The major league draft was just two weeks ago today, but many of the players the Angels drafted are already seeing action with the Pioneer League Orem Owlz, the Rookie-ball affiliate of the Angels.
Third round pick Keynan Middleton, 19, started on Sunday and struck out three in two innings. He did give up three runs, including a home run to the first batter he faced in action as a pro, but let's chalk that up to butterflies and hope that what the Angels scouts saw translates to better performance under the tutelage of the Angels organization.
Sixth rounder Harrison Cooney and sixteenth rounder Ryan Etsell have each tossed a scoreless inning while tenth rounder Grant Gordon has thrown two innings over two games.
On the batting side of things, 34th round-pick Eric Aguilera, a lefthanded outfielder out of Illinois Stae homered in his first professional baseball AB... watch it here
Awesome footage of that mom taking her kid to the potty right as the ball is sailing toward the wall, right?
SS Angel Rosa has been a defensive standout had four hits in twelve ABs for the Owlz, with two doubles and two RBI over three games. The team will play its fifth game of the season tonight at its home park named Home of the Owlz, where a front row seat costs ten bucks.
Fourteenth Round pick Riley Good, an outfielder, signed on June 14 and ten days later he already has five total bases in his professional baseball career.
Cambric Moye, a 21-year-old Catcher out of the University of North Carolina Greensboro, was picked in the 30th round less than two weeks ago, signed a week ago Saturday and already has his first professional baseball home run.
And of course no coverage of the Owlz is complete without coverage of the man who already saved the Angels $13 million - Exicardo Cayones, a 22-year-old Venezuelan who has three hits in eight ABs over two games for the team. You may recall that he was the return on the Vernon Wells deal from the Yankees!
The Angels strategy with their pitching-heavy 2013 draft is going to be to give all of their arms an inning or two every few days and see who shakes out as worth keeping into next season.