LA Angels: Six Prospects Who Proved Themselves in Spring Training

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It was a showing of the very near future for the LA Angels team, a future that included Top Prospects as well as some unknown stand-outs. Let’s take a look at the prospects that dazzled the most, from the most obvious to the ones no one saw coming.

The Angels future is very bright indeed; these shining stars of the future were almost blinding in this recent Spring Training. From Matt Thaiss winning the Fred Haney Award for Most Impressive Rookie in Spring Training to Brandon Marsh solidifying himself as a legitimate piece of the future who may be closer than anyone expected. What made this Spring so great from all these young prospects wasn’t just the Top Prospects showing their value, but also the in-betweeners that no one saw coming.

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Championship ball clubs aren’t built on a few star talents, there has to be a strong supporting cast that can build a powerful foundation for the stars to thrive upon. We’ve seen how the Angels have fared by fielding a few stars with little meat in-between. If this Spring is anything to go off of, the Angels are going to have a proper club from bottom to middle to top very soon.

Jo Adell

Of course we have to start this piece off with none other than the most obvious star.

Jo Adell, the Angels #1 prospect, is a star among stars. Many compare him to Mike Trout in terms of how he approaches the game with a humble, mindful approach. He’s has an infallible elite mentality that constantly pushes his talents to grow in new ways. Even though he finished the 2018 season in Double A, where he slashed .290/.355/.543 across 440 MiLB Plate Appearances, he was still able to adjust to Big League competition this Spring and hang with the big boys. One of the standout qualities that makes Adell so special is this ability to adjust on the fly to the ever amorphous game of baseball.

This Spring is a perfect example of how that ability carries Jo Adell to new heights at a speedy pace. While he did start the Spring a bit slow he did as he always does and adjusted himself to the brand new environment in almost the snap of a finger. Before his untimely injuries (left hamstring/right ankle) that came from a base-running hiccup Adell was slashing a line of .341/.462/.478 in 26 PA’s. Unfortunately we will have to wait to see more of Adell as he won’t be returning to baseball activities for a month or so, but from what we saw it’s no question that he’ll find his way around Double/Triple A pitching sooner than later. From there he will quickly put himself in a position to compete with the MLB club in 2019.

Again, this was all done at the age of 19, so if he keeps up this developmental pace he’s practically guaranteed to be a full-time Angel by the age of 21. It’s also a strong possibility that he finishes the 2019 season with the MLB club depending on how quickly he is able to move to Triple A and adjust to that elevated pace of play. For now let’s just look forward to Adell recovering from his injury and keeping in strong spirits until the time to return to the field comes.

DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 30: Charlie Blackmon #19 of the Colorado Rockies watches the flight of a third inning two-run homerun against the Washington Nationals at Coors Field on September 30, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

Brandon Marsh (OF)

Marsh is another future outfield star looking to roam the Angels outfield with Mike Trout for years to come. Marsh is a natural CF’er but has spent plenty of time at RF in the Minors back in 2018. When he eventually comes up full-time we may see the Angels maintain the best outfield in baseball by miles. Having Marsh and Adell holding down the corners for Trout seems almost impossible to beat. It might even be the greatest outfield the Angels have ever fielded. While it’s still much too early to call something like that it still strikes that their raw talent would encourage such visions.

Marsh has an aggressive style of defense and unnatural agility for a 6-4 outfielder. He’s constantly putting himself in the position to make plays defensively and we saw that multiple times this Spring. This kid is Charlie Blackmon 2.0 and I know I say that all the time, but it makes it easier to grasp the exact realm of talent he exists in. He’s a big bodied lefty hitter who roams the outfield with grace and presence. Of course there is still development to be had as Marsh is just 21 years of age and coming off his MiLB debut season, but from the raw tools that we saw it’s clear how big of a future he will have.

