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

[Angels in 2030]

I don't mind the fun and bravado -- it's needed in baseball.  But dude needs to back it up.  If you got -- flaunt it!  It seems way too early in his career and (lack of) success to be doing this so much.  But ok....it's him.  Now go back it up.

Nothing worse though than guys celebrating without results that back it up.  It's like the football defender celebrating wildly making a tackle or WR/RB wild TD celebration while his team is losing 31-7.

BTW i can't wait for some crusty, old-school pitcher to get butt hurt in the bigs over Adell's HR strut....and the firestorm that ensues.    

[Chuck]

 

[T.G.]

I don't mind the "pimping" if it's spontaneous... but the rehearsed stuff that comes with choreography is a little over the top.  I like it when the "let the kids play" thing happens in the proper context... You hit a homerun when your team is down by ten runs and then show boat... well, that's stupid.  You hit one to put your team ahead or win the game, and do something - that's fun.

I'm old and cranky, but this stuff doesn't bother me as much as it used to. 

That being said, my all-time favorite athlete was Muhammad Ali.  Now, he was a showman. He could walk the walk and talk the talk.  Again - he's my all-time favorite.

[UndertheHalo]

I’m really trying to not be one of these curmudgeonly dip shits but I would love for him to take it easy until he doesn’t fucking suck at the majors.  

[Chuck]

11 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

I’m really trying to not be one of these curmudgeonly dip shits but I would love for him to take it easy until he doesn’t fucking suck at the majors.  

You do got a point there! 

[Vlad27Trout27]

47 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

 

Wtf was he trying to do one the first video? I'm fine with all the pimping of the homerun..etc. but the dude needs to first have sucess before doing this. 

[bloodbrother]

None of this bothers me. If he sucks, it just makes him look like an idiot and that's on him. Sort of like in football when crappy DB's get burned only for the WR to drop the ball or the pass is overthrown and they'll celebrate/pose like they did anything.

[UndertheHalo]

3 minutes ago, bloodbrother said:

None of this bothers me. If he sucks, it just makes him look like an idiot and that's on him. Sort of like in football when crappy DB's get burned only for the WR to drop the ball or the pass is overthrown and they'll celebrate/pose like they did anything.

Ya that’s fair enough.  It’s good that he’s having fun.  Energy and confidence is good ! 

[Angelsjunky]

I don't care if he show-boats - he's a 22 year old kid. The good news is that he's building confidence, or at least faking it until he makes it. That isn't a bad thing.

[bloodbrother]

the bigger issue is the swing and miss still looks pretty bad in admittedly what is a VERY small sample size thus far in Triple-A. We already know he has immense power/speed, that's why he was drafted so highly. The guy is a physical freak. Until he gets his approach ironed out, it won't really amount to much at the big league level

 

 

[Docwaukee]

20 minutes ago, bloodbrother said:

the bigger issue is the swing and miss still looks pretty bad in admittedly what is a VERY small sample size thus far in Triple-A. We already know he has immense power/speed, that's why he was drafted so highly. The guy is a physical freak. Until he gets his approach ironed out, it won't really amount to much at the big league level

 

 

there's just so much to get on time with that swing.   Even if it leads to success at the major league level there will be prolonged slumps.  The concern is and always will be that he has gotten away with it because of his natural talent and athleticism.  He's a freak athlete.  Will he be able to continue overcoming bad habits and a lack of a sound approach with his natural ability?  Maybe to some degree but at some point he's gonna have to recognize that he's never going to maximize his ability at the major league level until he embraces that what works in baseball isn't the same as what works for an athlete playing baseball.  

[Angel Oracle]

Was Buxton like this at similar age?

[Angelsjunky]

Adell reminds me a bit of Corey Patterson, who was a super-prospect for the Cubs about twenty years ago, picked third overall in the 1998 draft and ranked in the top three by Baseball America for 2000 and 2001. He was a similar, super-athletic and toolsy outfielder.

Patterson played in parts of 12 seasons from 2000-11, hitting .252/.290/.400 with 10.9 WAR and a 77 wRC+. He had a career walk rate of 4.6% and K rate of 20.7%. He was a classic example of how tools don't always translate, and is also a good example of how "tools-first" outlets like BA sometimes miss the mark.

