The Official 2018 Minor League Statline and Prospect Discussion Thread

[Docwaukee]

32 minutes ago, John Smith said:

"In a corresponding move, left-handed pitcher Adrian Almeida has been promoted to Mobile from Class A Advanced Inland Empire.

 

Almeida, 23, gave up just one earned run in 12.0 innings pitched with the 66ers to begin the 2018 season. He was selected by the Angels in the minor league portion of the 2016 Rule 5 Draft from the New York Mets."

19k in 12ip with 6h, 4bb and 1er so far this year.  

[Chuck]

Griffin Canning and two relievers combine to throw a no-hitter tonight. Wow! 

 

[totdprods]

2 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Griffin Canning and two relievers combine to throw a no-hitter tonight. Wow! 

I'm actually starting to think there's a slight chance we see Canning at least in September.

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, totdprods said:

I'm actually starting to think there's a slight chance we see Canning at least in September.

I totally agree! 

[Second Base]

He walked 6 batters. Kind of a perfect picture of who Canning is right now. His stuff has improved so much that he's becoming unhittable. But he still has a couple of adjustments and refinements that he needs. Some small measure of development needed.

He can get major league hitters out right now, but give it a little time and he'll be ready to really thrive.  

[Vlad27Trout27]

quick question regarding Canning, haven't seen him pitch this year but does he still have the same delivery he had back at ucla or is it smooth? Not going to lie his college delivery scared me, felt like there was a lot of stress on his arm similar to how I felt about Hanson.

[Second Base]

6 minutes ago, Vlad27Trout27 said:

quick question regarding Canning, haven't seen him pitch this year but does he still have the same delivery he had back at ucla or is it smooth? Not going to lie his college delivery scared me, felt like there was a lot of stress on his arm similar to how I felt about Hanson.

Pretty much the same. But the Angels probably aren't looking at making too many changes to Canning. He was a top 5 collegiate starter and his stuff is so good right now, you don't mess with it too much. 

Plus part of pitching is making the adjustments and figuring out what works and what doesn't. It changes every game really. So coaches really won't make any changes unless a pitcher has reached a point where they can't get better or can't stay healthy unless the coach changes it.

Alex Meyer comes to mind.

With Canning, if they see something, they'll remind him about it, but doubtful they'll be changing his delivery.

[Warfarin]

12 hours ago, totdprods said:

I'm actually starting to think there's a slight chance we see Canning at least in September.

The no hits in 5 innings was cool, but the 6 walks was not.  His stuff looks great, but he's still learning to harness it.  His results in AA have been good but not spectacular so far.  Give him some time.  I think he'll spend the majority of the year in AA, with a few starts in AAA to finish it off.  We could see him be "Buehler'd" at the end of the year (i.e. come up and pitch in relief in September) if he tears through the minors the rest of the year, but we'll see.

That said, I think there's a great chance he's part of the rotation for a good chunk of 2019, with Suarez not too far behind.  With Barria, Canning, Suarez, we have 3 young pitchers who aren't too far away and can help start to provide us with cheap reinforcements for the rotation.  

By the end of 2019, we could have:  Ohtani, Canning, Skaggs, Heaney, Barria, with Suarez and maybe Castillo serving as a 6th starter.  I think Shoemaker is non-tendered after this year, JC Ramirez likely in the pen once he returns, and Richards.. well, maybe he's resigned, maybe he's not.  We'll see.  But that said, that's a cheap, strong rotation for us to have.  3-5 guys on rookie contracts (if you include the 6th starters) and two guys going through arbitration.  That'll be incredibly useful for us, as we can allocate money to sign players in other key spots that we need support.

[totdprods]

16 minutes ago, Warfarin said:

The no hits in 5 innings was cool, but the 6 walks was not.  His stuff looks great, but he's still learning to harness it.  His results in AA have been good but not spectacular so far.  Give him some time.  I think he'll spend the majority of the year in AA, with a few starts in AAA to finish it off.  We could see him be "Buehler'd" at the end of the year (i.e. come up and pitch in relief in September) if he tears through the minors the rest of the year, but we'll see.

It's not so much that I think he's ready or I'd want them to rush him, but more of a result of our current staff and the injury/inconsistency issues, and the fact they've been fairly aggressive promoting prospects. Seeing that he isn't getting crushed in AA, I wouldn't be surprised if he's next up behind the Trop, Bridwell, Barria trio and come August, if any of those guys are hurt or not cutting it, I could see him enter the mix.

