Angels Minor League Update

After the Jump I'll have a few things of note from the Angels affiliates! Some impressive season lines, single games, streaks, or guys to look out for.

OREM AND BELOW:

Good News!! Fabio Martinez Mesa finally showed up somewhere! He pitched in extended spring training and should go to Cedar Rapids or maybe even Arkansas is the organization feel his stuff is back!

Like always, with the good comes the bad, and this line is brutal. Try to guess whose line this is .154/.244/.192? If you said Jeff Mathis then you are wrong! (but funny)! This belongs to Ryan Bolden, a former first round pick. OUCH. They said he was raw but this is awful. He needs to turn things around soon or he could be in big trouble. 7:40 BB:K just won't cut it.

A little more bad before some good, Chevy Clarke, while not as terrible as Bolden, is taking it to the league with a .215/.278/.423 slash line.

Abel Baker, a catcher and this years 7th round pick, has been hitting well, slashing .311/.415/.484 for an OPS of  .899. He was drafted out of the same community college that gave us Lackey and Waldo, so keep an eye on him.

CJ Cron, our first rounder, went down with a gruesome injury but was hitting 308/371/629 for an OPS of 1.0 exactly!

Nick Maronde, our 3rd rounder this year and a hard throwing lefty out of Florida, has been spectacular for Orem and may be promoted soon. Reports say he has touched 96 occasionally and his stats are tremendous. In 29 and a third innings, he has a 2.45 ERA with a 32:11 K:BB ratio! 

Finally, Kaleb Cowart and Taylor Lindsey are going about business as usual. The first rounders are slashing 295/357/448 and 361/396/624!!!!!! respectively! Look out!! Expect late season promotions to IE or Cedar Rapids depending on the playoff races.

A Ball (Inland Empire and Cedar Rapids)

Jean Segura is almost back, and was seen taking grounders and running a few days ago.

Kole Calhoun is a monster! He took his 70th walk(!) a few days ago. He is now hitting .317/.410/.549 on the year and has a system leading 85 RBI to go along with 21 HR!

Randal Grichuk has had a rough welcome back hitting just .215 since he came back.. I was expecting huge things from him before the year and am extremely disappointed. Next year may end up being Make-Or-Break for him.

AA Arkansas

My sleeper here is Darwin Perez. Previously thought of as just a system filler, I think he is a real guy to watch. He is a great fielder and was batting .300 before a recent slump. He has a great eye, and has maintained a 100 point gap between BA and OBP all year.

Luis "The Lucho Mayor?" Jimenez is pushing himself into the realm of prospectdom by hitting .303/.345/.510 this year with 16 HR, 82 RBI, and 36 doubles! This is insanely impressive when you consider the park he plays in. For reference, Mark Trumbo only hit 15 home runs in his full year at Arkansas! I'd be willing to bet a third of those 2B may turn into HR at other parks. That would leave him at 28 HR and the year is still not done. While that is purely hypothetical, he has that kind of power and I'm willing to call this a breakout season. The only thing that may hold him back is his BB rate, but that fits in on this team. Look for him to challenge for the 3B job out of Spring Training next year. Also, for the whole Trumbo part, a simple proportion says that Luis should hit about 35 HR. (15:~30 = x:(at least)18)

Pitcher Matt Shoemaker has been good for the Travelers. His ERA now sits at 2.18 and he leads the league in IP after throwing 6 of the scoreless variety a few days ago.

Salt Lake

Effren Navarro, a 50th!! round pick known for his glove, is batting .300 with 8 homers and 59 RBI.

Jeremy Moore, possibly a late season call-up and future 4th outfielder, is batting over .300 now, but it is hard to imagine him succeeding with his extreme splits. I see him a future 4th outfielder as a platoon guy who can pinch run and come in as a defensive replacement. 

Our favorite midget, Alexia Amarista, continues his conquest of the PCL, now batting .296 

Not much else of note although some clubhouse reports suggest  that the annual club survey of the players revealed that over 82% feared being eaten by a mysterious man with the deceptive initials P.M. Some wonder he has and accomplice named A.M, but that has yet to be confirmed.

System Strengths:

1B: We have Cron, Calhoun, Navarro, Trumbo, and Morales. Plus we have Mcanulty so that counts as two! That is great organizational depth.

Middle Infield: Aybar and Kendrick are an above average duo, and with Jean Segura, Alexia Amarista, Darwin Perez, and Taylor Lindsey all  emerging as prospects we should be set up the middle

Weaknesses:

Starting Pitching: Losing Bedrosian to Tommy John hurt, and the failure of Trevor Reckling to regain his old form did as well. We currently have almost nothing exciting above rookie ball unless you think Matt Shoemaker is exciting.. That being said, Any system would be hurting having gradated Garrett Richards and Tyler Chatwood.