The thing is, though, the warning signs with Patterson were almost immediate. He handled AA pretty well, hitting .261/.338/.491, but was mediocre n AAA, hitting .258/.308/.387. And then the Cubs rushed him, hoping to cash in on their prized prospect. Adell handled AA a lot better (.308/.390/.553), although the jury is still out on AAA.

Toolsy guys like Patterson and Adell need time to develop. The tricky part, though, as several people have mentioned, they can mask their lack of refinement with sheer athleticism, at least early on. And it becomes a hard habit to break, with diminishing returns the higher up you go.

Actually, it reminds me a bit of myself as a student in grade school. Believe it or not, I was a very gifted student and always one of the best in my school (albeit usually going to small private schools). I peaked academically in sophomore year of high school, finishing with the best grades in the school of about 100 students, but I started growing bored and was far more interested in "extracurricular activities" than academics. But I could skate by for awhile, put minimal effort in, and still get good grades. But there was a law of diminishing returns. In 11th and 12th grade, I could put minimal effort and still get an A- in most classes (and I'd rather put minimal effort and get an A- than moderate effort and get A/A+). But it didn't fly so well in college, where I put almost no effort in and my grades plummeted, even failing a couple classes (I ended up dropping out after my first year, and didn't go back for years...but that's another story).

Of course the comparison stops there, because for me the problem wasn't refinement of skills but interest and motivation. I simply wasn't interested in the type of learning I was getting in school. I was more philosophical and creative, and found academia to be too restrictive and conservative. With Adell, he obviously is very interested in baseball and will put the time in, but I do wonder if he struggles with defaulting to his athleticism.

Another analogy. I've been trying to get my 12-year old daughter to learn how to type. Like most, she "finger pecks" and is pretty good at it, probably partially through texting. I told her that the most valuable class I ever took in grade school was a typing class where I learned to type properly, way back in 7th or 8th grade. Now I can comfortably type about 80-90 words per minute, 70-80 if I don't want to make any errors, 90-100 if I'm being slopping and want to impress Korean grade school kids on NitroType (which my daughter got me into). I told her that no matter how good she gets at finger-pecking, she'll max out in the 40-50 word range (I read somewhere that peckers can get up to about 70 WPM, but that's rare; the point being, the upward maximum is about +50% or greater with proper typing).

All of this is just variants on the same theme. Natural talent is great, God/Nature/Karma-given (take your pick), but it needs to be honed with development and practice, and can even be an obstacle in its own right, as I found in my academic career (meaning, if academics had been a bit harder, I might have learned to work harder and done better overall).

In that sense, Adell is his only obstacle to stardom. He can continue as he's been going and, I think, have a slightly better career than Corey Patterson, maybe hitting .240-.250 with 30 HR and a 110-120 wRC+ in his prime, hitting a couple hundred or more HR and putting together a solid ~20 WAR career. Or he can do the hard work, tighten his swing and master the strikezone and become a superstar. There's obviously a lot of room between the two, but I think to some degree it is either/or with a guy like Adell.

[Docwaukee]

3 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Was Buxton like this at similar age?

I wish we could stop comparing Adell to Buxton. 

[Second Base]

Corey Patterson is a great contextual comp. From a solid comp, I've typically hovered in the Torii Hunter/Justin Upton range. 

Here's one that hasn't been made yet.

Wil Myers. 

[jsnpritchett]

 

[Dave Saltzer]

7 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

I’m really trying to not be one of these curmudgeonly dip shits but I would love for him to take it easy until he doesn’t fucking suck at the majors.  

Agreed. Until he's earned it by performing and succeeding at the Major League level, it looks immature and magnifies any mistakes that he makes.

[Dave Saltzer]

Yesterday, it really hit me that the Minor League schedule makes Mondays suck. Instead of teams having random days off here and there, so that there are other teams to look at and discuss, with all of them being off on Mondays at the lower levels, it makes for a boring day.