And I can def see the Buehler treatment happening.

[Warfarin]

9 minutes ago, totdprods said:

It's not so much that I think he's ready or I'd want them to rush him, but more of a result of our current staff and the injury/inconsistency issues, and the fact they've been fairly aggressive promoting prospects. Seeing that he isn't getting crushed in AA, I wouldn't be surprised if he's next up behind the Trop, Bridwell, Barria trio and come August, if any of those guys are hurt or not cutting it, I could see him enter the mix.

And I can def see the Buehler treatment happening.

Yeah, I can see it.  But I don't think we'll really see him aggressively promoted to the extent that he's part of our rotation this year.  I think Eppler is great about having the long-term picture in his mind.  I think it's likely Canning gets promoted to AAA at some point this year.  Suarez may or may not, we'll see how he does.  But that said, having Canning, Suarez, and Castillo in AA is exciting - we have a trio of prospects coming up the pipeline, ready to contribute soon.

[Docwaukee]

Don't forget about Pena as well.  His stuff is pretty close to Cannings.  Going to be harder to control.  Both physically and emotionally.  

[Second Base]

The Angels offseason says a lot about their intentions. This wasn't a winter where we were targeting the Daniel Nava, Craig Gentry, Johnny Giavotella types. We brought in Ohtani, Upton, Cozart, Kinsler...

The Angels intend to compete this year. Bringing in a rookie to fill a key role in the starting staff does not line up with that. 

Unless Canning makes a metric ton of growth in the next couple months (as in he grows from projectable prospect into legitimate mid or front of the rotation starter), he will NOT be with the Angels this year.

The Angels have enough pitching and payroll space to get them to the deadline and acquire a starter that fits into the front or middle of their rotation.

Canning figures to be an integral part of the 2019 rotation though.

[Stradling]

I don't want Canning to be a starter this year, but if he happened to make the roster on August 31st in the pen, I would be ok with that.  I would prefer we handle it differently and acquire someone that allows Canning's clock to start next year, but if he is a difference maker this year, then bring him up.  

[Docwaukee]

that swing looks much better.  fingers crossed.  

[Stradling]

4 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

that swing looks much better.  fingers crossed.  

Maitan?

[Docwaukee]

Just now, SuperTroopers said:

Maitan?

yes.  only shows him from the right side, but it looks good and he looks pretty fit.  

[Angelsjunky]

Or we could play glass half empty and say he's been reduced to hitting teeball wearing baggy clothes to hide how fat he is.

[Angelsjunky]

On a different note, I don't think anyone has mentioned Simon Matthews who has nasty peripherals so far: 4 walks, 24 Ks in 16.1 IP, mostly at Burlington. He's 22 and was a free agent signing out of Georgetown, so probably nothing to get excited about, but he deserves a mention.

[Docwaukee]

3 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Or we could play glass half empty and say he's been reduced to hitting teeball wearing baggy clothes to hide how fat he is.

half those guys lives are spent hitting off a tee.  

[Angelsjunky]

5 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

half those guys lives are spent hitting off a tee.  

I was joking.

[Angel Oracle]

52 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

On a different note, I don't think anyone has mentioned Simon Matthews who has nasty peripherals so far: 4 walks, 24 Ks in 16.1 IP, mostly at Burlington. He's 22 and was a free agent signing out of Georgetown, so probably nothing to get excited about, but he deserves a mention.

Never know, talent comes from everywhere.   No one ever thought that a HS player from NJ would become so dominant a player.

[Docwaukee]

49 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

I was joking.

I thought jokes were supposed to be funny.

[Tank]

16 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Griffin Canning and two relievers combine to throw a no-hitter tonight. Wow! 

 

dilly dilly!

[Tank]

1 hour ago, Angelsjunky said:

Or we could play glass half empty and say he's been reduced to hitting teeball wearing baggy clothes to hide how fat he is.

maybe he's been eating at subway a lot.

[Docwaukee]

Watching Suarez pitch right now.  

There have been no less than 10 pitches in two innings that have hit the strike zone not called strikes for him.  He's all over the corners.  Still has 3 k's to go with 2bb and 3h.  Couple of hard hit balls.  One of which was a two run double to the wall.   But his breaking pitch looks sharp and he's gotten some swing and miss on the fastball.