3 completely forgotten Angels prospects are playing their way back into relevance

Every Angels fan knows that, despite the major league team's league-worst postseason drought, the farm system leaves little to be desired. The Angels' pipeline is very seldom regarded for its top-end talent and depth -- hopefully they nail the upcoming 2025 Draft given where they are selecting -- but several players who were written off are playing their way back to relevancy.

None of these prospects are in the Angels' top 30 prospects, a couple of them never were, and few national writers have ever written on them. Angels fans might not have heard of them honestly. However, keep an eye on them because they are starting to click in a major way.

3 completely forgotten Angels prospects are playing their way back into relevance

Adrian Placencia

On November 15, 2024, FanGraphs' Eric Longenhagen ranked his top 42 Angels' prospects. Spoiler alert: Placencia (and the next two names on this list) was nowhere to be found.

He's just 21-years-old, but has played for Angels' affiliates since 2021. In his career he's slashed .230/.365/.749. Placencia played a handful of games at Double-A in 2023, and slashed just .170/.237/.226. That checks out given his age, he was way over his skis at Double-A. However, he started becoming an overlooked prospect due to his results.

Despite being out-shined by Ryan Nicholson at High-A Tri-City this season, Placencia has put together a brilliant campaign thus far. He leads the team in home runs (his five dingers is tied with Nicholson for the team high), runs scored, and RBIs. His BA, OBP, and SLG all rank second to Nicholson. Placencia is the team's starting second baseman, and is being blocked by Christian Moore, but his growth this year is a major win for the Angels.

Placencia was giving major Jeremy Arocho vibes -- an athletic, switch-hitting utility player who was once highly regarded, but flamed out after wallowing away in the minors. Angels' minor league coaches have remained bullish on Placencia, likely being the reason they kept him around after a precipitous drop in value, and they are turning out to be right as his development is back on track.