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

[Docwaukee]

3 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

So is Davis legit? Too early to tell?

What's his ceiling? It's easy to say "backend starter" but to me it seems he has far more potential. But I don't follow these guys and my knowledge is above average but not anywhere near you guys.

12.64 K/9, 1.53 BB/9 (holy fuck), 3.03 xFIP, and and a 2.68 ERA despite a .324 BABIP. This is at Double A.

Can't find any stats on his pitches. Spin rate, velocity etc...

He's the most intriguing prospect to me right now.

you watch him and you see a good slider and a fastball of 90-93.  He also has a solid changeup that he almost never throws.  So he throws the fastball and they swing through it.  Then he throws it again.  and again and again and the same thing keeps happening.  It just disappears.  And it's weird because it moves but no so much that you're like 'whoa!'.  And he's a bit deceptive but not in a crazy way.  And he doesn't come from some weird arm angle or have some odd delivery 

So the one thing that gives me pause is whether the same phenomena that I can't explain will hold true for major league hitters like it does on guys in the minors.  

His ceiling isn't a back end starter.  It's far greater than that.  It's probably that of a number 2 but only because his results are so impressive.  You look at his stuff and see maybe a 3 but probably a 4 yet it just plays up.  And he's fun to watch because he attacks guys.  Similar to the way that Detmers is gonna be fun to watch in a year or two for the same reason.  

[Docwaukee]

Also, Swanda has a really good slider and change.  And the fastball has very good movement.  Almost like a cutter.  I think I saw a few sinkers in his last couple starts as well.  But it may have just been his change with drops a fair amount.  

[Docwaukee]

I agree that the system grew by leaps and bounds on the pitching side this year. More so in terms of depth than upside.  Every level has guys to watch right now.  Starters and relievers.  Where almost every night a guy could be on and perform very well.  Where you're left with the though of 'hmm.  that's interesting.'  Not that they're all going to turn out to be major leaguers but most guys show you that they could be whereas in the past, the middle of the pack guys just didn't have the stuff to compete.  

[rafibomb]

Davis Daniel and Ryan Smith promoted to Triple-A

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by rafibomb

[tdawg87]

[rafibomb]

Jeremiah Jackson is finally starting his rehab stint in Arizona

[mmc]

 

[mmc]

 

[rafibomb]

Ryan Smith started the season at Low-A Inland Empire and is now at Triple-A.

His last 4 starts at Double-A:

24.0 IP

1.88 ERA

24 H

5 BB

30 SO

2 HR allowed

His season numbers across 3 levels:

107.0 IP

3.36 ERA

1.03 WHIP

88 H

22 BB

132 SO

11.10 K9  1.85 BB9  1.18 HR9

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by rafibomb

[tdawg87]

Enjoying the K and BB numbers from some of these guys.

[rafibomb]

Davis Daniel started the season at High-A.

After allowing 6 earned runs in his first 2 starts at Double-A (7.1 IP) these are his last 7 starts leading to his promotion:

39.2 IP

1.82 ERA

28 H

4 BB

57 SO

3 HR allowed

His season numbers:

93.2 IP

2.50 ERA

0.99 WHIP

65 H

28 BB

130 SO

12.49 K9  2.69 BB9  0.77 HR9

Edited September 4, 2021 by rafibomb

[tdawg87]

Just stupid numbers.

[Inside Pitch]

7 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

So is Davis legit? Too early to tell?

What's his ceiling? It's easy to say "backend starter" but to me it seems he has far more potential. But I don't follow these guys and my knowledge is above average but not anywhere near you guys.

12.64 K/9, 1.53 BB/9 (holy fuck), 3.03 xFIP, and and a 2.68 ERA despite a .324 BABIP. This is at Double A.

Can't find any stats on his pitches. Spin rate, velocity etc...

He's the most intriguing prospect to me right now.

I've believed he was real since before he pitched a professional inning.  The interesting thing is he's not throwing like he dud at Auburn, but he's been far more successful.  I believe he has another gear still.  It's genuinely entertaining watching him throw 85-90% fastballs and making hitters miss.

