AngelsWin.com Top 30 Prospects: #18 Troy Montgomery

Prospect: Troy Montgomery - Rank: 18

2015/16: UR                         Position(s): Outfielder

Level: Class A Ball              Age: Entering Age 22 season in 2017.

Height: 5'10”                       Weight: 185 lb.

Present -  Future 

Hitting Ability: 40 - 50

Power: 45 - 50

Base Running: 65 - 65

Patience: 55 - 60

Fielding: 60 - 60

Range: 60 - 60

Arm: 60 - 60

Overall: 45 - 60

Floor: AAA Depth. 

Ceiling: Starting outfielder and leadoff hitter in the major leagues.  

Likely Outcome: Dynamic 4th outfielder 

Summary: Montgomery is one of my favorite types of players to get drafted.  The type that don't have any hype, and don't come with the over-used "5-tool" moniker.  Just really good ball players, that do just about everything average or better on a baseball diamond.  The type that perform well at a big-time college, but fall to the 8th round of a draft because they're only 5'10" tall.  The type that play a game with such intensity, that others can't help but look up to this player.  Just good old fashioned, blue-collar hard work and the will to win.  

If you haven't caught on, I just described Kole Calhoun.  In fact, Troy even looks a bit like Kole Calhoun out there, minus the fiery red hair, and slightly less muscular.  Same left-handedness, similar skill-set, athleticism, same passion and competitive spirit. 

That's what we'll see if everything breaks right for Troy Montgomery, a Kole Calhoun type of regular.  It's no wonder the Reds asked for Montgomery in return when they were discussing trading Brandon Phillips to the Angels.  At Ohio State, Montgomery logged more BB than K, stole 56 bases between his junior and senior season, owned an OBP well north of .400, played in competitive scouting leagues during the offseason and performed spectacularly, and to top it off, was an elite defender. 

It still makes me shake my head that guys like this last until the middle rounds of the draft when at bare minimum, you have yourself a useful depth piece between AAA and the majors.  Once drafted by the Angels, Montgomery torched Orem and the Pioneer League in general, and was promoted to Burlington, where he was quite solid, if not "pretty good".

From the scouting side of things, Troy is a left handed hitter with more pop than the numbers show. Sure, he's a speedy leadoff hitter that reaches base and can hit for average, but Troy swings hard, yet under control.  There's "plus" bat speed and an advanced feel at the plate.  Every once in a while he'll swing out of his shoes, but not too often.  Defensively, Montgomery can cover a ton of ground in CF and has a rocket for an arm, though the Angels have been using him in the corner outfield to start.

What to expect next season: Montgomery should head to Advanced A Ball at Inland Empire next season, and I'm guessing he'll put up the gaudy HR/SB numbers (at least on the road) that will really open the eyes of more casual fans, and thus his ranking as a prospect will climb.  Personally, I'll be watching to see how much contact Troy makes, if he's using the whole field, and continues to show patience as many patient hitters don't do in the Cal League environment.  With Troy, there is the off-chance the Cal League is too easy and he'll be bumped up to AA for the season, but I wouldn't count on it. Even Kole Calhoun was kept at Inland Empire for a full year. 

Estimated Time of Arrival: Mid 2019, Troy's age 24 season.

Grade as a prospect: C+: Projects to be a borderline MLB starter.

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Angelswin.com 2017 Season Primer Part XII: Center Field

By Robert Cunningham, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer - 

Author’s Note: If you missed the previous installments you can find Part I here, Part II here, Part III here, Part IV here, Part V here, Part VI here, Part VII here, Part VIII here, Part IX here, Part X here, and Part XI here.

If you have come here today to read about who will play center field for the Angels in 2017 I’ll save you the suspense: MIKE TROUT! (To be frank you should know this already by the way)

Also, rather than bore you with a 10,000 word essay on how freaking awesome our Hall of Fame center fielder is I’d like to borrow the words of Fred R. Barnard who once said, “A picture is worth ten thousand words.”

Enjoy.

