A Look At The Angels Hitters in Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League is underway. If you don’t know what it is, it’s basically an all-star league for prospects. There are six teams in the league and five MLB teams’ prospects make up one team. The Angels have sent prospects to the Scottsdale Scorpions. It’s very early in the season (they’ve only played five games) but let’s take a look at how the hitters are doing so far.

February 21, 2012; Tempe, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto watches during spring training at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Randal Grichuk: Grichuk was 24^th pick in the first round of the 2009 MLB Draft. Yes, he was picked one spot ahead of that Mike Trout fellow. Grichuk played in the California league this year and had his best minor league season so far. He had a .298/.335/.823 line with 18 home runs and 71 RBI in 135 games. So far in three games, he’s struck out five times in thirteen at bats but does have a home run

Travis Witherspoon: Witherspoon is a guy who’s got some good speed. In 2011 he stole 46 bases and this past year, at two different levels, he stole 34. The thing that he needs to work on is taking a walk. He only drew 57 this year, but on the other hand, it was the most he’s drawn at any year in the minors. So far in fall league action, he’s 2-12 in the three games.

Kaleb Cowart: Cowart is the big prospect to keep an eye on. He was the 46^thranked prospect in mlb.com’s revised top 100 rankings this past August after the minor league seasons were done. Cowart has moved up to full season high-A ball. The former first round pick drove in a combined 103 runs at the two different levels he played at. He could definitely be the third baseman of the future, however, don’t expect him for a couple more years. Cowart so far is 3-13 in three games in the fall league.

Carlos Ramirez: Lastly, catcher Carlos Ramirez is the fourth position player on this squad. Ramirez struggled this past season in the Texas League, only hitting .204. He was an organizational all-star in 2011 when he hit .312 at two different levels. Ramirez so far has two hits in his five times at bat.

Later on this week, I’ll talk about the pitchers the Angels have in fall league and I will do more updates as the league progresses on.