AngelsWin.com Top 30 Prospects: #22 Brooks Pounders

[AngelsWin.com]

Prospect: Brooks Pounders Rank: 22

2015/16: UR                      Position(s): Right Handed Pitcher

Level: AAA                      Age: Entering Age 26 season in 2017.

Height: 6’5”                       Weight: 265 lb.

Present - Future

Fastball         55 55

Curve 50 50

Change 60 65

Mechanics 60 60

Command    45 60

Control         55 55

Overall         50 55

Floor: Swing Starter or bullpen depth. Ceiling: A mid-rotation, workhorse starter.

Likely Outcome: A back-end starter, or swing starter.

Summary: Pounders may end up being quite the steal for Angels GM Billy Eppler, a man known to have an eye for buying low.  The Angels traded Top 30 Prospect Jared Ruxer to Kansas City for Brooks Pounders early on in the offseason, and so far, it looks like a very interesting swap.  In Ruxer, the Angels dealt a pitcher with mid rotation upside (or better) that has been bit by the injury bug thus far in his career (very similar profile to former Angel prospect Michael Clevinger who was traded to Cleveland when his value was low after injury).  Ruxer still has a way to go before ever reaching the majors, so the Angels traded him for more of a sure thing in Pounders.  Pounders has shifted between the bullpen and rotation in his career, and always seems to be a guy that's overlooked, which isn't an easy thing to do considering his size and draft position (2nd round).  It's likely that Pounders' weight is precisely the reason why he gets overlooked by many scouts.  They have this idea of an ideal pitcher's body being tall, lean, flexible, like a quarterback in football.  But when a player comes in that might be bigger or smaller than that, they can be met with skepticism.  Pounders mechanics have always been clean, and he comes downhill hard on his delivery, which gives the illusion of a ball "jumping" on a batter.  Because of his hight, there is a bit of sink or downhill motion to his pitches which can make Pounders a ground-ball specialist in the future. 

As far as arsenal, Brooks throws a heavy fastball at 92-93, a pretty decent slider in the low-80's and a "plus" changeup in the mid 80's.  To give you an idea of what the Angels managed to land her win Pounders, consider that in 2015, across 8 starts in AA he pitched to a sparkling 2.19 ERA, which the peripheral numbers seem to support.  That Fall, he went to the heralded Arizona Fall League, and pitched three consecutive scoreless outings before being shut down for the Winter.  Last season in AAA, posted a 3.14 ERA in the Pacific Coast League, logging 90 strikeouts across only 80 innings, working as a spot starter and piggy-necking other starters, so as to limit his innings.  His brief foray into the major leagues didn't go well, but if nothing else, we can say that Pounds can strike batters out.

And so we have a very good prospect on our hands, that is major league ready.  He won't project to be much more than he is now, and that's ok because right now, Pounders is already good.  

What to expect next season: Pounders will enter Spring Training in open competition for the 5th starter and long reliever spot along with Jesse Chavez, Alex Meyer, Nate Smith, Manny Banuelos, Chris O'Grady, Vicente Campos and more.  Naturally, only tow of these guys are likely to open the season with the Angels, so Pounders is going to need to be incredibly impressive to leapfrog Chavez and Meyer on the depth chart.  The likeliest outcome here is that Pounders goes to AAA, where he'll again serve as a piggy-back starter or swingman along with Chris O'Grady.  Pounders' previous success in AAA probably puts him first in line for a promotion, though admittedly, he's going to have some very talented pitchers around him in AAA, so it could go any direction.  Inevitably, because Eppler likes to keep his arms fresh, Pounders will be part of a carousel of pitchers that log a lot of miles between Salt Lake and Anaheim.  But as it goes with the rest of those pitchers, all Pounders has to do is impress in his time in Anaheim, and Eppler will be forced to keep him around.  

Estimated Time of Arrival: Middle of 2017, Pounders' age 26 season. 

Grade as a prospect: C+ 

Grades are given from the 20-80 scouting scale.  20-being non-existent ability, 80-being the best I’ve ever seen.  MLB average is 50.

View the full article

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

spell check isn't always your friend and proof read (maybe even out loud to yourself)......What's a piggy-neck?

 

Thanks GUYS!!! Great read, keep up the great work!

[Angel Oracle]

Love the increased starting pitching depth between the MLB team and AAA.   By the law of averages, someone is bound to step up to join GRich, Shoe, Nolasco, and Skaggs.  

