Cam Bedrosian tore up the minors in 2014 to become one of the best relief prospects in all of baseball. However, he struggled when called up to the majors. Can he make the leap this year?
Cam Bedrosian
10 words or less: Throws hard, nice slider, but can it translate?
Position: RP Born: 10/2/1991
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 6’0″ Weight: 205
2014 Rank: unranked
2014 Season Stats
[table id=61 /]
PITCHING
Fastball – A. Bedrosian’s fastball sits 94-96 MPH with little effort and when he’s pumped he can dial it up higher than that. But as we learned last year, hard fastballs that aren’t located get crushed in the majors. Those are the best hitters in the world, and the fastball is their favorite pitch to hit. It also happens to be Cam’s favorite pitch to throw. The ball has some giddyup to it, making it look like it actually jumps or rising, but these this more of a trick of the eye. Cam’s fastball gets him in trouble when he leaves it up. But if he can keep it down in the zone, and keep hitters form keying on it, he’ll be golden.
Off-speed Pitches – B+. We didn’t see much of the cutter from Bedrosian in the major leagues, but I’ve seen him use it in the minors and it can be a weapon. However, his slider is his best pitch. It’s a marquee offering, one that looks like it’s a juicy fastball onto the bottom drops out of it. But the biggest thing is Cam finding a consistent release for both of these pitches. Once he has that, he’ll be able to keep them in the zone and keep the hitters guessing.
Control – C. Cam Bedrosian really struggled with keeping the ball in the strike zone in the majors and Triple-A last season, but in Double-A, he had a rather solid 2.6 BB/9. Since this is here the majority of his work took place, I’m focusing on the work in Arkansas more. Still, his unsightly BB/9 in Triple-A and the majors did highlight precisely what will be Cam’s biggest obstacle to overcome. If he can throw strikes, he can be elite. But higher level hitters will force him to do so before swinging.
Command – F. Cam’s command wasn’t there at all in the majors or in the minors. He just kept leaving the ball up. Even in Double-A, his command was only decent, but his power stuff was enough to dominate that competition. Not only does Cam need to throw strikes to be successful, he needs to do it with his off-speed pitches and keep his fastball low in the zone. Guaranteed, it’s going to be hit if he leaves it up, regardless of how hard he throws.
Mechanics – C. As a starter, they were awful, but as a reliever, there’s nothing wrong with how Cam brings it to the plate. Sure, it’s high energy, high impact and sometimes a little wild, but that’s OK if you’re only going one inning at a time.
OVERALL
Performance – B+. At age 22, Cam Bedrosian showed that he’s one of the filthiest relievers in the minor leagues. His numbers resembled a video game. It was ridiculous. In the Cal League, 5.2 IP, 1 hit 0 ER 15 K’s. In AA Arkansas 32 IP 57 K’s with a 1.11 ERA. Yeah, he can be that good. If those numbers translated to the majors, it’d be another issue entirely. But as it stands, Cam still has a little more refining left to do.
Projection – B+. Not only can Cam be a closer someday, he can be one of the best relievers in baseball. He has the potential to be that dominant. But right now, with control problems, he isn’t much better than Kevin Jepsen (in any other year than last year). But I have faith that Cam will iron those out in time and eventually emerge as an elite closer.
Estimated Time of Arrival – 2015. I anticipate he’ll start the year in the minors, but should be up pretty frequently throughout the year. It’s just a matter of when he puts it all together.
Grade as a Prospect – B. There are relievers, and then there are relievers that have a 16+ K/9 like Cam does.
2014 in Review*
Cam Bedrosian has had quite the career path. He was drafted in 2010. Missed 2011 with Tommy John surgery. Came back in 2012 and was just awful as a starting pitcher. He converted to relief in 2013 and showed some promise. In 2014, he turned into a relief prospect phenom.
The Angels started him in Advanced-A Inland Empire, but he didn’t stick their long after he fanned 15 of the 20 batters he faced. Even Craig Kimbrel thinks that is ridiculous. Upon making the jump to Double-A, where he spent the most time last season, Bedrock Jr. continued to dominate by striking out 50% of the batters he faced. As you might expect, that earned him a promotion to The Show.
That’s where Cam finally hit a wall. He missed bats, but not nearly at the same rate he did in the minors. A lot of those whiffs turned into walks as the patient professional hitters quickly realized that Bedrosian didn’t really have a good idea where his fastball was going. Bedrosian was labeled as the Angels closer of the future, but that early call up showed us all that “the future” probably isn’t any time in 2014.
Cam returned to the minors to work on his game more and had a few more cups of coffee in the majors when the Halos needed depth, but he clearly wasn’t being fast tracked into a prominent role anymore. The good news though is that when Bedrosian got more regular work in late-August and September, he showed real signs of improvement, walking just five batters in 12.1 innings. He was still more hittable than expected, but the progress he made after his earlier extended stint in the majors was quite evident.
Looking Ahead*
Despite those 2014 struggles in the big leagues, Cam Bedrosian remains the mythical “closer of the future” in Anaheim. That still means though that he isn’t a big part of their present plans. He’ll be given a chance in spring training to earn the final spot in the Angels bullpen, but it is more likely that role will go to a swingman type while Bedrosian remains in Triple-A getting consistent work in high leverage situations.
Once injuries and ineffectiveness strike, Bedrock Jr. will be on the short list for promotion. Once that happens, he should get a lot of attention to see if he can be ready to take over as closer in 2016 since Huston Street is in a contract year. That pressure for him to succeed might change if Street gets a contract extension, but until then, the Angels are going to want to see when exactly “the future” is going to be the present for Cam.
*As we do every year, the scouting reports and grades are provided by Scotty Allen while Garrett Wilson provides the 2014 in Review and Looking Ahead sections.
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