Mike’s First Career Hit

Trout’s First Career Home Run

Mike’s First Career Grand Slam Off Of Detroit’s Rick Porcello

Trout’s 2nd Career Grand Slam Off Of A Wicked Chris Sale Changeup

Mike’s 3rd Career Grand Slam Off Of The Rangers Spencer Patton

Trout’s 4th Career Grand Slam Off Of The Twins A.J. Achter

Perhaps You Prefer Mike Trout Taking Someone Else’s Grand Slam Away From Them?

Maybe You Like To Drive Home Safely To Get Away From Those Scumbag Red Sox Fans?

Perchance You Favor Walk Offs?

Remember When Mike Trout Played Left Field?

Mike Trout Setting the Mike Trout Standard Of Defense

Not Only Can Mike Glide, He Can Slide

Trout, King Of Center Field, Robs A Prince

Mike Can Even Steal A Home Run From Jesus

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AngelsWin.com Top 30 Prospects: #19 Eduardo Paredes

Prospect: Eduardo Paredes           Rank: 19

2015/16: 18                        Position(s): Right Handed Pitcher  

Level: AA                          Age: Entering Age 22 season in 2017.

Height: 6’1”                       Weight: 190 lb.

   Present - Future

Fastball         65  65   

Curve            50  60   

Change         50  50  

Mechanics    60  60   

Command    55  60

Control         70  70

Overall         55  65

Floor: Middle Reliever in the Major Leagues  

Ceiling: A closer in the Major Leagues.    

Likely Outcome: A 7th-8th-9th inning option, doesn't matter.

Summary: It's a shame we don't rank relievers as high on prospect lists, otherwise Paredes would be getting a lot more notoriety among fans.  Everywhere Eduardo has gone, he's succeeded, and he's still very young.  When the Angels signed Eduardo as a 17 year old, he was completely and utterly dominant in the Dominican Summer League.  For reasons unknown, the Angels decided it would be a good idea to have Paredes repeat the DSL as an 18 year old, which he did and was again dominant. The Angels then brought him stateside as a 19 year old and put him in the hitter paradise that is Orem in the Pioneer League.  No matter, Paredes dispatched them with no problem at all. In fact, he finished with a 1.33 ERA and 31 K's in one 20 innings.  That's how easy Orem was for Eduardo.  

You'd really think by now the Angels would start aggressively promoting Paredes, but still they're going a level a year, and so for most of the next season, Eduardo Paredes fools hitters in A Ball to the tune of a 1.77 ERA with a 12.6 K/9 and an even more impressive 1.7 BB/9.  The Angels decide it might be a good idea to promote Paredes after he's completely fatigued from an unusually large workload in A Ball and he gets to the Cal League and is simply "OK" for the first time in his career.  

The Angels send him back to Inland Empire to start 2016 and Paredes, armed with a fresh arm sits batters down with no issues, so he is promoted to AA, as a 21 year old, which is pretty remarkable. While in Arkansas, we see a strange thing happen.  Parades' ERA remains a very solid 3.35, but for the first time in his career, he isn't striking out as many batters, which suggests that after five years of the Angels playing it conservative, they seem to have finally found a level in which Eduardo can grow by facing competition that challenges him.  It's about time. 

From the scouting side of things, Paredes attacked hitters with a low three-quarters, borderline sidearm release.  He still uses his legs to generate plenty of momentum going forward, and there doesn't appear to be too much stress put on his shoulders or elbow.  Eduardo uses two different fastballs.  The first is a 4-seam fastball that sits 95-97 with cut action, the second is a 2-seam fastball that sits 92-94 with sinking action.  Both are regarded as "plus" pitches.  Parades also throws a curve that he keeps low in the zone.  It isn't a "plus" pitch, but it does serve as a consistent change of pace pitch.  Finally, Eduardo has been experimenting with a change up the past couple seasons that has improved to the point where he can use it. 

Paredes is a guy that has a few different ways to get a hitter out.  The heat will generate lots of swings and misses, but the curve and change up have created quite the uncomfortable at bat for both lefties and righties. 

