Minor League Report July 26th-August 1st

Salt Lake City Bees 56-53 (4.5 GB)

OF Peter Bourjos H-AB 9-31 Avg .290 HR 2 2B 3 RBI 5 R 8 SB 0 CS 1 K 6 BB 2

Bourjos regressed this week, hitting only .290. When hitting .290 is a regression you know you are doing pretty good, Bourjos raised his average by 60 points in the month of July. Bourjos finally got called up to the big leagues and will instantly improve the outfield defense. Bourjos needs to improve his walk and strikeout rate if he wants to bat at the top of the lineup; he has walked less this year and struck out more.

1B/RF Mark Trumbo H-AB 13-29 Avg .448 HR 4 2B 2 3B 1 RBI 11 R 7 K 7 BB 3

Trumbo will probably be the next Angels prospect to see a promotion to the big leagues. His 26 HR are good for second in the Pacific Coast League. Trumbo like Bourjos has been on fire; Trumbo has raised his average by 29 points in July. Trumbo has already walked as many times as he did last year and has done it in 130 fewer AB.

more after the break

3B Nate Sutton H-AB 11-27 Avg .407 2B 4 3B 1 RBI 4 R 4 SB 1 CS 1 K 6 BB 2

Sutton is old to still be considered a prospect; he will turn 28 in September. Sutton has always put up solid numbers but he has always been older than the competition. I don’t think Sutton will see playing time with the Angels anytime soon because he is behind guys like Izturis, Callaspo, and Frandsen, who are very versatile like him, he has played 7 different positions over his minor league career.

SP Amalio Diaz G 2 IP 5.2 H 5 ER 0 K 6 BB 2

Diaz was pulled from the game in the first inning after recording only 2 outs because of an injury, the injury must not have been that serious because he came back 6 days later and threw 5 shutout innings. Diaz was used exclusively as reliever earlier this year when he was with the Angels Double-A affiliate; he has since made 5 starts for Bees and has made 16 appearances coming out of the bullpen.

SP Ryan Vogelsong G 1 IP 2 H 3 ER 0 K 5 BB 0

After trading Sean O’Sullivan and Will Smith for Alberto Callaspo, promoting Trevor Bell because of the “injury” to Scott Kazmir, the Angels needed to sign someone to fill the Bees rotation. The guy the Angels signed Ryan Vogelsong spent time earlier this year with the Phillies Triple-A affiliate where he made 25 appearances 7 as a starter. Vogelsong hasn’t been with a major league organization since 2006 when he made 20 appearances coming out of the Pirates bullpen, since then he has spent 3 years in the Japan Central League. Hopefully going forward he can be an innings eater taking some stress off of the Bees bullpen.

RP Matt Palmer G 3 IP 3 H 2 ER 0 K 1 BB 0

Palmer has pitched 14.1 scoreless innings for the Bees while allowing just 4 hits. I think it’s only a matter of time before we see Palmer back in the Angels bullpen, and I’m surprised the Angels haven’t tried stretching him out so he can replace the struggling Trevor Bell in the Angels rotation.

Arkansas Travelers 41-66 (23 GB)

2B Alexi Amarista H-AB 10-24 Avg .417 HR 0 2B 0 RBI 1 R 2 SB 0 CS 1 K 1 BB 2

Amarista hasn’t skipped a beat since being promoted to Arkansas. He has hit .333 and has walked 9 times vs. 7 strikeouts. One thing Amarista needs to improve is his walk rate, last season he walked once every 9.5 ABs, this season that number has regressed to a walk every 15.3 ABs.

OF Jeremy Moore H-AB 7-17 Avg .000 HR 2 2B 0 RBI 4 R 5 SB 2 CS 2 K 4 BB 4

Moore continues to have a good year. Moore is showing more patience this year walking once every 11.4 AB. Moore has also improved his base running skills, he already has as many steals as he did last season and has gotten caught 5 less times. One thing I would like to see Moore improve is striking out less, this year he has struck out once every 4 ABs.

SS Andrew Romine H-AB 7-23 Avg .304 HR 1 2B 0 RBI 4 R 1 SB 1 CS 0 K 4 BB 5

Romine is probably the Angels most patient prospect aside from Hank Conger. Romine has walked once every 7 ABs this year, which is the best of any season in his minor league career. Romine is known for having a good glove at SS and if he can continue drawing walks and getting on base at a high rate he will be a nice prospect for the Angels.

SP Tyler Chatwood G 2 IP 12 H 12 ER 3 K 6 BB 1

Chatwood’s control is improving; he has walked only 4 batters over his last 4 starts. If he can continue to throw strikes he will be one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. The Angels are trying to limit the amount of innings Chatwood pitches this season, he has already thrown 127 innings the most in his minor league career, and there is about a month left in the season. In his last start he threw only 62 pitches (45 for strikes) across 5 innings before he was pulled from the game.

SP Trevor Reckling G 2 IP 10 H 4 ER 2 K 13 BB 4

Reckling like Chatwood has command issues. Reckling’s control has gotten worse this year; he has walked .4 more batters per 9 innings pitched this season. His control has improved since being demoted to Double-A so maybe he fixed something in his windup. The Angels are also trying to limit Reckling’s innings; in his last start he threw just 55 pitches (30 for strikes) across 4 innings.

RP Jordan Walden G 2 IP 2 H 1 ER 0 K 0 BB 0

Walden’s BB/9 has increased every season since joining the Angels organization in 2007; this season he has walked 4.6 batters every 9 innings. He needs to improve that number if he is going to be in the back of the Angels pen.

RP Steven Geltz G 3 IP 4.2 H 1 ER 0 K 11 BB 3

Geltz is a strikeout pitcher; he is striking out 14.6 batters per 9 innings this season, his career K/9 is just under that at 12.2 K/9. His walk rate has improved this season, it still isn’t good at 3.8 BB/9, but it’s nice to see improvement.