Angels Spring Training Update - Roster trimming begins

There haven’t been a whole lot of surprises in the guys the Angels have moved out of the big league camp. Spring training is about half way done, and some of the surprises may not come until closer to the start of the regular season.

Matt Thaiss

The Angels got a good look at him and many were impressed. Thaiss went 5 for 11 and had a .538 OBP before being reassigned to minor league camp for more development. Thais was playing college ball just one year ago so he has a little more work to do, and sending him down on March 9th also allowed him to start minor league camp with the rest of the guys.

Nate Smith

Seems like he was never really in the running for a 5th starter spot as he only started two games. In 4 IP, he struck out 5 and gave up 2 runs and only 1 walk. Back to Salt Lake he will go to continue getting in his regular starts.

Michael Hermosillo, David Fletcher, Sherman Johnson

All these guys were reassigned to minor league camp (unclear where they will all land yet). If you read Rahul’s article, you will know how great of a spring Fletcher was having. He showed off some incredible moves in the field and at the plate he went 9 for 27 with 3 SB and a .419 OBP.

Hermosillo also had a pretty good spring with a .286/.333/.643 line that was helped by a triple and a home run. Hermosillo was mostly a late inning replacement guy this spring and had 14 at bats in 14 games.

Johnson struggled and only hit .188 in 16 AB, not even drawing a single walk. He’ll go back to Salt Lake hoping to get something going with his bat which has always been a bit of a weak point for him.

Greg Mahle

Mahle’s trip to Spring Training was a bit like a nightmare. I had the unfortunate experience of watching him get hammered in Tempe back on March 6th. Mahle and his funky arm slots will have to work things out back in Salt Lake to start the season.

Daniel Wright

Wright had mixed results for the Angels last September, but one stat that carried over into spring from last September was his high BAA. Opposing hitters seem to love Wright and he had a .304 BAA this spring. Hopefully that number doesn’t get too ugly for him in the hitter-friendly PCL.

Drew Gagnon

Gagnon, who came over in the Jett Bandy trade from Milwaukee, had a good showing this spring. He threw 5.1 innings over 4 games and gave up only 3 hits, 1 walk, and zero runs. Gagnon had a .158 BAA an 0.75 WHIP.

That’s about it for now. Reports of guys being sent down should start coming in a bit more fast and furious over the next week.