ACL Angels Notebook: 2nd Edition
August 5, 2025 - Written by Noah Pohle
Photo Credit : @LAAngelsPR - X
WRITER’S NOTE: I am not a professional scout. However, living 20 minutes from the Angels’ Spring Complex allows me to get down there and see the Arizona Complex League (ACL) Rookie-level Angels affiliate during games and practices when I have free time, and I take notes on what I see or hear. These players are multiple years away from Major League consideration, but with a relative lack of information available on them, I would like to make my contribution to their public profile. These are my thoughts on the highest-profile names to start, as well as some guys who could be on the rise. I will start with backgrounds for each player, then include my impressions of them so far, supported by data available from FanGraphs. Let’s begin!
The complex-level Angels squad just won the championship for their league! The team’s strength lay in their lineup, with a combined .747 OPS paving a path to a 38-22 and a sweep in a best-of-three championship series. Of the three players I covered in the first edition of this series, Hayden Alvarez took off, ending the season with team-leading marks in batting average (.335), stolen bases (24), and wRC+ (128; 28% above league average). He and Joswa Lugo, both 18 years old, both produced offense better than league average, despite being young for the level. Marlon Quintero continued his improvements at the plate, making less contact than last season in the DSL overall but still managing to produce near league average, encouraging from a catcher who shows as much defensive ability as Quintero does. Here are some thoughts on three more notable performers I was able to watch this summer:
Lucas Ramirez, RF, 19:
Ramirez, the son of 18-year MLB veteran Manny Ramirez, was drafted in the 17th round of the 2024 draft out of a Florida high school. The lefty hitter is noticeably leaner than his father (yet still stands at 6 '3, 205), and his father’s right-handed swing only added to the uncertainty with what to expect from this legacy player. He was unnamed on any major pre-draft or post-praft prospect publications, and yet he was one of the most consistent all-around performers in the lineup. He displayed average contact rates and plate discipline, while having a knack for the big hit. He recorded 2 assists while only committing 2 errors in the outfield, while chipping in a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen bases, while putting up the highest slugging percentage and ISO on the team (.454; .172).
Ramirez pulled nearly 50% of his contact, and just 14% of those balls in play were line drives. His approach gets him to smash the ball out in front, and he is on-time with plenty of fastballs but covers the plate a little less well against breaking balls and particularly good righty changeups. He has a good feel for the zone, though, and avoided strikeouts while taking walks both above the league’s average clip. He hits the ball hard enough to be considered an eventual strong-side platoon bat, but if he improves, he could beat that projection on offense. This is a prospect, though, who should eventually provide value with more ways than just the bat; his athleticism is only aided by his baseball IQ, and there is hope for an at least average baserunner and corner outfield defender down the line.
Athanael Duarte, 1B/3B, 20:
A low-profile International Amateur Free Agent(IAFA) in May of 2022 from the Dominican Republic, Duarte debuted as a sneaky-power second baseman and held his own down the stretch for the DSL squad that year. In 2023, he showed more aggression and made a ton more contact without losing a step from his power production, while only playing first base. After succeeding with an all-fields approach in 2023, the 5 '10, 165 lbs infielder has since gone back to pulling the ball a majority of the time. 2024 saw him perform well in his ACL debut; he had an elevated walk rate, held most of his contact rate gains, and still put balls deep in the gap with regularity. Here in 2025, Duarte again put up his consistent gap-to-gap power (career-high .143 ISO) with roughly average plate discipline. Notably, he began playing at third base again after two years relegated to 1B-only duty. It would’ve shown drastic improvement to get to a game-ready point following that, but Duarte performed well at the hot corner and perhaps will see more time there going forward.
Duarte improved his contact rate again, shaved 10% from his ground ball percentage, and seemed to hit everything in the gap, yet his overall results remained around the same. Too many of his ground balls became weak fly balls, with an infield fly ball percentage approaching 20%. Still, Duarte understands the zone, can turn on fastballs, and showed improvement even throughout the year against breaking balls. He has adjusted his batted ball results before, and perhaps he can straighten things out enough to continue making an impact as he rises up the ladder. Defensively, his range is relatively limited laterally, although he has a fairly strong arm and can make up some time when he does get to the ball. He certainly looks bigger than his listing, and he may eventually wind up back at first base despite this resurgence at the hot corner.
Felix Morrobel, 2B/SS, 19:
An IAFA signed from the Dominican Republic in 2023 for a $900,000 bonus, highest for his class, the 6 ‘0, 175 lbs switch-hitting middle infielder was a toolsy, projectable contact-oriented developmental play at the time of signing. He made a ton of contact in his debut year in the DSL, then was pushed to the ACL at 18 years old and saw more limited playing time in 2024. His defense looked unpolished, even if his arm stood out, and he hit everything on the ground and to the opposite field, but walked as much as he struck out and rode a high BABIP to average overall production. In 2025, he had played his way into the everyday lineup, but last played on June 24th, likely due to an undisclosed injury. While playing, his underlying metrics were the same, yet his production faltered due to a nearly .100 point drop in BABIP, which knocked Morrobel’s batting average down to .218. Despite that, he walked over 15% of the time and hit his first two professional home runs, and managed to remain within a rock’s throw of league average. Aside from his offense, he chipped in 8 steals, and bounced between both middle infield spots with better results than his Complex League debut last year.
Morrobel is already as strong as anyone in the ACL group. That being said, the projection he once had may turn out less than expected. Additionally, he does not get to all of his power in-game because most of his contact winds up on the ground. Morrobel crowds the plate with some box presence, knows the zone, sees spin, can lay down a bunt, is a hard baserunner and puts the bat on the ball consistently, all traits of a leadoff hitter, but he will need to find a swing path on both sides of the plate that allows him to get the ball out of the infield more often. There is not much of a gap between his hitting from both sides of the plate, and his approach can be considered plus. He may not have excellent range defensively, but his skills are improving, and if allowed to develop at shortstop I believe he could play the position close to an average level.
All said, he may be suited for an all-situations utility role, and the less shiny qualities like his baserunning, ability to bunt and switch-hitting potential are what have stood out to me so far.
Disclaimer : (1) All photos are not owned by InsideHalos and have been given proper credit beneath each photo. (2) Links of players are property of MLB, MiLB, and Baseball Reference. (3) InsideHalos is a fan-made site not affiliated with Angels Baseball.