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As good as his defense is there is still the matter of Marsh needing a little more tuning on the offensive side of things. 2018 saw Marsh slash .266/.359/.408 in a season that presented a big learning curve with Class A Advanced. This Spring was his first true big league exposure, so his Spring slash line of .238/.320/.286 in 25 PA’s isn’t bothersome, it just shows that there is still refinement to be had in the future. This is something that is very much to be expected from a 21-year-old; he may not develop as fast as Jo Adell or Mike Trout, but that doesn’t stop his future ceiling from sitting in the realms of elite.

One thing that stands out about Brandon Marsh after this Spring is how much more confident he is in himself after competing against big league talent. With Marsh taking that confidence back to the Minors there’s no telling how quickly he will find himself. If he can set off a stronger developmental pace with this Spring experience we will be seeing him in the Bigs faster than anyone can imagine.

Jack Kruger (C)

The Angels catching situation has been in flux ever since Martin Maldonado was traded to the Astros in 2018. The Angels shored up the backstop by signing Jonathan Lucroy to a one year deal, but outside of that there didn’t seem to be much vision with the Angels future the catching situation.

Not until Jack Kruger showed up at least. Kruger’s 2018 MiLB season was a breakthrough in the eyes of the organization after he slashed .299/.357/.413 in 431 PA’s in Class A Advanced. He also received an All-Star nod in Class A Advanced as a member of the Inland Empire 66ers thanks to his dual offensive/defensive talents. This past Spring saw Kruger strongly establishing himself as a piece of the Angels future by maintaining the backstop efficiently while swinging to the tune of .333/.368/.611 in 19 PA’s.

Los Angeles Angels

It was a short look for Kruger, but with the opportunities he received he showed his strength to the fullest. In those 19 PA’s he collected a triple and a HR alongside 4 singles while striking out just twice. Even though he’s been touted as an offense-first catcher there was a lot of talent expressed behind the plate.

Kruger has a very refined athleticism thanks to a a focus on conditioning and lower body strength/agility. Not only does he use his athleticism to block the plate, he can frame pitches smoothly and skillfully. Sometimes it looks like he has a vacuum tucked away in his glove with the way he seemingly pulls pitches into the zone.

His athleticism also comes out on the base paths as he had 13 stolen bases in his 2018 MiLB season. Those are huge numbers for a catcher, the fact that he move across the bases with adept awareness and skill only adds to his ever-growing versatility. He can punish opposing pitchers with his bat, he can work the backstop with skill all while presenting a threat as a baserunner.

Kruger has the potential to take his All-Star ability into the Big Leagues and join the ranks of our future Angels All-Stars in the near future.

Matt Thaiss (1B)

It’s a shame Albert Pujols is bogging down 1B because the Angels have a lethal first-baseman in Matt Thaiss who is more than ready for big league time. It’s a painful kind of funny because you don’t even have to try hard to make the case for Thaiss being on the Opening Day roster. He absolutely crushed opposing pitching with a total 1.807 OPS off of a HR, two Triples and six Doubles this Spring. His explosive performance earned him the Fred Haney Most Impressive Rookie in Spring Training yet he still didn’t make the Opening Day Roster.

On most other clubs Matt Thaiss would be riding his fiery bat into the regular season, but that won’t be happening until Albert Pujols or Justin Bour get hurt or play themselves out of AB’s. In fact it doesn’t seem like the Angels need Justin Bour as they have their own crushing lefty 1B in Thaiss who is waiting to get the call to the bigs. Of course that depth is great to have, but you also don’t want to keep Thaiss in the Minors for too long and at this point he is firmly blocked.

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His development hit a huge stride in 2018, his age 23 season, which saw him knock around 16 HR’s and 34 Doubles with a .280/.335/.467 slash line in 576 PA’s. One criticism that stuck to Thaiss up until 2018 was his lacking power for a 1B as he hadn’t hit more than 10 HR’s in a MiLB season. Thaiss has always had good line-drive power throughout his development, but it always seemed that 1B-type power was just out of his reach.

