Cal Towey – Sleeper Prospect?

The Angels have a lot of prospects.  Not necessarily good ones, but there are hundreds of names to sort through.  I’ve only just begun gathering my list for a potential Top 30 prospects this upcoming offseason and already, we have 60-70 prospects listed.  So understandably, it’s easy for prospects to get lost int he shuffle.  Cal Towey was one of those prospects.  Once our 24th ranked prospect, Towey has always been a bit old for each level he’s at.  So it’s literally perform or retire from him.  But the thing is, he just keeps performing.

Throughout his minor league career, Towey’s numbers have always been just good enough for you to keep an eye on, while not good enough to vault him up any top prospect lists.  His climb up the minor league ladder has been consistent, and methodical.  In a world full of kids shooting up the rankings and falling down, Towey has remained consistent.  But last year in AA, I figured his climb was over.  He was playing the OF, and we had too many gifted outfielders ahead of him.  He was 25, not young enough to be a true prospect anymore, but not far enough along to be in the big leagues.  He posted a poor batting average with very little power.  Quite frankly, I’m surprised he lived to see the light of another day as part of the Angels.

But here we are in 2016 and because of a plethora of injuries, suddenly there is no sure thing at 3B or LF, the two spots that Towey plays.  As for Towey himself, he came out of the gates swinging like his career depended on it (and it did).  Through his first 57 games in AA this year, Towey hit .292/.402 with 11 DB 5 triples 4 HR and 6 SB.  That’s across the board production.  What’s more, he’s received a promotion to AAA, where through his first four games he’s hitting .333/.429.

Now I’m not saying Towey is suddenly the hot commodity and we all need to go grab him in our keeper leagues.  But with Hinshaw and Way both still in AA, Kubitza off the roster, Cowart not finding any sort of groove in the majors, Ortega struggling at the plate, Marte’s switching positions and Cunningham and Robinson serve as glorified defensive replacements, Cal Towey suddenly finds himself right in the mix of potentially being on the major league roster and playing LF if he continues to hit.

But therein lies his advantage.  Tower can hit. He’s always hit.  He doesn’t have one standout tool.  Like Kole Calhoun when he was a prospect, Towey has a collection of average or better tools and the end result is a very good player.  So if Marte can’t handle himself in LF, and Cunningham and Peterson aren’t hitting, and the organization chooses not to go with Choi, it seems Towey could squeeze himself in there.  And all he has to do is hit.  Kind of simple, isn’t it.