Angels Prospect Update: LAA beat writer reports 3 pitchers will be added to 40-man

The Los Angeles Angels just hired Mike Maddux to be their pitching coach, and he will certainly have a tall task righting the ship next season. Maddux is stepping into a situation where there are three starting pitchers and approximately three locks for the bullpen in Robert Stephenson, Ben Joyce (should he be healthy enough) and Brock Burke. For the bullpen, there are either unimpressive and/or unproven commodities that could make the Opening Day roster in Ryan Zeferjahn, Chase Silseth, Sam Bachman, José Fermin, and maybe even Jack Kochanowicz or George Klassen. On the starting pitcher side, Maddux simply needs to bring along pitchers like Caden Dana, Ryan Johnson, Sam Aldegheri and even guys like Víctor Mederos, Mitch Farris and Tyler Bremner.

The Angels roster is certainly in flux, and Maddux's performance next year as pitching coach will matter less for wins and losses and more for the development of the organization's pitching depth they have tried to stockpile in the five-seasons Perry Minasian has been at the helm. Given who the Angels are about to add to the 40-man roster, Maddux will have a few more names he has to extract upside out of.

Angels Prospect Update: LAA beat writer reports 3 pitchers will be added to 40-man

Per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com: "The Angels have three pitchers ranked among their Top 30 prospects who need to be protected from the Rule-5 Draft: right-handers Joel Hurtado (ranked as the club’s No. 22 prospect by MLB Pipeline) and Walbert Urena (No. 24) and lefty Samy Natera Jr. (No. 20), all of whom are expected to be added to the 40-man roster."

The 40-man roster was expected to be cleared out in order to add prospect depth, and that's exactly what the organization has done so far. Gone are Connor Brogdon, Sammy Peralta, Carson Fulmer, Logan Davidson and Carter Kieboom, and Hurtado, Ureña and Natera Jr. will not only be added to the 40-man roster but could even compete for spots on the Opening Day roster. If Ryan Johnson and Garrett McDaniels could make it last season, any one of those three could crack a spot in Anaheim should they show out in spring training.

The closest of the three to MLB action is clearly Natera Jr., who is the oldest of the three and the most polished. At Double-A Rocket City last year, the southpaw posted some jaw-dropping numbers -- 12.84 K/9, 5.66 H/9 and an opposing hitters' slashline of .183/.312/.280/.592. Now that he will be added to the 40-man, a major league debut in 2026 feels inevitable coming off of a fantastic performance in the 2024 Arizona Fall League as well.

Hurtado clearly has the best stuff of the three, including a blistering fastball that hit 104.4 MPH last year -- the hardest pitch thrown in MiLB. Despite being 25-years-old, Hurtado is still raw and likely needs some more time to cook in the minors.

Ureña is only 22-years-old, but it seems like he has been in the Angels pipeline forever. Ureña is never talked about as a prospect that was thrown into the fire, but the youngster made 27 starts with Rocket City and finished the year with Triple-A Salt Lake. His prospect status has diminished in recent years, but he remains a promising pitcher who does not get talked about much. He's not as polished as Natera Jr., plus does not Hurtado's stuff, but he has all the makings of a solid starting pitcher as he is somewhere in between Natera Jr. and Hurtado in terms of being a prospect with good pitchability and raw materials.