Hank Conger Catches Fire in the PCL: Angels Upper Minors Report

AAA Salt Lake Bees: 22 wins, 21 losses

Hank Conger, C - (23 AB's) .391/.440/.652 with 3 dbls, 1 HR, and 3 K/2 BB

Conger's caught 30% of potential base stealers, has yet to allow a passed ball, and has committed only two errors in nearly a third of a season, so he's healthy and sustaining the progress he made last season behind the dish. It's been a relatively quiet year for Conger with the bat - he's hitting .268/.345/.433 with 4 homeruns - but we could be seeing the beginning of an explosion.  Remember, he's the same age as Carlos Ramirez, Dillon Baird, and most of our other 2009 college draftees. Watch him connect for a single in Salt Lake here, courtesy of VegasScout.

MORE PLAYERS AFTER THE JUMP...

Will Smith, lhsp - (2 starts) 11.2 IP, 10 hits, 4.63 ERA, 9 K/4 BB

Smith was on his way to a gem Sunday evening against a very good Omaha lineup that included big leaguer Alex Gordon, making it to the seventh inning with nothing but goose eggs on the board. Alas, he tried to be too fine with his curveball and issued consecutive walks to Gordon and AAA walk-machine Kila Ka'aihue. Those runners eventually came around to score, and that did it for the Bees, who lost 2 to 1.  I'm impressed Smith's done so well in the Pacific Coast League, because frankly, he wasn't fooling anyone when I saw him in late April with the Quakes.  His AAA strikeout and hit rates look good so far, but he's yielding line drives at a 25% clip, so things might go south quickly.

Mike Kohn, rhrp - (2 appearances) 2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 1 K/0 BB

Amalio Diaz, rhrp - (1 appearance) 2.2 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 2 K/1 BB

Ryan Aldridge, rhrp - (1 appearance) 1 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 0 K/0 BB

All three of these guys were promoted to AAA within days of one another, and might just ride to the rescue of the major league bullpen. While Kohn is currently the best known of the trio, all three feature quality stuff.  Aldridge especially was seen as a legit relief prospect before a string of arm injuries, but he's back to dealing mid- 90's heat and a plus power slider.  

Jeremy Hill, rhrp - (1 appearance) 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 1 K/ 0BB

Hill retired last week after one and a fourth seasons with the Bees. He pitched well for them, posting a 4.48 ERA with 68 K's over 76.1 grueling PCL innings. Best of luck to you, Jeremy.

Francisco Rodriguez, rhrp - (2 appearances) 3.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 3 K/0 BB, 7 GB's

So far, he's leading the three Salt Lake Rodriguez' in performance. His best peripheral stat is a solid 54% groundball rate. 

AA Arkansas: 16 wins, 27 losses

McAnulty, DH, OF, 1B - (21 AB's) .500/.586/1.208 with 2 dbls, 5 HR's, 9 RBI's and 3 K/5 BB

McAnulty is finding AA about as challenging as I found old-school Nintendo RBI baseball.  MILB did a nice profile on him a couple of weeks ago, describing his role on the Travs.  Needless to say, he was a good find for our FO.

Ryan Mount, 2B - (17 AB's) .381/.381/.762 with 2 dbls, 2 HR's, 7 RBI's and 5 K/0 BB

Mount bounced back from his DL stint with a bang, slotting into the cleanup role for the Travs. He's having a good season, considering the context, putting up a .274/.330/.472 line. His K/BB ratio slipped this week, but his overall k-rate isn't bad and he showed more patience earlier this season and in spring training. 

Jeremy Moore, CF, RF - (30 AB's) .267/.290/.533 with 3 dbls, 1 trpl, 1 HR, 2 SB's, and 6 K/1 BB

Here's the guy who McAnulty really needs to rub off on. Moore has some of best tools in the system, evidenced by the impressive power/speed numbers above.  He's a good defensive outfielder who's been getting progressively more time in CF. He's even showing a tad more patience this season, inching closer to the benchmark 10% walk rate. However, his K-rate is climbing towards the alarming 30% benchmark, so he's still struggling to control the strike zone.