[stormngt]

5 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

Adell reminds me a bit of Corey Patterson, who was a super-prospect for the Cubs about twenty years ago, picked third overall in the 1998 draft and ranked in the top three by Baseball America for 2000 and 2001. He was a similar, super-athletic and toolsy outfielder.

Patterson played in parts of 12 seasons from 2000-11, hitting .252/.290/.400 with 10.9 WAR and a 77 wRC+. He had a career walk rate of 4.6% and K rate of 20.7%. He was a classic example of how tools don't always translate, and is also a good example of how "tools-first" outlets like BA sometimes miss the mark.

The thing is, though, the warning signs with Patterson were almost immediate. He handled AA pretty well, hitting .261/.338/.491, but was mediocre n AAA, hitting .258/.308/.387. And then the Cubs rushed him, hoping to cash in on their prized prospect. Adell handled AA a lot better (.308/.390/.553), although the jury is still out on AAA.

Toolsy guys like Patterson and Adell need time to develop. The tricky part, though, as several people have mentioned, they can mask their lack of refinement with sheer athleticism, at least early on. And it becomes a hard habit to break, with diminishing returns the higher up you go.

Actually, it reminds me a bit of myself as a student in grade school. Believe it or not, I was a very gifted student and always one of the best in my school (albeit usually going to small private schools). I peaked academically in sophomore year of high school, finishing with the best grades in the school of about 100 students, but I started growing bored and was far more interested in "extracurricular activities" than academics. But I could skate by for awhile, put minimal effort in, and still get good grades. But there was a law of diminishing returns. In 11th and 12th grade, I could put minimal effort and still get an A- in most classes (and I'd rather put minimal effort and get an A- than moderate effort and get A/A+). But it didn't fly so well in college, where I put almost no effort in and my grades plummeted, even failing a couple classes (I ended up dropping out after my first year, and didn't go back for years...but that's another story).

Of course the comparison stops there, because for me the problem wasn't refinement of skills but interest and motivation. I simply wasn't interested in the type of learning I was getting in school. I was more philosophical and creative, and found academia to be too restrictive and conservative. With Adell, he obviously is very interested in baseball and will put the time in, but I do wonder if he struggles with defaulting to his athleticism.

Another analogy. I've been trying to get my 12-year old daughter to learn how to type. Like most, she "finger pecks" and is pretty good at it, probably partially through texting. I told her that the most valuable class I ever took in grade school was a typing class where I learned to type properly, way back in 7th or 8th grade. Now I can comfortably type about 80-90 words per minute, 70-80 if I don't want to make any errors, 90-100 if I'm being slopping and want to impress Korean grade school kids on NitroType (which my daughter got me into). I told her that no matter how good she gets at finger-pecking, she'll max out in the 40-50 word range (I read somewhere that peckers can get up to about 70 WPM, but that's rare; the point being, the upward maximum is about +50% or greater with proper typing).

All of this is just variants on the same theme. Natural talent is great, God/Nature/Karma-given (take your pick), but it needs to be honed with development and practice, and can even be an obstacle in its own right, as I found in my academic career (meaning, if academics had been a bit harder, I might have learned to work harder and done better overall).

In that sense, Adell is his only obstacle to stardom. He can continue as he's been going and, I think, have a slightly better career than Corey Patterson, maybe hitting .240-.250 with 30 HR and a 110-120 wRC+ in his prime, hitting a couple hundred or more HR and putting together a solid ~20 WAR career. Or he can do the hard work, tighten his swing and master the strikezone and become a superstar. There's obviously a lot of room between the two, but I think to some degree it is either/or with a guy like Adell.

"Bored and more interested in extracurricular "

You sound like a typical HS teenage boy

[Vlad27Trout27]

Kochanowicz is pitching today!

[Docwaukee]

Just now, Vlad27Trout27 said:

Kochanowicz is pitching today!

and the f'n milb.tv feed isn't working 

[Second Base]

2 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

and the f'n milb.tv feed isn't working 

Yeah I noticed. 

[Vlad27Trout27]

Pure Garbage!!

[Docwaukee]

I guess I didn't want to see him allow a 3 spot in the first anyway

[jsnpritchett]