May 21, 2025 - Written by Jacob Firmage

Photo Credit : @SaltLakeBees - Instagram

The baseball season is in full swing. The big league team has been a bag of mixed results but how have the kids looked in the minors. Let’s start with just taking a quick look at all the teams records as it stands as we head towards the end of May.

Salt Lake Bees: 18-26

Rocket City Trash Pandas: 12-25

Tri-City Dust Devils: 19-19

Inland Empire 66ers: 13-26

Angels AZL Affiliate: 9-3

Angels DSL Affiliate: Begins in early June.

Off the records alone, we see the result of rushing early picks to the major league level, all the while not having the development one would hope to see in a farm system after years being towards the bottom of the standings. At each level though we will take a look at 3 players worth keeping an eye on and taking a look at their seasons so far.

Salt Lake Bees

Caden Dana: 3-4; 5.21 ERA; 41 SO; 38 IP

Dana is the next man up and into the rotation out of the guys not already on the big league roster. Extremely polished for his age, he has already given up 5 home runs this season, 5 less than how many he gave up in nearly 100 innings less than last season. With the way the ball flys in the PCL it is important to avoid diving to much into ERA. As near ready as possible look for him to settle in the middle to back of the Angels rotation within the next year.

Luke Murphy: 0-3; 5.14 ERA; 19 SO; 14 IP

Murphy the former Vanderbilt closer has pitched well at times but been inconsistent enough to keep himself in the minors thus far. Working primarily with a fastball/slider mix. Similar to Silseth the control will be the deciding factor in how quickly he contributes to the big league bullpen. With the struggles they have had to begin this season look for Murphy to possibly get a look as this season carries on.

Chase Silseth: 3-1; 4.45 ERA; 29 SO; 28.1 IP

Silseth has done a good job keeping the ball in the park in the PCL which is a good sign. However, a 7.0 BB/9 shows the lack of control that will make it tough to make his way back to the big league club this season barring multiple injuries. In a pinch the Angels have already recalled others ahead of Chase and he will have to iron out his control to get a ticket back to Anaheim.

Rocket City Trash Pandas

Joel Hurtado: 3-2; 2.04 ERA; 29 SO; 39.2 IP

Hurtado, one of my personal favorites has looked quite comfortable in his promotion to AA this season. While he has seen his SO/9 plummet, the walks have been cut in half as well. Relying on his fastball quite often, he still needs to develop multiple pitches to develop further as a starter, but if not a mid relief option could be in his future.

Nelson Rada: .272/.399/.320

With the struggles of Adell and Moniak during spring training, I truly believed Rada, even without any power to speak of at this point had a chance to make the big league roster. He has continued to do what he has with the Angels to this point. Plays quality centerfield defensively, has a great awareness of the strikezone and runs the bases extremely well. He has to add some extra base ability to carve out an every day role but could be knocking on the door next year, if not sooner. With Matthew Lugo and Kyren Paris holding centerfield down currently as Trout is recovering and Adell has been moved to RF he will have time to develop further as he is still only 19 but he looks the part of the Angels future centerfielder.

Christian Moore: .234/.342/.323

No player in the Angels farm may have been clamored more for this spring. After a blistering start to his proffesional career after being selected 8th the Angels determined he needed to continue his defensive development and approach back in Rocket City. He has struggled and seen an uptick in the K% but shouldn’t be viewed any less. He is still nearly 2 years younger than the average player in AA and has slowly shown signs of breaking out this season. (Edit: Christian Moore was called up to AAA Salt Lake yesterday 5/20 and went 3-for-4 with 3 singles, 2RBIs and a BB.)

Tri-City Dust Devils

Photo Credit : @Chris.Cortez10 - Instagram

Chris Cortez: 1-1; 3.35 ERA; 36 SO; 40.1 IP

Cortez, the Angels second rounder last offseason carriers an electric sinker and a decent feel for his offspeed offerings. The Angels have been patient, and have looked to develop him as a starter, though some felt and still feel he is destined for the bullpen. Through his first 8 starts he has kept the ball in the park though he follows a common theme of needing to refine the command. Should he continue his season as well as he has thus far, look for him to find his way to Rocket City soon with the Angels aggressiveness with prospects.