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, Dochalo said:

you watch him and you see a good slider and a fastball of 90-93.  He also has a solid changeup that he almost never throws.  So he throws the fastball and they swing through it.  Then he throws it again.  and again and again and the same thing keeps happening.  It just disappears.  And it's weird because it moves but no so much that you're like 'whoa!'.  And he's a bit deceptive but not in a crazy way.  And he doesn't come from some weird arm angle or have some odd delivery 

So the one thing that gives me pause is whether the same phenomena that I can't explain will hold true for major league hitters like it does on guys in the minors.  

His ceiling isn't a back end starter.  It's far greater than that.  It's probably that of a number 2 but only because his results are so impressive.  You look at his stuff and see maybe a 3 but probably a 4 yet it just plays up.  And he's fun to watch because he attacks guys.  Similar to the way that Detmers is gonna be fun to watch in a year or two for the same reason.  

You know who was similar as a minor leaguer?  Jarrod Washburn.  He was a lefty so that 90-93 MPH FB wasnt a red flag.  But Wash used to throw a ton of FBs and guys just always missed them.   

Dude seriously does the Barolo thing minus the Barolo velocity....  I forget what his velocity was at the end of his career but that's all he threw too....  Like Colon, he just goes after guys.

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, rafibomb said:

Davis Daniel and Ryan Smith promoted to Triple-A

 

Damn!

[Second Base]

10 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

So is Davis legit? Too early to tell?

What's his ceiling? It's easy to say "backend starter" but to me it seems he has far more potential. But I don't follow these guys and my knowledge is above average but not anywhere near you guys.

12.64 K/9, 1.53 BB/9 (holy fuck), 3.03 xFIP, and and a 2.68 ERA despite a .324 BABIP. This is at Double A.

Can't find any stats on his pitches. Spin rate, velocity etc...

He's the most intriguing prospect to me right now.

Davis the real deal. Before getting hurt in college, there was speculation that he could leap into the first round. In 2018, he had just begun to transition into being a starter, and it would all come together in 2019. He had all the pieces to absolutely dominate (clean mechanics, good arsenal, good head on his shoulders, coming from a top notch SEC program and Cape Cod League). 

Then he got hurt and needed surgery, and his stock came tumbling down. By the time he was drafted, it was more commonly believed that he was a long term project with more of a reliever payout, which just wasn't worth whatever risk a team takes in drafting a player in a higher round. 

The Angels took him in the 7th round in 2019, and Daniel was one of the few people that actually benefited from the shut down of 2020, because he spent the year rehabbing and didn't lose a year of developmental time compared to his peers. 

We're now seeing the three year process of his development culminate in real results. His fastball plays. He spots it well, decent velocity. The slider plays as a "plus-plus" pitch when he puts it in the lower corner of the strike zone, which is why many scouts thought he'd be a reliever after surgery. Then he started using what looks like a circle change. He doesn't use it a lot, but it does have some nice fade to it. And most importantly, he works at a consistent pace and throws strikes. That's half the battle right there. 

He's a legitimate #3-4 starter in my book.

Edited September 5, 2021 by Second Base

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

You know who was similar as a minor leaguer?  Jarrod Washburn.  He was a lefty so that 90-93 MPH FB wasnt a red flag.  But Wash used to throw a ton of FBs and guys just always missed them.   

Dude seriously does the Barolo thing minus the Barolo velocity....  I forget what his velocity was at the end of his career but that's all he threw too....  Like Colon, he just goes after guys.

Some guys carve out nice major league careers with their one money pitch. Mariano Rivera, Bartolo Colon, Matt Shoemaker, Dallas Keuchel. Guys know it's coming and they still can't square it up. Hopefully we can add Davis Daniel to that list. 

It's been highly entertaining watching him pitch. Like clockwork, here comes the 92 mph heat, and nothing else.

[Pheenom07]

6 hours ago, mmc said:

 

I thought the general consensus was keep pitchers in double A and promote them when they are ready from there.  Has this changed because of the Covid protocols needing promotions from TripeA or has the level of competition in TripleA increased because of less minor league teams?

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, Pheenom07 said:

I thought the general consensus was keep pitchers in double A and promote them when they are ready from there.  Has this changed because of the Covid protocols needing promotions from TripeA or has the level of competition in TripleA increased because of less minor league teams?

It may be as simple as them needing warm bodies at the level or just wanting to see how guys can pitch at elevation or in an even more hitter friendly environment than their AA park.  It's that time of year where a lot of teams have moved top prospects up a level too.

