'07 Angelswin Prospect Hotlist, 15th Edition

1. Chris Pettit, OF, Class A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

Not a tough call here. Chris followed up his 5 for 5 performance with a 10-19 stretch that helped him run his season avg. to .351 with 15hrs, 59 rbi, 20 steals, and an ops of 1.019. As he was a bit old for his level of competition at Cedar Rapids, the real test will be if he can sustain this hot start at Rancho to be considered one of the organization’s top hitting prospects.
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2. Miguel Gonzalez, SP, Class AA Arkansas

Less than an hour before this was written, Miguel polished off a 3 hit complete game shutout lowering his ERA to a Texas league best 2.80. And to think he started the season as a reliever. The 23 year old righty has now surrendered only 5 earned runs in his last 35.0 innings pitched, pretty impressive for a guy that didn’t really seem to be on anyone’s radar until recently.
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3. Kasey Olenberger, SP, Class AAA Salt Lake Bees

Kasey is one of the unsung heroes of the Angels minor league system. At 29 years old he is way beyond being considered a true prospect yet his is having a very solid season in the hitting friendly PCL. Over his last two starts the Long Beach State product has gone 14 innings while giving up 10 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, and striking out 10. On the season he has thrown 122 innings (1^st in the PCL) and is 5^th in the league in ERA at 3.69. Although plagued by the long ball a bit he has shown good control with 83k’s to only 26bb.
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4. Nick Adenhardt, SP, Class AA Arkansas

It’s about time he pitched his way back on the list. Nick dominated Midland in his last start going 6 innings giving up 2 hits, 0 bb and striking out 5. It’s not like he’s been terrible but just a bit ‘un-adenhardt-like’. His season ERA of 3.33 is still very respectable, but his string of somewhat mediocre starts has likely been related to control issues as he had walked 24 in his last 51.2 innings prior to his last outing.

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5. Douglas Brandt, RP/SP, Class A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

Doug hasn’t missed a beat since being called up to Rancho posting an ERA of 2.70 in 10ip while striking out 14 and only walking 1. He’s been very good overall as a reliever as well as making several starts early in the season. Between the two levels, he has an ERA of 2.40 striking out 78 in 71.1 innings holding opposing batters to a .235 avg.
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6. Michael Anton, SP, Rookie League, AZL Angels

Mike has been very impressive to start his professional career. The 6’3” lefty had another great outing today striking out 6 in 5innings without giving up a run. On the young season he has 17k’s to only 3bb in 14ip and a microscopic ERA of 0.64. The 2007 12^th round pick is a product of the Virginia Military Institute.
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7. Jay Brossman, 3b, Short Season, Class A Orem

The 6’2” University of Utah product has started the season 40 for an even 100 leading the league in hits. He broke the career U of U hits record ending with a total of 307 over four years ending his tenure with the team hitting .359 as a four year varsity letterman. Drafted in the 36^th round by the halos, this 3b prospect hopes to be back in Utah playing for the bees sooner than later.
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8. Andrew Romine , SS, Short Season, Class A Orem

This 5^th round pick got a bit of a late start with the Owlz due to the CWS but he has made the most of his short time in the pioneer league. After going 0-5 in his first game as a pro, Andrew has subsequently hit in all 7 games since, going 12-31 (.387avg) in that stretch with 2hr and 10rbi. A fairly light hitting SS in college, word has it that this kid has some untapped power potential.
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9. Mark Trumbo, 1b, Low Class A Cedar Rapids Kernels

Hopefully, Mark has figured it out. He has a modest 6 game hit streak going 9-25 over that stretch to raise his season avg. to .283. He still has a long way to go in that he could be more patient and strike out a bit less, but this is a good sign after watching his avg. drop to .220 last year. He is still young at 21 years old and has the large 6’4” 220lb. frame that could produce big power in the future.

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10. Jeremy Haynes, SP, Low Class A Cedar Rapids Kernels

Jeremy has been very good over his last four outings going 23.1 innings allowing 15 hits, 3er, 4bb, while striking out 15. In any of his last ten starts, the 6’2” righty has not surrendered more than 2 earned runs posting a 1.78 era over that 50.2 inning stretch.

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Player to keep and eye on:

Tommy Mendoza, SP, Low Class A Cedar Rapids Kernels

The 19 year old righty is back on the mound for the Kernels which is good news in and of itself. He has shown some rust in his first couple of starts posting an ERA of over 10 but we will cut him some slack for a bit and let him find his form.

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On the outside looking: Jose Arredondo, Brad Coon, Jordan Renz, Anthony Ortega, Young-Il Jung, Chris Garcia, Matt Sweeney, Freddy Sandoval, Rich Thompson, Brok Butcher, Jordan Walden, Hank Conger, Robert Mosebach, PJ Phillips, David Herndon, Steven Marek, Trevor Bell, Hanley Statia, Sean Rodriguez, Brandon Wood, Chris Armstrong, Matt Brown, Warner Madrigal, Barrett Browning, Sean O’Sullivan, Gordon Gronkowski, and Ben Johnson

Love to hear what you think!