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

[Chuck]

Matt Thaiss, 1b, Angels. Thaiss, the Virginia slugger drafted 16th overall by the Angels, blasted his sixth pro homer Wednesday in low Class A Burlington’s 4-3 loss to Clinton (Mariners). Evaluators are split as to how much of Thaiss’ above-average power will show up in games. One pegged him as a 7-10 homer bat, while others project 10-15 homer power. But it’s clear that Thaiss’ bat will do the carrying.

[totdprods]

31 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Matt Thaiss, 1b, Angels. Thaiss, the Virginia slugger drafted 16th overall by the Angels, blasted his sixth pro homer Wednesday in low Class A Burlington’s 4-3 loss to Clinton (Mariners). Evaluators are split as to how much of Thaiss’ above-average power will show up in games. One pegged him as a 7-10 homer bat, while others project 10-15 homer power. But it’s clear that Thaiss’ bat will do the carrying.

I would hope he'd be able to club a little more than either of those. I guess if he can maintain a good average and draw walks though that would still be solid. 

I have a sense that Thaiss winds up being dealt before he makes it to Anaheim. Maybe sometime in '18 or next offseason. Just my gut feeling. 

[Angel Oracle]

Extra slot money to get Jones signed hopefully makes Thaiss' drafting worth it.

[Chuck]

7 minutes ago, totdprods said:

I would hope he'd be able to club a little more than either of those. I guess if he can maintain a good average and draw walks though that would still be solid. 

I have a sense that Thaiss winds up being dealt before he makes it to Anaheim. Maybe sometime in '18 or next offseason. Just my gut feeling. 

I wouldn't worry about these so-called evaluators. They said the same thing about Mike Trout and C.J. Cron's power potential as well. 

[totdprods]

8 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Extra slot money to get Jones signed hopefully makes Thaiss' drafting worth it.

You mean Ward. They were both in '15. But I agree that I think the big attraction to both Ward and Thaiss was the flexibility to go after guys like Jones, Long, Sanger in '15 and Marsh, Williams, Rodriguez, and Duensing in '16. 

[Angel Oracle]

20 minutes ago, totdprods said:

You mean Ward. They were both in '15. But I agree that I think the big attraction to both Ward and Thaiss was the flexibility to go after guys like Jones, Long, Sanger in '15 and Marsh, Williams, Rodriguez, and Duensing in '16. 

Oops, meant Ward

Marsh was ultimately the one needing the extra slot money for this June, and thus drafting Thaiss.

Assuming a top 10 pick in 2017, they now need to draft the best player available.

[eaterfan]

Didn't Marsh sign for slot? I think it was Williams who was way over.

[totdprods]

7 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

Didn't Marsh sign for slot? I think it was Williams who was way over.

I believe so, but at the time of the draft they may have assumed they'd possibly need to go over-slot for someone like Marsh, and therefore went with someone cheaper in Round One with Thaiss. 

[Second Base]

Marsh signed for slot but only because of his back injury. Nonie Williams signed for far above slot, which makes a lot of sense seeing as he has star potential at a premium position. I don't see him sticking at SS, but even as a 2B or 3B he'll be an exciting option.

[TroutField]

8 hours ago, ScottyA_MWAH said:

Marsh signed for slot but only because of his back injury. Nonie Williams signed for far above slot, which makes a lot of sense seeing as he has star potential at a premium position. I don't see him sticking at SS, but even as a 2B or 3B he'll be an exciting option.

His numbers are awful so far in the Azl league, is there a ton of potential that hasn't translated yet or what's the deal with this guy? 

[TroutField]

14 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Matt Thaiss, 1b, Angels. Thaiss, the Virginia slugger drafted 16th overall by the Angels, blasted his sixth pro homer Wednesday in low Class A Burlington’s 4-3 loss to Clinton (Mariners). Evaluators are split as to how much of Thaiss’ above-average power will show up in games. One pegged him as a 7-10 homer bat, while others project 10-15 homer power. But it’s clear that Thaiss’ bat will do the carrying.

I'm not that impressed so far with Thaiss, for a guy that is supposedly going to hit his way into  the big leagues, his numbers are pretty mediocre in Burlington. A .283 avg with an .808  OPS isn't amazing for an advanced college bat in low A,  is it?

[Second Base]

40 minutes ago, TroutField said:

His numbers are awful so far in the Azl league, is there a ton of potential that hasn't translated yet or what's the deal with this guy? 

His numbers are no worse than Jahmai Jones last year in Arizona. There's just not a lot you can take away from Roolie Ball, I've had to learn that. Really, AA will tell you the most.

[KevinJ14]

User Actions

 Following

Salt Lake BeesVerified account‏@SaltLakeBees

First two pitches from Alex Meyer hit 98 and 99 on the scoreboard radar gun.

