The Official 2021 Los Angeles Angels Minor League Stats, Reports & Scouting Thread

[mmc]

Question for you guys, MLB's listing of Bachman's ETA as 2024 seemed rather late to me, but I'm not very knowledgeable in terms of projecting when prospects are ready.  Do you guys agree with their listing?

[GrittyVeterans]

8 hours ago, mmc said:

Question for you guys, MLB's listing of Bachman's ETA as 2024 seemed rather late to me, but I'm not very knowledgeable in terms of projecting when prospects are ready.  Do you guys agree with their listing?

Not at all. I could see him in the Majors late next year and definitely see him there to start 2023. He’s on the Detmers track

[ScottM]

I think Bachman is going to get a long look in Spring Training next year to be honest.

[mmc]

 

[Angelsjunky]

Sleeper: Jeremy Arocho. He's neither young nor old for level (22, now in A+). Hitting .315/.423/.367 with 28 SB and 49 BB in 73 games in A/A+. Plays all around the infield. Could be a useful player.

[mmc]

 

[Chuck]

**NEW*** Prospect Hotlist by @totdprods

 

[rafibomb]

Our 17th rounder Mason Erla's debut today in the AZL:

2.0 IP  0 R  2 H  0 BB  3 SO

Another interesting pickup as well as he was touted as a potential early round draft pick for the 5-round shortened 2020 MLB Draft. MLB Pipeline had him ranked as the 91st prospect in the 2020 draft.

Scouting Grades/Report (20-80 grading scale)

FASTBALL 60

SLIDER 55

CHANGEUP 50

CONTROL 50

OVERALL 45

Erla bounced back from blowing out his knee playing football as a Michigan high school senior to claiming a spot in Michigan State's weekend rotation as a freshman in 2017, but that season ended when he tore his lat in his second outing. He displayed mostly generic stuff and went undrafted as a redshirt sophomore in 2019 before dominating in four starts this spring. Erla's strikeout rate jumped to 14.2 per nine innings from 6.7 a year ago and his Draft stock soared as well, making him the Spartans' best pitching prospect since Mark Mulder went No. 2 overall in 1998. After working at 88-92 mph for much of 2019, Erla eschewed playing in a summer league to focus on building up his arm strength -- and it worked. His fastball sat at 93-95 this spring and topped out at 98 with riding action that keeps it off barrels. He has improved his slider too, pushing it into the mid-80s, and can turn it into a cutter in the upper 80s. Erla also shows some aptitude for throwing a changeup with sink and run. With his upgraded stuff, he's doing a better job of attacking hitters and throwing strikes. He has been durable since his lat injury and has an efficient delivery, so there's no reason he can't remain a starter.

 

 

[Vlad27Trout27]

1 minute ago, rafibomb said:

Our 17th rounder Mason Erla's debut today in the AZL:

2.0 IP  0 R  2 H  0 BB  3 SO

Another interesting pickup as well as he was touted as a potential early round draft pick for the 5-round shortened 2020 MLB Draft. MLB Pipeline had him ranked as the 91st prospect in the 2020 draft.

Scouting Grades/Report (20-80 grading scale)

FASTBALL 60

SLIDER 55

CHANGEUP 50

CONTROL 50

OVERALL 45

Erla bounced back from blowing out his knee playing football as a Michigan high school senior to claiming a spot in Michigan State's weekend rotation as a freshman in 2017, but that season ended when he tore his lat in his second outing. He displayed mostly generic stuff and went undrafted as a redshirt sophomore in 2019 before dominating in four starts this spring. Erla's strikeout rate jumped to 14.2 per nine innings from 6.7 a year ago and his Draft stock soared as well, making him the Spartans' best pitching prospect since Mark Mulder went No. 2 overall in 1998. After working at 88-92 mph for much of 2019, Erla eschewed playing in a summer league to focus on building up his arm strength -- and it worked. His fastball sat at 93-95 this spring and topped out at 98 with riding action that keeps it off barrels. He has improved his slider too, pushing it into the mid-80s, and can turn it into a cutter in the upper 80s. Erla also shows some aptitude for throwing a changeup with sink and run. With his upgraded stuff, he's doing a better job of attacking hitters and throwing strikes. He has been durable since his lat injury and has an efficient delivery, so there's no reason he can't remain a starter.

 

 

That Overall tho? Math is not a strong suite off these scouting reports. 

Really Excited about this guy. 