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

5 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Love the increased starting pitching depth between the MLB team and AAA.   By the law of averages, someone is bound to step up to join GRich, Shoe, Nolasco, and Skaggs.  

I just like some of the guys that EPPY has brought in. Some of them may have just been road blocked with their former teams. They all seem to strike people out which is an added bonus and throw a heavy ball which would work well with our infield.

[Make Angels Great Again]

Parents missed an opportunity to name him Dick.

[ELEVEN]

Is Chest Rockwell or Dirk Diggler next on the prospects list?

[tdawg87]

He needs a pornstache.

[Second Base]

Pounders arsenal is pretty similar to Nick Tropeano, and in the best case scenario, that's where I see Pounders being in terms of performance. For those that remember, I was ecstatic with he Conger for Tropeano-Perez deal, and was very bullish on Trepan, even ranking him among out Top 5 Prospects back in my MWAH days.  On this board I was calling Trepan a mid-rotation starter, which was met with general disagreement based on the lack of a big fastball or bender.  But when you're average or better with all your pitches, and a change up that gets outs, and can spot your pitches, you can be successful in the majors. 

Similarly, Pounders' initial performance in the major leagues did not go well. 

When it's all said, I still think Tropeano is/was the better prospect and pitcher.  But Pounders should still end up being a useful major leaguer. 

[SlappyUtilityMIF]

50 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

Pounders arsenal is pretty similar to Nick Tropeano, and in the best case scenario, that's where I see Pounders being in terms of performance. For those that remember, I was ecstatic with he Conger for Tropeano-Perez deal, and was very bullish on Trepan, even ranking him among out Top 5 Prospects back in my MWAH days.  On this board I was calling Trepan a mid-rotation starter, which was met with general disagreement based on the lack of a big fastball or bender.  But when you're average or better with all your pitches, and a change up that gets outs, and can spot your pitches, you can be successful in the majors. 

Similarly, Pounders' initial performance in the major leagues did not go well. 

When it's all said, I still think Tropeano is/was the better prospect and pitcher.  But Pounders should still end up being a useful major leaguer. 

Well, that. And he's a great big Fat person.

[Brent Maguire]

Like many of other moves, this move went under the radar for Billy Eppler but could end up being a nice pickup. Pounders doesn't need to be a world beater if he's called up this year. What he needs to do is be serviceable and keep the team in games, which the crop of Weaver, Chacin, Lincecum and Huff weren't able to do in the back of the rotation for the Angels. Between Pounders, Meyer, Campos, Lamb, Banuelos, etc, you at least have some upside arms who can offer a higher floor than some of the guys the Angels ran out last year. 

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Angels_Baseball said:

Like many of other moves, this move went under the radar for Billy Eppler but could end up being a nice pickup. Pounders doesn't need to be a world beater if he's called up this year. What he needs to do is be serviceable and keep the team in games, which the crop of Weaver, Chacin, Lincecum and Huff weren't able to do in the back of the rotation for the Angels. Between Pounders, Meyer, Campos, Lamb, Banuelos, etc, you at least have some upside arms who can offer a higher floor than some of the guys the Angels ran out last year. 

Exactly. The Pounders acquisition came at a weird time. Things were heating up in the trade and FA market and a lower level move like this went generally unnoticed. Plus most fans who aren't watching prospects have no idea who Jared Ruxer is. 

But the lack of publicity aside, the Angels just picked up a former 2nd round pick with three average or better pitches that's knocking on the door and can be used as a starter or reliever. Had this move not been sandwiched by Meyer, Banuelos, Campos and Lamb, I'm guessing Pounders would get his due recognition. 

I really have never been more excited for a season to start. I'm really interested in seeing what becomes of these young, upside pick ups.

[Glen]

He's definitely a starter on my all-name team.

[tdawg87]

Rollie Fingers is both a name and a sentence.

[2112]

On December 28, 2016 at 4:32 PM, Scotty@AW said:

Pounders arsenal is pretty similar to Nick Tropeano, and in the best case scenario, that's where I see Pounders being in terms of performance. For those that remember, I was ecstatic with he Conger for Tropeano-Perez deal, and was very bullish on Trepan, even ranking him among out Top 5 Prospects back in my MWAH days.  On this board I was calling Trepan a mid-rotation starter, which was met with general disagreement based on the lack of a big fastball or bender.  But when you're average or better with all your pitches, and a change up that gets outs, and can spot your pitches, you can be successful in the majors. 

Similarly, Pounders' initial performance in the major leagues did not go well. 

When it's all said, I still think Tropeano is/was the better prospect and pitcher.  But Pounders should still end up being a useful major leaguer. 