 

[Vlad27Trout27]

Regarding Davis, It's hard to determine just what tyoe of ceiling he has! Like other's have said, he doesn't throw hard but his fastball at times looks unhittable. His deceptive release and movement on his fastball makes it that much better. Second his curve/slider is a plus pitch. Personally I have him as a 4 at the moment as well, but if his VElo can return to pre-Tj or his Change shows improvements he could be a workhorse 3. 

The one compasrion that I've made with Davis has been a Bud Norris comp. Who was a  number 4, with a few 3 like years in his career.   

[BTH]

With Daniel and Smith being promoted to AAA, Rocket City has only 2 starting pitchers (Cristopher Molina and Robinson Pina). They're also only 0.5 games out of a playoff spot. So I wonder if we see some High-A starters get promoted to AA. (Albanese Jr, Bachman, Bush, Yan?)

[eaterfan]

20 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

You know who was similar as a minor leaguer?  Jarrod Washburn.  He was a lefty so that 90-93 MPH FB wasnt a red flag.  But Wash used to throw a ton of FBs and guys just always missed them.   

Dude seriously does the Barolo thing minus the Barolo velocity....  I forget what his velocity was at the end of his career but that's all he threw too....  Like Colon, he just goes after guys.

I'm not saying he can't succeed, but it should be noted that the league average fastball velocity has increased quite a bit since Washburn made his debut. Percy was throwing absolute gas at 95 when I was a kid. Now everyone throws 95. Hitter have adjusted. 

Obviously control, movement, tunneling, release, etc. all matter, too. But comparing velocities to guys 20 years ago doesn't seem to have much relevance to today's game. 

[Inside Pitch]

11 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

I'm not saying he can't succeed, but it should be noted that the league average fastball velocity has increased quite a bit since Washburn made his debut. Percy was throwing absolute gas at 95 when I was a kid. Now everyone throws 95. Hitter have adjusted. 

Obviously control, movement, tunneling, release, etc. all matter, too. But comparing velocities to guys 20 years ago doesn't seem to have much relevance to today's game. 

He's a wild card and should be viewed as such.  Like I said he's pretty much a bonus prospect.

One pitch guys are rare even if they can hit 100.  But he's shown more in the past, both in terms of velocity and number of pitches and it's worth reminding everyone that this is his first year throwing anywhere since 2019.  

While I don't think any of us can justifiably/accurately predict future success, his success to date is more than anyone could have expected.

For now he's just a lot of fun to watch.

[Inside Pitch]

38 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

Obviously control, movement, tunneling, release, etc. all matter, too. But comparing velocities to guys 20 years ago doesn't seem to have much relevance to today's game. 

The point wasn't so much to compare the velocity as it was the similar pitch styles as minor leaguers. 

It's also worth pointing out Washburn's average velocity on his FB from 2002 on was 88. MPH, he never saw a season where he averaged 89 MPH.  So, comparing him to pitchers of his day his velocity was at the lower end of the spectrum, Schoeneweis averaged 89.5 MPH over that span if you want a comparison, and he wasnt noted for his velocity either.

Edgar Martinez called Washburn the hardest pitcher he ever faced.  He said his FB had a tendency to wobble, making it harder to square up.  "Wobble" is something that's been noted among pitchers who have more in the tank than they are showing, I've always wondered if Wash didn't purposely ease off his top end velocity in order to improve his command or if he wasn't looking for that wobble.

Anyways Wash the minor leaguer and Wash the MLB pitcher were very different animals.

[John Smith]

2 hours ago, Trendon said:

With Daniel and Smith being promoted to AAA, Rocket City has only 2 starting pitchers (Cristopher Molina and Robinson Pina). They're also only 0.5 games out of a playoff spot. So I wonder if we see some High-A starters get promoted to AA. (Albanese Jr, Bachman, Bush, Yan?)

Spokane Indians cancel Sunday game against Dust Devils for COVID-19 testing

 

The reasons for cancellation were the same, they said the Dust Devils need more time for testing and contact

https://www.khq.com/sports/spokane-indians-cancel-sunday-game-against-dust-devils-for-covid-19-testing/article_1ad8b010-0e7d-11ec-a45d-972a63c1cb82.html