What to expect next season: Eduardo should head to AAA after being protected on the Angels 40-man roster this offseason.  But, with the way the Angels have handled Paredes so far in his career, it wouldn't be surprising to see him back in AA again, even after showing that he should be promoted.  If the Angels bullpen doesn't round into form, and if they find themselves contending for a playoff spot, we should see Paredes in Anaheim this season.  If things go south quickly, it's likely the Angels will delay Paredes' arrival until 2018 so as to gain an additional year of control. 

Estimated Time of Arrival: Middle of 2017, Paredes' age 22 season. 

Grade as a prospect: C+ 

Grades are given from the 20-80 scouting scale.  20-being non-existent ability, 80-being the best I’ve ever seen.  MLB average is 50.

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AngelsWin.com Top 30 Prospects: #20 Hutton Moyer

Prospect: Hutton Moyer - Rank: 20

2015/16: UR                        Position(s): Utility Infielder

Level: Advanced A Ball      Age: Entering Age 24 season in 2017.

Height: 6'1”                         Weight: 185 lb.

Present -  Future 

Hitting Ability: 45 - 50

Power: 45 - 50

Base Running: 50 - 50

Patience: 40 - 40

Fielding: 50 - 50

Range: 50 - 59

Arm: 50 - 50

Overall: 45 - 50

Floor: AAA Depth. 

Ceiling: Starting second baseman in the major leagues.  

Likely Outcome: Offensive-minded utility infielder. 

Summary: Moyer had a pretty good year.  That's me putting it in the simplest terms possible.  To elaborate, Moyer proved a lot of doubters wrong/  He still has a way to go, but the foundation is set for justified future promotions.  When Moyer was selected in the 7th round by the Angels out of Pepperdine, I was immediately intrigued, but surprised. For starters, Moyer wasn't that great at Pepperdine.  It took until his final year there before we saw any sort of  promising tools, that being his power, begin to manifest. So yeah, there was a degree of suspicion that perhaps Moyer was selected as a bit of a hat tip to his father, Jamie Moyer, who spent 23 years pitching in the big leagues.  

This notion was only further supported by Moyer's poor showing at Orem last year after being drafted. But a guy I talked to kept saying Moyer has some power, that I'll be surprised.  And he was right.

Hutton hit 33 doubles 17 home runs and stole 13 bases between two levels of A Ball this year.  As a middle infielder, that's pretty awesome.  His .276/.341 batting line isn't too shabby either.   What's even more impressive is Moyer's performance in the Cal League.  Most of the extra base hits came at home, at Inland Empire, the only pitcher friendly venue in the California League.  This only serves as more proof that the power Moyer displayed is real.  More accurately, Moyer's pull power is real. When his timing is down and he turns on a pitch, it can fly a very long way. 

But speaking of timing, here's where my skepticism creeps right back into the picture.  It's Moyer's approach at the plate.  There are a ton of moving parts.  Pre-pitch, his hands are all over the place. While the pitcher is mid-delivery, we see Hutton's hands drop down to his waste before returning to shoulder height.  While this is happening, we see a very high leg kick and then a swing.  I'm certainly not opposed to leg kicks, but when you see Moyer's you realize his timing mechanism is about as complicated as the come.  In fact, it's likely a big reason why Moyer struck out 143 times in only 124 games!  This is something the Angels will need to iron out before Moyer reaches AA and AAA next season, because more advanced pitchers will be better prepared to exploit these timing and contact issues.  The trick here will be to keep his timing, while eliminating the movement and still maintaining the power he had before.  Not an easy thing to do.

Defensively, Moyer can be seen at second, third and shortstop. At second base, he's a plus fielder, showing the range, arm, footwork and instincts of a truly impressive defensive asset.  When he moves over to third base, we see a lot more of an unsteady approach.  It seems like Hutton isn't sure of the path the ball is taking or how much time he has to throw it to first base, or what to do with his feet.  At shortstop, Moyer is certainly better than he is at third base, but so much of this seems based purely off of Hutton's athleticism and not his actual familiarity with the position.  Undoubtedly, Moyer will need to improve at third base if he wants to be a utility infielder in the major leagues, but if his bat continues to produce the way it did last year, then Hutton may not have to worry about it so much.  Most of his playing time should come at second base, where he is clearly comfortable.       