[Lou]

7 minutes ago, Vlad27Trout27 said:

That Overall tho? Math is not a strong suite off these scouting reports. 

Really Excited about this guy. 

Yeah, you probably shouldn't be criticizing other people's strong suites (sic).

[jsnpritchett]

14 minutes ago, rafibomb said:

Our 17th rounder Mason Erla's debut today in the AZL:

2.0 IP  0 R  2 H  0 BB  3 SO

Another interesting pickup as well as he was touted as a potential early round draft pick for the 5-round shortened 2020 MLB Draft. MLB Pipeline had him ranked as the 91st prospect in the 2020 draft.

Scouting Grades/Report (20-80 grading scale)

FASTBALL 60

SLIDER 55

CHANGEUP 50

CONTROL 50

OVERALL 45

Erla bounced back from blowing out his knee playing football as a Michigan high school senior to claiming a spot in Michigan State's weekend rotation as a freshman in 2017, but that season ended when he tore his lat in his second outing. He displayed mostly generic stuff and went undrafted as a redshirt sophomore in 2019 before dominating in four starts this spring. Erla's strikeout rate jumped to 14.2 per nine innings from 6.7 a year ago and his Draft stock soared as well, making him the Spartans' best pitching prospect since Mark Mulder went No. 2 overall in 1998. After working at 88-92 mph for much of 2019, Erla eschewed playing in a summer league to focus on building up his arm strength -- and it worked. His fastball sat at 93-95 this spring and topped out at 98 with riding action that keeps it off barrels. He has improved his slider too, pushing it into the mid-80s, and can turn it into a cutter in the upper 80s. Erla also shows some aptitude for throwing a changeup with sink and run. With his upgraded stuff, he's doing a better job of attacking hitters and throwing strikes. He has been durable since his lat injury and has an efficient delivery, so there's no reason he can't remain a starter.

 

 

A little odd that he didn't even get picked in 2020, though, if he was ranked as high as 91.  His results in 2021 were down across the board from the shortened season this year and he's already 24.  Those 2 things likely contributed to him only going in the 17th round.

[jsnpritchett]

Also, I don't know why you're debuting a 24-year old college guy in AZ.  Just send him to AA (or at least high-A) and see what he can do. 

[rafibomb]

1 minute ago, jsnpritchett said:

A little odd that he didn't even get picked in 2020, though, if he was ranked as high as 91.  His results in 2021 were down across the board from the shortened season this year and he's already 24.  Those 2 things likely contributed to him only going in the 17th round.

I just read he was ranked by Baseball America at 170 so he was right on the bubble of last season's 5-round draft. I am guessing it is a combination of being on the bubble and also betting on himself the following season to get drafted higher (which obviously did not work out).

Just now, jsnpritchett said:

Also, I don't know why you're debuting a 24-year old college guy in AZ.  Just send him to AA (or at least high-A) and see what he can do. 

I was surprised by this as well. I really thought he would be sent to Low-A at the very least.

[totdprods]

44 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

Also, I don't know why you're debuting a 24-year old college guy in AZ.  Just send him to AA (or at least high-A) and see what he can do. 

It might just be a scheduling or roster thing. Tri-City and Inland Empire have had a ton of new pitchers added last couple weeks and they might have not wanted to throw guys off routines yet. 

A couple guys made a token appearance in Arizona already and jumped up.

[ettin]

2 hours ago, rafibomb said:

I just read he was ranked by Baseball America at 170 so he was right on the bubble of last season's 5-round draft. I am guessing it is a combination of being on the bubble and also betting on himself the following season to get drafted higher (which obviously did not work out).

I was surprised by this as well. I really thought he would be sent to Low-A at the very least.

 

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

It might just be a scheduling or roster thing. Tri-City and Inland Empire have had a ton of new pitchers added last couple weeks and they might have not wanted to throw guys off routines yet. 

A couple guys made a token appearance in Arizona already and jumped up.

When you draft 20 pitchers (and sign additional UFA), you will end up with some guys at odd levels here and there.

[Inside Pitch]

9 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

Also, I don't know why you're debuting a 24-year old college guy in AZ.  Just send him to AA (or at least high-A) and see what he can do. 

Age doesn't equate experience, but its likely a numbers game.  AZ may also be where the talent evaluators are and where they are auditioning guys prior to actual placements ... Angels have been making a shit ton of minor league roster moves since the draft.

