Michael Ryan back to AAA: Angels Upper Minors Report

AAA Salt Lake Bees: 36 wins, 34 losses

Corey Aldridge, OF - (22 AB's) .423/.444/.692 with 4 dbls, 1 HR, and 7 K/1 BB

Paul McAnulty, U - OF - (27 AB's) .407/.407/.553 with 4 dbls, 2 HR's and 6 K/0 BB

Michael Ryan, OF - (13 AB's) .385/.429/.462 with 1 dbl and 2 K/1 BB

The Angels' signed these three guys as minor league FA's to bolster their system over the offseason, and they now form the heart of the Bees lineup. Corey Aldridge continues to put up gaudy numbers due to a crazy 27% line drive rate (21%-23% is outstanding) on the season and a 33% line drive rate in June. His 26% K-rate is suppressing his production some, but it's hard to argue with how hard he's lashing the ball.  Too bad he's the defensive equivalent of Hideki Matsui.  Michael Ryan had a lot of frustration to take out on AAA pitchers following his demotion - all he can do is continue to hit, biding his time until the end of the Quinlan age.  Through 64 AAA at bats, Paul McAnulty is hitting a solid .359/.379/.500.  Interestingly, he's started at third on consecutive nights, and has four games at the hot corner since his promotion.  The Halos no doubt hope he fits into their thin 3rd base depth chart.  All of these guys have PCL-fueled BABIP's hovering in the .400 range, so their success here doesn't project to carry over entirely to the MLB club.

Mike Kohn, rhrp - (2 appearances) 1 Sv, 4 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 6 K/2 BB

There's not a whole lot more to say at this point - the guy just looks ready.  AAA stats are no guarantee he'll see instant success at the MLB level, but they do show that he has little to prove in the minors.

AA Arkansas: 26 wins, 43 losses

Mike Anton, lhsp - (1 start) 1 W, 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 5 K/3 BB

Anton has been either Jekyll or Hyde all season: his pattern for the past two months is to throw two quality starts - including the occasional gem - before pitching a stinker. Saturday evening was his second consecutive quality start, which means he may be due for a dud in this week's outing.  All together, the extremes average out to a ho-hum 3 and 5 record with a 4.43 ERA, 76 hits allowed, and a 46 K/31 BB ratio across 69 innings.

Abel Nieves, U - (14 AB's) 357./.526/.929 with 1 trpl, 2 HR's and 1 K/ 5 BB

Through 132 AA at bats, Nieves has managed only a .248 BABIP, which has resulted in a .235/.320/.311 batting line. I suspect the slash stats will jump soon because he's hitting almost nothing but groundballs and line drives (15.6% LD rate). Of course, there were the two HR's last week, which were nice, but that's never really been his game.  On the plus side, he's maybe the only guy in the system who's walked more frequently then striking out.

Andrew Romine, ss - (27 AB's) .296/.457/.667 with 2 dbls, 4 trpls, and 7 K/ 8 BB

After a hot April start, Romine's production plummeted in May. He's picked the pace back up in June, hitting .258/.395/.419.  One red flag for the season is an intensifying platoon split that first emerged last year: he's hitting .360/.430/.416 against lefties, but only.220/.309/.305 against right handers, not a positive trend for a switch-hitter with leadoff aspirations.  Romine led the Angels organization with 62 stolen bases in 2008, but has stolen only 13 so far this year, and at a less-than-helpful 62% success rate.

Ismael Carmona, rhrp - (3 appearances) 1 Sv, 6.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 5 K/1 BB

The 2009 Quakes closer looked good in AA this week, keeping the opposition at bay trough three mult-inning appearances. The 25 year old has a 4.15 ERA through 21.2 innings.