What to expect next season: Moyer will be on the move to AA Mobile.  This is where we separate the prospects you dream on versus the prospects you can actually count on.  Success at the AA level is much more transferrable to the major leagues than anything in  A ball or Advanced A.  It's the biggest jump in the minors.  I also expect Hutton to be able to settle in second base, seeing as he'll have more gifted defenders around him to play shortstop and third base.  If Moyer cuts down on the stirekoputs and continues to hit for power, I'd be looking at a possible starting second baseman in the majors.  

Estimated Time of Arrival: Late 2019, Moyer's age 26 season.

Grade as a prospect: C+: Projects to be a reserve infielder.

Check out our interview with Hutton Moyer conducted over the summer of 2016.

Hutton Moyer Interview August 29 2016 from AngelsWin.com on Vimeo.

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Angelswin.com 2017 Season Primer Part XI: Left Field

By Robert Cunningham, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer - 

Author’s Note: If you missed the previous installments you can find Part I here, Part II here, Part III here, Part IV here, Part V here, Part VI here, Part VII here, Part VIII here, Part IX here, and Part X here.

Billy Eppler, just like his predecessor, struck early in the offseason this November, acquiring the Angels left field solution for 2017 by trading for OF Cameron Maybin from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for RHR Victor Alcantara.

Initially a lot of fans were lukewarm to the deal and not particularly dazzled by the pickup but hindsight being 20/20 it may prove to be a pretty savvy move by our new GM. Let me explain why.

First of all, per Jeff Fletcher’s initial report on the trade, Maybin said that Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, in 2015, helped him adjust his mechanics and, in Maybin’s words, “… he pretty much changed my career”.

Perhaps more importantly you can see that change in Cameron’s batted ball profile:

Maybin’s overall fly ball percentage has reduced significantly, particularly against RHP. In 2015 and 2016 it was 6.3% and 8.1% lower than his career average. Just as importantly a lot of that reduction has been siphoned off into this line drive and ground ball percentages resulting in a higher batting average on balls in play (BABIP) which is what you would expect to see when you hit more line drives.

Essentially it appears that Cameron may have adjusted his swing plane slightly and in his more recent swings his back leg appears to bend a bit more and he does not seem quite as upright and stiff when making contact compared to earlier in his career (the author is not an expert in swing mechanics!).

No matter what the change is, this improvement in his batted ball profile is what you would like to see in a good leadoff hitter. Maybin has the ability to spray the ball to all fields (which he has always been pretty good at), steals bases at an efficient rate, runs the bases well, and puts pressure on the opponent’s defense.

Maybin is a center fielder by trade but for the Angels he will man left field in the 2017 season and act as an injury reserve if Trout or Calhoun hit the disabled list for any reason. He should provide plus defense in left field to what is quite likely the best overall outfield in all of baseball.

Team defense has been a primary goal for Billy Eppler and he has done a really great job focusing on it this offseason. High quality defense has the ancillary effect of reducing overall innings pitched and total pitch counts because more balls in play are converted to outs so this has an important side effect for the team as a whole and for a rotation and bullpen that will be challenged to pump out close to 1,400 total innings across a full MLB season.

It seems very likely to the author that the Angels will employ Cameron in the leadoff spot, particularly against RHP, for the 2017 season with Escobar hitting in the 2-hole which should create a really dynamic 1-2 punch at the top of the order.

If Maybin can manage at least a .340 OBP and Yunel, hitting behind him, can match his career .351 OBP, they will provide a lot of RBI opportunities to Mike Trout hitting out of the 3-hole. This has goodness written all over it and if Cameron continues to perform this offense could be even more productive than it was last year.

On the off chance Cameron is injured the Angels recently signed OF Ben Revere to a 1-year deal. Revere should prove to be a capable reserve 4th OF to spell the regulars on their days off and should be a dynamic pinch runner and hitter off of the bench. It is also possible that Ben could enter a platoon with Maybin if Cameron regresses/reverts to his pre-2015 numbers. We will talk more about Revere in the Bench section of the Primer.

