Some possible September call-ups for the Angels that we can get (mildly) excited about

Hey, can you believe it’s almost September? We can finally start to see the finish line, a welcomed end to a trying season of Halos baseball, but with September comes expanded rosters, and with expanded rosters comes the opportunity for teams to give some vets a break and take a good on-field look at a handful of their top prospects.

Therein lies the rub with assessing the Angels’ September call-up situation: it sort of loses it’s allure once you remember that we don’t exactly have a top prospect or two to kick the tires on. Still, the Angels might give a shot to a few guys that are good enough to be on the cusp of joining the team.

So, who might we get a look at in the next few weeks?

Nate Smith: This is one of the more obvious ones, only because they need to get a good idea of who can battle for a rotation spot in what should be a thin 2017 season. He’s got an 8-8 record this year in SLC, a 4.62 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Not exactly numbers that’ll blow you away, but he’s consistently been ranked as one of the Halos’ top prospects. They are already trying to figure out what to do with the rotation next year, so might they give Smith a call-up soon?

Alex Meyer: Meyer was the important piece of the Santiago/Nolasco trade, although he’d been nursing an injury at the time. Since then, he’s done rehab in Arizona and should get a start or two with the Bees in the next week or two. Mike Scioscia has already said they’d like to give him some starts in September, so this is a pretty sure thing call-up. Like Nate Smith, Meyer is one of the guys they seem to already be tabbing for a starting rotation gig in 2017. September starts will give them an even better idea of what they have, or don’t have, in Meyer.

Sherman Johnson: We love us some Sherman Johnson around these parts, and were all pretty stoked when he made the move up the ladder from Arkansas to Salt Lake City. His numbers have dropped at the AAA level, perhaps a sign that he’s still developing, and they’re really nowhere near good enough to justify a call-up, so perhaps this is just some wishful thinking on my part. If he hadn’t been so bad at the plate recently, there could be some momentum, especially when you consider that the team seems to have moved on from Johnny Giavotella as the 2B solution. The fanboy in me is shouting “call him up!” though, but the rationale just isn’t there. Dang it.

Eduardo Paredes: Paredes is only 21, but he’s been a monster in the minors, going from low-A to high-A in 2015, and then making the jump from high-A to AA in 2016. I’ve routinely seen scouts praise the guy on Twitter, and have read about his deadly pitching arsenal that seems to be flying under a bunch of people’s radars. Sounds like a legit bullpen piece of the future, and the Angels’ bullpen is currently in shambles. Do they give the youngster a shot at some MLB innings? Probably not...YET. But it also wouldn’t surprise me if they did.

Other possibilities:

Keynan Middleton can throw 102 MPH...just call this dude up, Angels, have him come out of the bullpen, and give me some high heat entertainment, if only for the last couple weeks of the season. Troy Scribner has been impressing at SLC lately, as noted by Jessica Deline in some of her Halos Heaven farm reports lately...has he impressed enough to get a September call-up?

The tough part of all this call-up speculation is that there are really no everyday position players on the horizon that we can get hyped about. All of those guys are in Burlington right now, more or less, so something to look forward to in September of 2018 maybe. As for now, there are some intriguing arms, and not a whole lot else.

So...any realistic (or unrealistic, don’t matter) September call-ups you’re interested in seeing? It’s slim pickings, I know, but we’ve only got so much to look forward to in this season. Gotta get it while the gettin’ is good.