AngelsWin.com Today: Minor League Musings

[AngelsWin.com]

By @Scotty@AW, AngelsWin.com Staff Writer

Here are just a few recent developments going on in the Angels farm

1. Right after writing about how ridiculous it was the Jesus Castillo was still in A Ball, the Angels promoted him to Inland Empire.  In his first start: 5 IP 2 H 1 ER 0 BB 4 K’s.  A fantastic beginning to his tenure there and proof that the Angels definitely are reading this…..

2. This offseason, there was quite a lot of debate within the AngelsWin prospect team surrounding Connor Justus.  We opted to put him in the honorable mention category.  But after hitting .230 and A Ball and batting below the Mendoza Line in the Cal League so far, Justus may be in danger of being labeled “all glove-no bat”, which isn’t necessarily accurate.  He hit quite well in college.  His bat should come around soon.

3. Troy Montgomery earned himself a promotion to Inland Empire, and has since bumped Matt Thaiss down to third in the order.  Montgomery had a .418 OBP in A Ball and is currently sporting a .467 OBP in Advanced A Ball.

4. 10 days ago, Matt Thaiss batting average was .174, and right now it’s .264.  That should tell you just how good he’s been over the last week and a half.

5. This should tell you all you need to know about the level of play at AA versus Advanced A Ball.  At Inland Empire, Michael Hermosillo collected 9 walks in only 13 games.  So far in AA Mobile, one walk in 8 games.  It’s the biggest jump in the minors.  But you can usually gauge how good a prospect in in relative terms by where they’re slotted in the lineup after promotion.  So far, Hermosillo has hit somewhere between leadoff and #5.  He’s pretty good.

6. After last night’s game, the lowest batting average on the Angels AAA affiliate Salt Lake Bees is .293, owned by none other than Sherman Johnson.  That should tell you a few things…..first, there are a ton of hits in the PCL, and second, if Sherman has the lowest average on your team, you’ve got a pretty outstanding team.

7. Speaking of Sherman Johnson, he’s clearly being groomed for a future promotion.  He’s spent most of his time at first base lately (a far cry from SS, 3B and 2B), and has recorded 15 hits in his last 10 games. During that span, he’s hitting .405.  When Luis Valbuena returns, he’ll be the Angels regular first baseman, but if Jefry Marte isn’t careful, he’ll be bumped off the 3B/1B depth chart by Sherman Johnson.

8. When you pay attention to the minor leagues, and prospects in general, you begin to notice patterns.  Low numbers in A Ball, high numbers in Advanced A, low numbers in AA, high numbers in AAA….Well since we’re still on the topic of Sherman Johnson, he’s definitely a player of patterns.  The firs time he saw AA, Johnson hit a meager .204 with just 7 HR’s in 135 games.  The second time he saw AA pitching, he hit .369 with 4 HR’s in only 19 games.  Last year, the talented utility player hit .226 with 16 stolen bases over 109 games.  This year so far, he’s hitting .293 with 5 SB in 22 games. Don’t be surprised if in his first stint in the majors, Johnson isn’t wholly impressive.  Don’t also be surprised if in his second stint, he’s very impressive.

9. When the Angels signed Dustin Ackley, it was more of a side note, “Oh the Angels just picked up another former top prospect.  Eppler move”.  Ackley wasn’t even ready to swing a bat yet, so basically the Angels were signing him so he could do his rehab with them.  Ho hum.  Ackley is hitting in the middle of the Salt Lake lineup, and while he’s been relegated to DH duty, he should be back in the field soon.  Ackley has never hit at the major league level the way he’s capable of, but it should be at least noted that Ackley currently has more walks than strikeouts, has always been a solid defensive second baseman, and has 11 hits in his last 9 games.  I’m not saying he’s ready for a promotion, but I am saying it might be fun to see what he can do when he’s fully healthy.

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[Brent Maguire]

Posted a similar thought in the Cowart thread but Sherman Johnson deserves a look this year at some point. His defensive versatility and blend of patience/speed could lead him to a super utility player that the Angels can use all over the diamond. 

[Chuck]

53 minutes ago, Angels_Baseball said:

Posted a similar thought in the Cowart thread but Sherman Johnson deserves a look this year at some point. His defensive versatility and blend of patience/speed could lead him to a super utility player that the Angels can use all over the diamond. 

Agreed.

Sherman seems to adjust to the pitching after a good 3-4 months in whatever level he's at. That speaks volumes about his ability to learn and adjust to what opposing pitchers are trying to do and the quality of arms thereof.

[totdprods]

There could be a lot of opportunity for players like Cowart, Johnson, etc. and that could go a long way to determining our next offseason. 

Eppler is going to be tested this year in a big way. Given the injuries it's still going to be really difficult to foresee how competitive this team will stay, but they're still performing well now with some room to improve. If this team is .500ish or a few games out in July, does he make even a slight push for the playoffs by dealing some minor league depth away? Does he stand pat and risk not getting anything for our pending FAs? Big decisions and tough circumstances so far to help him determine the best route.

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, totdprods said:

There could be a lot of opportunity for players like Cowart, Johnson, etc. and that could go a long way to determining our next offseason. 

Eppler is going to be tested this year in a big way. Given the injuries it's still going to be really difficult to foresee how competitive this team will stay, but they're still performing well now with some room to improve. If this team is .500ish or a few games out in July, does he make even a slight push for the playoffs by dealing some minor league depth away? Does he stand pat and risk not getting anything for our pending FAs? Big decisions and tough circumstances so far to help him determine the best route.

I feel like the only way this happens is if we fall out of contention early and our current 2B/LF guys continue to suck. Sherm and Cowart would be a boost over what we're currently rolling out there as they both get on base, both have speed and both have a little pop to boot. 

[totdprods]

2 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

I feel like the only way this happens is if we fall out of contention early and our current 2B/LF guys continue to suck. Sherm and Cowart would be a boost over what we're currently rolling out there as they both get on base, both have speed and both have a little pop to boot. 

As optimistic as I am, I still think best case for this org is selling off as many pending FAs as possible at the deadline and auditioning as much AAA talent as possible Aug/Sept. We'd have to be running away with the division to do anything different.

A lot of it will hinge on player/team performance of course though. Either way it's great to see the farm improving. I feel good about it again.

[Inside Pitch]

4 hours ago, totdprods said:

As optimistic as I am, I still think best case for this org is selling off as many pending FAs as possible at the deadline and auditioning as much AAA talent as possible Aug/Sept. We'd have to be running away with the division to do anything different.

A lot of it will hinge on player/team performance of course though. Either way it's great to see the farm improving. I feel good about it again.

Preach....   

I've said it many times.  While I want them to do well, I want the team to get better even more..  If the Angels can parlay some good performances from pending FAs into real talent ... even if it means an ugly finish, I'm on board.

The minor league threads have more weight to them this year than in recent years -- we need to see guys take some steps forward, we need to see the creation of organizational depth like we used to have..  We need another really strong draft.

Fix the stuff at the bottom and the MLB team might stand a chance again in the near future.