This trade has a lot of potential if you really believe in Maybin’s revamped mechanics -- and it is clear that something did change in his batted ball profile -- but the question will be whether or not it is a sustainable one.

If it is viable, watch out because Cameron could quickly become a new fan favorite in very short order.

MAYBINVILLE Claude?

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AngelsWin.com Top 30 Prospects: #21 Brennon Lund

Prospect: Brennon Lund - Rank: 21

2015/16: UR                   Position(s): Outfield

Level: A Ball                  Age: Entering Age 22 season in 2017.

Height: 5'11”                  Weight: 185 lb.

Present -  Future 

Hitting Ability: 50 - 55

Power: 30 - 40

Base Running: 60 - 60

Patience: 50 - 50

Fielding: 50 - 50

Range: 55 - 55

Arm: 45 - 45

Overall: 45 - 50

Floor: AAA Depth. 

Ceiling: Borderline starting outfielder.  

Likely Outcome: 4th/5th outfielder.

Summary: Brennon Lund is a case study in when do the numbers become legitimate? From a tools standpoint, he shouldn't be THAT good.  He should be decent, but not team leader type of good.  He's smaller in stature in terms of professional athletes, he doesn't have any power, there's some speed but not enough to be a base stealing threat at the highest level.  He's a good defender, but not so good that you'd consider him a defensive replacement that will give you anything but decent performance.  

When we take all of that into account, Lund is just minor league depth.   Except for the simple fact that he just keeps hitting.  His freshman year at BYU, he hit .303.  Not bad, especially considering it was his first year of college ball. His sophomore year, we see a modest jump up to .308, again, pretty good.  Then in his junior season, Lund just exploded, hitting .387 with career highs in every offensive category.  The Angels picked him up in the 11th round, which worked out in their favor.  Apparently other teams were scared off because he's mormon, and kids that are mormon and his age tend to wear ties, ride bicycles and knock on doors.  But Lund made it clear to the Angels that he doesn't intend to make a mission trip. 

Just breaking down Lund's swing, we see extremely simple mechanics.  His hands remain pretty close to the chest, he doesn't have a big load which can elongate his swing.  In fact, Lund has barely any load mechanism at all.  It's simple.  Hands fly through the zone, barrel of the bat to the ball, finish with hands high to ensure driving through the ball and not to the ball.  Lund uses the whole field, but being left-handed, occasionally he'll drop the barrel of the bat on a low and inside pitch and get himself a round-tripper.

Lund's first stop after signing with the Angels was the offensive paradise which is Orem in the Pioneer League, where he hit .397.  That's over 18 games, which is a bit of a small sample zine, but still, .397, this kid was crushing the competition, even against his fellow collegiate athletes.  Then as a sort of mercy to everyone else, Lund was sent to Burlington.  His performance against competition quite a bit older and more experienced than him led to Lund's numbers dropping to a modest .271/.320, but it still came with 9 doubles and 8 stolen bases in just 45 games.  Extrapolated across a full season, and without any improvement whatsoever (which is silly because of course Lund would improve, he was just drafted), Lund would've hit 27 doubles and stole 24 bases on the season.  Again, just solid numbers, especially for a kid that's young and inexperienced for his league.

So this leads to the logical question, that if Lund continues to hit so well, when do the numbers become legitimate?   When do we just say, he's a good hitter.  Good hitters are in the majors.   And that in a nut shell is exactly why Lund is ranked #21 on our list.  

What to expect next season: Lund will almost assuredly find himself at Inland Empire next season. Since he isn't a power hitter, the environment really shouldn't have much of a positive effect on his overall performance.  I expect Lund should post numbers rather similar to Bo Way.  At Inland Empire he hit .277/.349 with 27 stolen bases.

Estimated Time of Arrival: Late 2020, Lund's age 25 season

Grade as a prospect: C: Projects to be a reserve outfielder.

Grades are given from the 20-80 scouting scale.  20-being non-existent ability, 80-being the best I’ve ever seen.  MLB average is 50.