After his 2018 season and 2019 Spring Training he’s shown a burgeoning power developing with age. It’s common for a ballplayer to develop their power stroke in their mid 20’s and Thaiss is just 24. He has great contact ability that allows him to power line-drives all around the field and it’s that same consistent ability that has allowed this power to develop. If he can maintain this consistent approach the power will keep coming. Before you know it Thaiss will be stroking 25 HR’s with the MLB club.

Jose Rojas (1B/2B/3B)

As good as Matt Thaiss was this Spring many believe that Jose Rojas deserved the Fred Haney Award. Rojas is a majorly under-the-radar prospect who shined in Spring with a .412/.474/.765 slash in 38 PA’s. Rojas seemingly came out of nowhere this Spring, but the fact is this is exactly what Rojas has been doing within the Angels organization since 2016. One of the reasons he’s stayed so low-key is due to his age; Jose Rojas is 26 and a bit of late bloomer as his first professional MiLB season came at the age of 23.

Rojas has shown great talent and development despite being “older” than one would expect from a prospect. In 2018 he slashed .289/.355/.501 with 17 HR’s and 24 Doubles en route to 71 RBI’s in 425 Plate Appearances. He competed for an Opening Day roster spot all Spring and made a strong case for manning 3B for the Angels. At this point in time Zack Cozart is the man for the Angels despite coming off a down year that ended early to injury. One has to wonder how well he’ll hold up this season.

It feels a bit like the Angels are waiting to see if the vets break down before bringing up prospects like Rojas and Thaiss. You can’t blame them too much as their hands are a bit tied with Cozart and Pujols. The reality is that Rojas will be taking his big league experiences to Triple A where he can simmer a bit before getting the opportunity he deserves in the big leagues.

I know the Angels are trying to be smart by employing a few “sure-fire” veterans like Cozart and Pujols, but at this point you just gotta let the kids play. I’d hate to see a month or two of guys like Rojas because we had to wait for the vets to break down as they have before.

Jared Walsh (1B/OF/LHP)

The Angels are going in on the two-way player philosophy pretty hard heading into the future of the franchise. Jared Walsh, the crushingly powerful lefty first-baseman, hit .277/.359/.536 with 29 HR’s and 99 RBI’s while racking up 7 K’s in 5.2 IP. He was pretty under-the-radar for a while until the end of the 2018 season when Angels GM Billy Eppler pegged him as a possible offensive piece for 2019. Eppler didn’t stop there, shortly after he sent Walsh to invitationals with the intent of working him out as a pitcher.

Walsh spends the majority of his time playing 1B/OF but when need be he is able to go on the mound and get Major League outs thanks to an actual repertoire. Walsh goes beyond “position player pitching” and expands into the realm of “super-utility player”. Not only is he crushing 29 HR’s for you, not only is he offering versatility on defense, he a viable lefty reliever that can contribute to a bullpen dominated by right handers.

Walsh had a solid spring on the mound aside from one terrible outing that saw him walk 3 hitters and give up a handful of runs, but aside from that he showed great mound presence in his 6.2 IP. On the offensive side Walsh went on a tear, hitting .304/.429/.739 with 4 Doubles, 2 HRs, and 8 RBI’s in 29 PA’s. On top of that he showed fantastic defense at 1B. Was it better than Pujols? Possibly. I hate to keep coming back to Pujols, but the fact that he is blocking so much young talent is undeniable and detrimental to the ballclub. Walsh will get MLB looks sometime this season but it should be much sooner rather than later.

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Walsh is an emerging wildcard that can be employed in multiple fashions at any given time, a new breed of “super-utility”. There should be no shortage of opportunity for Walsh to play; he can cover the outfield while slamming HR’s as 1B and working as a reliever . Out of all those talents there will be a place for Walsh to slip into the Major League club and show the rest of the MLB how deep the two-way philosophy goes.

It’s not just for Supermen like Shohei Ohtani, it’s for anyone should they be capable. The super-utility role may be a real thing in the Majors soon, but right now it all starts with Jared Walsh.

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