Salt Lake BeesVerified account‏@SaltLakeBees

Pretty solid outing for Alex Meyer: 4 IP, 2 H, 6 K, 0 R

 

[TroutField]

25 minutes ago, ScottyA_MWAH said:

His numbers are no worse than Jahmai Jones last year in Arizona. There's just not a lot you can take away from Roolie Ball, I've had to learn that. Really, AA will tell you the most.

Good info thank you. 

[TroutField]

5 minutes ago, KevinJ14 said:

User Actions

 Following

Salt Lake BeesVerified account‏@SaltLakeBees

First two pitches from Alex Meyer hit 98 and 99 on the scoreboard radar gun.

Salt Lake BeesVerified account‏@SaltLakeBees

Pretty solid outing for Alex Meyer: 4 IP, 2 H, 6 K, 0 R

 

I'm excited for Meyer. If he lives up to his potential we got an ace and an innings eater for Santiago. 

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, TroutField said:

His numbers are awful so far in the Azl league, is there a ton of potential that hasn't translated yet or what's the deal with this guy? 

he's a third round pick and he's barely 18.  that's the deal.  it'll be two to three years before we know what we've got.  

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, TroutField said:

I'm not that impressed so far with Thaiss, for a guy that is supposedly going to hit his way into  the big leagues, his numbers are pretty mediocre in Burlington. A .283 avg with an .808  OPS isn't amazing for an advanced college bat in low A,  is it?

he's on track relative to his age a level.  He's an advanced college bat.  Not a truly elite college player that you'd get with one of the top 5 picks.  Take a look at the other college bats from the first round.  

Senzel, Corey Ray, Anfernee Grier etc.  

[Angel Oracle]

An .808 OPS in the Midwest League (Thaiss) is fine.

Next stop for Meyer: a 5 inning (or 75-80 pitch limit) outing with the Halos after Labor Day

[KevinJ14]

The moment we've been waiting for:

[KevinJ14]

 

[totdprods]

I'm by no means an expert, but Meyer's delivery looks a little stiff and high effort. Not too surprised he's had injury problems. The results have been really encouraging, hopefully he can stick as a starter, but if he keeps having durability issues I could see why. Could be a great pen arm too.

[Second Base]

4 hours ago, totdprods said:

I'm by no means an expert, but Meyer's delivery looks a little stiff and high effort. Not too surprised he's had injury problems. The results have been really encouraging, hopefully he can stick as a starter, but if he keeps having durability issues I could see why. Could be a great pen arm too.

I'm seeing quite the opposite. This looks like a clean delivery to me. Stride is adequate, good enough hip rotation, tons of momentum because of his particular build, good follow through. I noticed he's dialed back his fastball in the past couple weeks from 97/98 to 94ish. Some of that is likely a hot gun, the other is just trying to hit his spot.

[totdprods]

5 minutes ago, ScottyA_MWAH said:

I'm seeing quite the opposite. This looks like a clean delivery to me. Stride is adequate, good enough hip rotation, tons of momentum because of his particular build, good follow through. I noticed he's dialed back his fastball in the past couple weeks from 97/98 to 94ish. Some of that is likely a hot gun, the other is just trying to hit his spot.

It might just be his height throwing me off.  Violent may have not been the right word, he's tall enough that he generates a lot of power as it is. I guess his delivery just looks a little more rigid and forced almost, but again, that may just be because I'm not used to seeing a 6' 9" dude pitching. Weaver is the closest height-wise I've watched on a normal basis to compare to and he is nothing like that. 

It has to be pretty imposing facing a dude with that height throwing that hard.

Being 6'5" myself, I can see how hard it can be to keep mechanics in place when you're that tall. I went through a lot of nagging flexibility and strength issues between 24-28 before I got a good feel for my body again. Hopefully Meyer has gotten healthy and a good routine together. If he has, he could be very good for a very long time.

[Docwaukee]

there is certainly some effort there from him, but his mechanics are pretty simple.  better than I expected.  that slider is dirty.  same arm slot as the fastball.  not a ton of horizontal movement, but just enough that when the bottom drops out, it's away from righties. It's late too, which also helps.   I bet when he's off though, he dips his shoulder and that's why he gets issues.  Kinda like on that last pitch.  The stuff is sick though.  Trying to convince him he doesn't need to throw a million miles per hour will be the chore.  

[Docwaukee]

Hutton Moyer has been pretty solid this year.  A little old for level at 23 in A+, but he's played mostly SS and has an .807ops with 16hrs and 13 sbs.  A fair amount of swing and miss in his game, but he gets on base at a decent clip and can play any IF position.