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AngelsWin.com Top 30 Prospects: #22 Brooks Pounders

Prospect: Brooks Pounders Rank: 22

2015/16: UR                      Position(s): Right Handed Pitcher

Level: AAA                      Age: Entering Age 26 season in 2017.

Height: 6’5”                       Weight: 265 lb.

Present - Future

Fastball         55 55

Curve 50 50

Change 60 65

Mechanics 60 60

Command    45 60

Control         55 55

Overall         50 55

Floor: Swing Starter or bullpen depth. Ceiling: A mid-rotation, workhorse starter.

Likely Outcome: A back-end starter, or swing starter.

Summary: Pounders may end up being quite the steal for Angels GM Billy Eppler, a man known to have an eye for buying low.  The Angels traded Top 30 Prospect Jared Ruxer to Kansas City for Brooks Pounders early on in the offseason, and so far, it looks like a very interesting swap.  In Ruxer, the Angels dealt a pitcher with mid rotation upside (or better) that has been bit by the injury bug thus far in his career (very similar profile to former Angel prospect Michael Clevinger who was traded to Cleveland when his value was low after injury).  Ruxer still has a way to go before ever reaching the majors, so the Angels traded him for more of a sure thing in Pounders.  Pounders has shifted between the bullpen and rotation in his career, and always seems to be a guy that's overlooked, which isn't an easy thing to do considering his size and draft position (2nd round).  It's likely that Pounders' weight is precisely the reason why he gets overlooked by many scouts.  They have this idea of an ideal pitcher's body being tall, lean, flexible, like a quarterback in football.  But when a player comes in that might be bigger or smaller than that, they can be met with skepticism.  Pounders mechanics have always been clean, and he comes downhill hard on his delivery, which gives the illusion of a ball "jumping" on a batter.  Because of his hight, there is a bit of sink or downhill motion to his pitches which can make Pounders a ground-ball specialist in the future. 

As far as arsenal, Brooks throws a heavy fastball at 92-93, a pretty decent slider in the low-80's and a "plus" changeup in the mid 80's.  To give you an idea of what the Angels managed to land her win Pounders, consider that in 2015, across 8 starts in AA he pitched to a sparkling 2.19 ERA, which the peripheral numbers seem to support.  That Fall, he went to the heralded Arizona Fall League, and pitched three consecutive scoreless outings before being shut down for the Winter.  Last season in AAA, posted a 3.14 ERA in the Pacific Coast League, logging 90 strikeouts across only 80 innings, working as a spot starter and piggy-necking other starters, so as to limit his innings.  His brief foray into the major leagues didn't go well, but if nothing else, we can say that Pounds can strike batters out.

And so we have a very good prospect on our hands, that is major league ready.  He won't project to be much more than he is now, and that's ok because right now, Pounders is already good.  

What to expect next season: Pounders will enter Spring Training in open competition for the 5th starter and long reliever spot along with Jesse Chavez, Alex Meyer, Nate Smith, Manny Banuelos, Chris O'Grady, Vicente Campos and more.  Naturally, only tow of these guys are likely to open the season with the Angels, so Pounders is going to need to be incredibly impressive to leapfrog Chavez and Meyer on the depth chart.  The likeliest outcome here is that Pounders goes to AAA, where he'll again serve as a piggy-back starter or swingman along with Chris O'Grady.  Pounders' previous success in AAA probably puts him first in line for a promotion, though admittedly, he's going to have some very talented pitchers around him in AAA, so it could go any direction.  Inevitably, because Eppler likes to keep his arms fresh, Pounders will be part of a carousel of pitchers that log a lot of miles between Salt Lake and Anaheim.  But as it goes with the rest of those pitchers, all Pounders has to do is impress in his time in Anaheim, and Eppler will be forced to keep him around.  

Estimated Time of Arrival: Middle of 2017, Pounders' age 26 season. 

Grade as a prospect: C+ 

Grades are given from the 20-80 scouting scale.  20-being non-existent ability, 80-being the best I’ve ever seen.  MLB average is 50.

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