[tdawg87]

On 8/23/2021 at 2:20 AM, mmc said:

Question for you guys, MLB's listing of Bachman's ETA as 2024 seemed rather late to me, but I'm not very knowledgeable in terms of projecting when prospects are ready.  Do you guys agree with their listing?

MLB has no real idea about these things. They just put numbers out there.

[Docwaukee]

11 hours ago, totdprods said:

It might just be a scheduling or roster thing. Tri-City and Inland Empire have had a ton of new pitchers added last couple weeks and they might have not wanted to throw guys off routines yet. 

A couple guys made a token appearance in Arizona already and jumped up.

or even just a purely practical thing where they plan for him to only make a couple starts just to get a few innings in and he's already set up in Arizona.  

[Angelsjunky]

If the season ended today, who would be your five biggest disappointments and five most heartening performances? I'm not talking just pure performance, but relative to (your) expectations/hopes. Among prospects, of course.

Top Five Biggest Disappointments

1. Jordyn Adams - Thought he'd break through to being right there with Marsh/Adell, now the question is looming whether he will be anything more than a toolsy 4th outfielder.
2. D'Shawn Knowles - still think he can be a good 4th outfielder, but I saw him in a similar light as Adams: a breakthrough, if on a smaller scale.
3. Jack Kochanowicz - I know, he's a work in progress. But still: the results have been ugly.
4. Trent Deveaux - From hype a few years to batting swing limbo to...well, he's a fringe prospect at best, at this point.
5. William Holmes/Erik Rivera - wherefore art thou? 

Dishonorable Mentions: Kevin Maitan (ok, no expectations, but the goose is cooked), Aaron Hernandez (could still be a decent reliever, but not really progressing), David Calabrese (too young to worry about yet, but has been overmatched in Rookie ball).

Top Five Most Heartening Performances

1. Reid Detmers - all he was hoped to be and more.
2. Kyren Paris - ditto.
3. Davis Daniel - We saw the potential, now it looks actual.
4. Michael Stefanic - We're all hoping for a fringe-to-quality regular surprise.
5. Arol Vera/Edgar Quero - Rookie ball standouts.

Honorable Mentions: Alexander Ramirez (showing big bat promise), Brendon Davis (clean peanut?), Sam Bachman/Ky Bush (too soon to tell, but...), Cooper Criswell/Kyle Tyler (from fringe to fringe plus), Jeremy Arocho (next in line on the Fletcher-Stefanic pipeline?).

Edited August 24, 2021 by Angelsjunky

[T.G.]

Did Adams play at all in 2020?  Was he in the group that was in Long Beach?

[Angel Oracle]

21 minutes ago, True Grich said:

Did Adams play at all in 2020?  Was he in the group that was in Long Beach?

He was indeed in Long Beach.

His earlier this season month plus stay on the IL likely set back his development some.

After a bad half of June (sub .200 BA), he’s hit close to .250 since then with decent BBs total.

The power has yet to emerge, but is still just 21.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Angel Oracle

[totdprods]

55 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

David Calabrese (too young to worry about yet, but has been overmatched in Rookie ball).

His career is 100 plate appearances old, and he has an OPS near .900 in the last third of that, slashing .296/.367/.519/.885 in last 30 PA. Waaaaaaaayyyyy too early and too small of a sample to call it a disappointment.

I have high expectations of Knowles and he hasn't done anything to hurt them this year. The results aren't there, but all the tools still are, plus he's adding more versatility. 

[Angelsjunky]

11 minutes ago, totdprods said:

His career is 100 plate appearances old, and he has an OPS near .900 in the last third of that, slashing .296/.367/.519/.885 in last 30 PA. Waaaaaaaayyyyy too early and too small of a sample to call it a disappointment.

I have high expectations of Knowles and he hasn't done anything to hurt them this year. The results aren't there, but all the tools still are, plus he's adding more versatility. 

Which is why I included Calabrese as a "dishonorable mention" and not on the list.

As for Knowles, he's also young but at some point the results have to come. I mean, we've seen plenty of toolsy guys who never turn their talent into baseball skills.

Anyhow, not writing any of these guys off, just saying that their seasons have been disappointments, to varying degrees. Adams most especially, imo.

[Docwaukee]

hard for me not to decrease my expectations some for Knowles at this point.  

[totdprods]

The missed season last year for Adams and Knowles really hurt them, I think, so I'm giving them one more season before I start lowering my expectations. They were right at that point in their careers in which they needed a full year to work through.