You brought up Trop, and I've been kinda bummed with all arm injuries these pitching trades seem to have.  Could it be the organization? Do you think KC is easier on their pitchers than Houston?

 

Or were all these injuries more a freak thing??

[Troll Daddy]

It's seems like there's multiple options for the bullpen. Do there really need to fill another spot through free agency before the season?

good stuff

[Second Base]

52 minutes ago, NotMyCat said:

You brought up Trop, and I've been kinda bummed with all arm injuries these pitching trades seem to have.  Could it be the organization? Do you think KC is easier on their pitchers than Houston?

 

Or were all these injuries more a freak thing??

I have to think it's a fluke, mostly because if it isn't, it has very frightening implications for the organization. 

But man, losing Tropeano and Heaney sucks, but to a level most haven't fully considered. I mean in Heaney and Tropeano, I think you're looking at each going 180 innings and a 3.50 ERA. 

In a rotation with serious question marks surrounding every starter, Heaney and Tropeano would've meant a lot.

I'd even go as far as saying that Heaney and Tropeano are the difference between a very intriguing Angels team and a World Series contender. That's two young mid-rotation starters.

[NachoPop]

Will be interesting to see how the starting rotatiom looks next year with thise two back. Young (in playing time) bunch of guys will be good going forward

[totdprods]

9 hours ago, Scotty@AW said:

I have to think it's a fluke, mostly because if it isn't, it has very frightening implications for the organization. 

But man, losing Tropeano and Heaney sucks, but to a level most haven't fully considered. I mean in Heaney and Tropeano, I think you're looking at each going 180 innings and a 3.50 ERA. 

In a rotation with serious question marks surrounding every starter, Heaney and Tropeano would've meant a lot.

I'd even go as far as saying that Heaney and Tropeano are the difference between a very intriguing Angels team and a World Series contender. That's two young mid-rotation starters.

I can't see how it wasn't a fluke - we were fortunate in that we went through a long stretch without any TJ surgeries - they just happened to hit us at the same time. 
For what it's worth, three of those arms - Heaney, Trop, and Skaggs - were all acquired by Dipoto as well. Could be they already had some built in TJ warnings and that's what allowed them to be affordable, or it could be Dipoto and his FO weren't catching on to some risk there. 

I like Trop but he has to show a little more to be a 180 IP, 3.50 ERA guy. He was still having a really difficult time going 5 IP without 100 pitches thrown, and giving up a ton of walks and hits. 

[Second Base]

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

I can't see how it wasn't a fluke - we were fortunate in that we went through a long stretch without any TJ surgeries - they just happened to hit us at the same time. 
For what it's worth, three of those arms - Heaney, Trop, and Skaggs - were all acquired by Dipoto as well. Could be they already had some built in TJ warnings and that's what allowed them to be affordable, or it could be Dipoto and his FO weren't catching on to some risk there. 

I like Trop but he has to show a little more to be a 180 IP, 3.50 ERA guy. He was still having a really difficult time going 5 IP without 100 pitches thrown, and giving up a ton of walks and hits. 

His ERA since coming to the Angels is right there. And part of the reason he was only going 5 innings is because he logs quite a few K's, which takes up pitches, and the Angels seemed perfectly content keeping Nick in the 90-100 pitch range, rather than 110-120 pitches.

[totdprods]

7 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

His ERA since coming to the Angels is right there. And part of the reason he was only going 5 innings is because he logs quite a few K's, which takes up pitches, and the Angels seemed perfectly content keeping Nick in the 90-100 pitch range, rather than 110-120 pitches.

Right, and that K9 is what has saved his ERA so far - there's a lot to like with Nick, I just want to see him cut back on those walks and hits allowed a little bit, or I think he'll have a hard time maintaining that ERA and innings-eating ability.

[AngelStew43]

Sometimes, TJ surgery is good for velocity.  I hope that this is the case with Tropeano.  A couple more mph on his fastball wouldn't hurt.

[Capital_Dave]

I grew up in Reno and one of my fondest minor league baseball memories was watching Brad Pounders tear it up in Single-A ball in '86.  He was a beast corner infielder, posting back-to-back 30 HR seasons in the minors and was one of those guys who you just knew was headed to The Show.  His name certainly made him memorable.

I just looked it up and, sure enough, Brad is Brooks' father.  Back surgery ended Brad's career before he made it to the Bigs.  Hope Pounders-the-Younger's health holds up better!  I'm rooting for the kid.