Rookie Ball Report: Mike Trout's a'smoking

Eric Oliver, 1B/DH - (44 AB's) .386/.426/.667 with 3 Dbls, 1 Trpl, and 1 HR

The Halos took Oliver in the 36^th round of this year's draft and sent him to Arizona, where he's mashed. He'll have to keep mashing, because the Halos drafted a bunch of 1B/DH types in their quest for power this year. He's a local kid, attending Irvine High School, Orange Coast Community College, and then UCSB, where he hit a solid .325/.420/.517 in his final year.

Rolando Gomez, SS -(30 AB's) .333/.474/.600 with 3 Dbls, 1 Trpl, 1 HR, and 1 SB

5'7" Gomez is the Tempe Angels' primary leadoff man. He's got a reputation for strong shortstop defense and more pop in the bat than you'd expect, but the strikeouts - 10 in the last 8 games - are a worry. The Halos signed him for $450,000 after taking him in the 11^th round of the ‘08 draft.

James Mallard - (31 AB's) .355/.412/.645 with 3 HR and 12 RBI

Mallard leads all Halos rookie ball players with 4 HR, validating the Halos' decision to draft him again in '09 after having drafted but failed to sign him in '08. Halosheaven user The Limey posted a scouting video link here earlier in the week, in case you missed it.

Alibay Barkley - (9 AB's) .556/.556/.778 with 2 Dbls

Barkley was the very last pick of the '09 draft, not just for the Angels, but for the whole draft. He shares the same defensive limitations as Oliver, Mallard, and '08 draftee Nick Farnsworth, so has had to fight for at-bats. All he's done in those limited at bats is rake, so I'm rooting for him.

Orem Owlz, 13 wins and 12 losses

Leads league in BA and OBP

Jean Segura, 2b - (56 AB's) .429/.467/.589 with 2 Dbls, 2 Trpls, 1 HR, 13 runs.

In 23 games with the Owlz, Segura has failed to hit in just one. He had multiple hits in 12 of those games. His .394 BA leads the Pioneer League, and he's fourth in total bases. Not bad for a 19-year-old duking it out with the college kids.

Terrell Alliman, rf - (37 AB's) .459/.524/.625 with 6 Dbls and 5 SB's

After leading the Arizona Summer League in doubles in '08, Alliman is tied for second in the Pioneer League with nine this year. He has speed too, and is a strong defensive right fielder. Hopefully he'll show some homerun pop as the season progresses.

Dillon Baird, 1b - (17 AB's) .588/.611/.706 with 2 Dbls, 6 RBI's and 1 SB

It's way to early to make grand pronouncements about any of the '09 draftees, but I'm going to do it anyway: Baird may just be the most gifted college hitter that the Halos' drafted this year, and is certainly in the top three. He's got a line drive stroke from the left side, he works counts for walks, and he rarely strikes out. That said, he's a question mark defensively and does not hit for overwhelming power, so there's a lot riding on that bat.

Buddy Boshers - (3 starts) 1 W, 14 IP, 2.57 ERA, 18 K/4 BB

Boshers has put up almost identical numbers this year as he did in last season's campaign, also with the Owlz. Improvement would obviously be nice, but the stats were very good to begin with: an ERA in the mid 2's, nearly a K an inning, a ground out to fly out ratio near 2, and decent walk and hit totals.

Justin Bass, DH - (42 AB's) .333/.417/.548 with 4 Dbls, 1 Trpl, and 1 HR

Speaking of gifted hitters, meet 20-year old Justin Bass, whom the Halos drafted out of high school in '07. The question is, where does he fit in the field? He played six games at second base way back in '07, one game in leftfield this year, and has spent the rest of his pro career DH'ing. His bat would play tremendously at second base, and looks good even for left.  I don't know why the Angels' are handling him with such kids gloves.

Stephen Locke - (2 starts) 1 W, 10 IP, 1.80 ERA, 9 K/2 BB

The 6'1" lefty was the Halos' 22^nd round pick. I don't have a scouting report on him, but he's put up decent numbers at the back of the Owlz rotation.

DSL Angels, 19 wins and 22 losses

Yancarlos Santiago - (3 appearances) 1 W, 9.1 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 11 K/7 BB

The 18 year old Santiago began the year as a lefty bullpen arm and earned his way into the rotation, for obvious reasons: he's carried a microscopic ERA of 0.89 through 20.1 innings.

Jose Orozco, of - (16 AB's) .500/.529/.938 with 4 Dbls, 1 HR, and 5 RBI's

Sergio Garcia, cf - (17 AB's).471/.526/.647 with 1 HR and 4 SB's

Lorenzo Piron, of - (18 AB's) .389/.421/.556 with 3 Dbls

This trio of outfielders has provided the DSL Halos with most of its offensive spark over the past 2 weeks. I don't know much about them yet, except that none are especially young for the league - they're all 18 going on 19.