 92-97. Sitting low 90's, top at 97. Slider working around 86.

 

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TheJerryEspinoza‏@JEspinoza1634

Bud Black in the house tonight in Inland. Alex Meyer on the bump.

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TheJerryEspinoza‏@JEspinoza1634

So it begins. Alex Meyer scheduled for 3 tonight.

 

 

[KevinJ14]

JEspinoza1634

Alex Meyer and Mike Strentz getting acquainted. Tall drink of water.

[KevinJ14]

TheJerryEspinoza‏@JEspinoza1634

So it begins. Alex Meyer scheduled for 3 tonight.

[KevinJ14]