Adrian Placencia: .261/.397/.462

Signed all the way back in 2019 now, Adrian has long shown a good zone awareness. Racking up the walks and having a past showing good exit velocities, he is having his best season thus far. Likely a utility bench option in the future he could be working his way closer to getting past A ball for the first time in his career. He is a fun name who’s first season of pro ball was interrupted by COVID and may have finally turned the corner.

Jorge Marcheco: 3-2; 2.57; 35 SO; 35 IP

Marcheco struggled last season and fell down many prospect lists but has worked has performed much better in his 2nd full season in Tri-City. A true pitcher, he gets by with great command and an uptick in strikeouts this year. Still just 22, he probably spends most of this year in A+ ball but could definitely see a future as a AAAA swingman type landing himself a journeyman role.

Inland Empire 66ers

Raudi Rodriguez: .294/.395/.500

If you live in the Inland Empire area, you might want to get yourself tickets to see Raudi before his eventual promotion. In his first season out of rookie ball Raudi has raked. With 15 extra base hits, 10 stolen bases he looks to cut down on strikeouts but has been arguably the Angels biggest breakout prospect so far. At 21 years old he still has plenty of time to continue his development, but looks the part of a potential corner outfield at the highest level.

Jorge Ruiz: .300/.373/.400

Ruiz, signed out of Venezula has long shown great plate awareness. Similar to Rada, he has often had a high on base percentage, though the slugging is still lacking. Likely a future 4th or 5 th OF Ruiz has been one of the 66ers best performers to date.

Peyton Olejnik:

Olejnik is pretty much impossible to miss if you find your way to a 66ers game. Standing nearly 7 feet tall, Olejnik has been one of the better performing arms in on the roster. At his size, we will see if he can harness the long limbs and cut down on walks, but to this point he has shown the ability to get outs at the Low A level. With 21 walks in 7 starts he is quite a bit away from contributing and will spend the rest of the year in Inland Empire it appears.

Angels AZL

Joswa Lugo: .319/.327/.466

Lugo the prize of the Angels 2024 signing period has looked the part of a future All-Star. Standing 6-3 and nearly 200 lbs of muscle, look for him to eventually move to 3rd base. He will have his reps at short for now but the bat will be his calling card. He has swung and missed a bit, so in time and with reps at the plate he will need to cut back on the swing and misses but still makes enough contact at this level to show a good average. He has walked less than we would like to see to this point through the first 11 games, but at about 1.5 years younger than average competition he has time to continue development at the lower levels.

Dylan Jordan: 0-0; 1.64 ERA; 10 SO; 11 IP

Jordan, the Angels 5th round pick in 2024 is off to a strong start in his first three starts. As with most arms at this level, this is about building the strength up and cleaning the mechanics. Cleaner mechanics could help him move quicker than Gregory-Alford but has plenty to dream on sitting in the low to mid 90’s in high school. Similar to Dana he has some polish and could see Low-A late this year or to start next season.

Trey Gregory-Alford: 0-2; 6.10 ERA; 8 SO; 10.1 IP

Alford has work to do, but the 11th rounder could follow a similar path to those of Dana, Barrett Kent and others as young arms the Angels have given overslot money to and began to push quickly. With a massive fastball and what is hopefully an improving slider, look for Trey to spend much of the summer in Arizona, honing in his control and building up the strength after coming out of Colorado.

DSL Angels

With this season yet to begin we will do a few extra players we will be looking to watch this summer though no notes until the next update once the season gets into full swing.

Catcher: Gabriel Davallio

OF: Byron Castillo

SS: Cesar Paredes

P: Felix Tapia

The lower levels of the Angels farm have some serious talent. It will take time, but it’s easy to see the beginnings of a strong farm system. The hardest team to pick just three has to be that Arizona League team. A fun young team, off to a hot start makes for plenty of options in this series. Towards the end of June we will revisit these clubs with potentially some new faces as the season continues on.

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