Los Angeles Angels Prospect Report – 4/13/12

 

Salt Lake Bees – The Bees bounced back from a tough walk off loss, and won Friday night’s game 5-4. The game was in the hands of the bullpen all day due to Brad Mills being with the big club. David Pauley started the game and got the job done – 4 innings, 0 runs, 3 hits. Loek Van Mil and Ryan Brasier also turned in very good performances. Brasier, a 24 year old out of Witchita Falls, TX has thrown 4.2 innings this year, allowing just 1 hit and striking out 5 with 0 walks given up. If the Angels bullpen continues to struggle, Brasier is one of the guys who they could call on. On the other side of the ball, Trout and Calhoun once again led the charge. Trout went 1-3 with a walk and 2 ribbies, extending his hitting streak to 9 games. Consequently, #FreeMikeTrout is gaining popularity on Twitter. Calhoun had the same performance as Trout, 1-3 with a walk. All this success from the young Bees’ outfielders makes me wonder if an outfield of Trout, Bourjos, and Calhoun is ever possible for the Angels. Would a fly ball ever drop? Salt Lake is still deciding on a starter for tomorrow.

Arkansas Travelers – The Travs’ got the win 4-2 in a game that was dominated by pitching. Strikeout machine Ariel Pena lived up to his scouting report. Pena, the 22 year old righty out of Los Jovillos, Dominican Republic, went 6.2 innings surrendering 2 earned runs and striking out 7. The one downfall to Pena’s performance: 4 walks issued. If Pena can cut down on the number of walks allowed, there is no doubt in my mind that he would be one of the Angels very best prospects. His ERA on the year is now 2.31. Drew Taylor and Matt Oye finished of the game with 2.1 scoreless, hitless innings. Offensively, not much went on for the Travelers. The only extra base hit belonged to 26 year old outfielder/first baseman Roberto Lopez. Ground ball specialist Orangel Arenas is the starting pitcher for tomorrow.

Inland Empire 66ers – Rained out. Max Russell goes tomorrow.

Cedar Rapids Kernels – Cedar Rapids lost a closely fought game, 6-5, in which the two teams combined for 26 hits! Ryan Crowley, the 21 year old lefty was unimpressive, giving up 4 runs in 5 innings of work. Crowley’s fastball was topping out around 88 MPH. Reliever Jacob Negrete, a 21 year old out of Kingman, AZ, combined with Stephen Tromblee to toss 3.1 scoreless innings and keep the Kernels in the game. Last year in the AZL, Negrete walked just 4 batters while striking out 22 in 18.1 innings. At the plate, Kaleb Cowart continued his extremely hot start out of the gate. His 3-5 today with 3 RBIs raised his average to .394 and his OPS well above 1.000. Surprisingly, the powerful third baseman has already swiped 3 stolen bases this year. Cowart, who won’t turn 20 until June, is perhaps becoming the play that the Angels envisioned when they drafted him in the first round in the 2010 draft. “Toolsy” shortstop Wendell Soto added 2 hits and scored 2 runs in the Friday night game. The scrappy Soto is hitting .292 in the young season. Of note: Matt Scioscia threw out 2 runners and showed a promising squat. Tomorrow, Jairo Diaz will take the mound for Cedar Rapids.

Prospect of the day: Ariel Pena SP

Updates on Angels top 10 (according to AngelsWin):

1. Mike Trout (CF) (AAA) ….. 1-3, BB. Hitting .385/1.022.

2. Garrett Richards (RHP) (AAA) ….. 2.03 ERA in 2 starts. Will pitch again on the 15th.

3. Jean Segura (SS) (AA) ….. 0-3. Hitting .241

4. John Hellweg (RHP) (AA) ….. 2.70 ERA, having control issues. Starts again on the 17th.

5. C. J. Cron (1B) (A+) ….. PPD. Hitting .303, .899 OPS.

6. Taylor Lindsey (2B) (A+) ….. PPD. Hitting .179.

7. Matt Shoemaker (RHP) (AAA) ….. 3.97 ERA in 2 starts. Will pitch again on the 16th.

8. Luis Jimenez (3B) (AAA) ….. Day off. Hitting .294.

9. Kole Calhoun (OF) (AAA) ….. 1-3, BB. Hitting .306/.949

10. Kaleb Cowart (3B) (A) ….. 3-5 with 3 RBI. Hitting .394.