Grading the Angels’ 2025 draft class with the 2026 MLB Draft coming up fast

It’s been a rough season for the Los Angeles Angels. The team is well under .500 and there are fresh calls for owner Arte Moreno to sell the team, but the only way for the team to turn things around is by drafting quality talent.

The 2026 MLB Draft is just over a month away so it’s the perfect time to look at last year’s draft class and see how the Halos did.

The good from Angels' 2025 draft

Tyler Bremner

LA’s first selection in last year’s draft was right-handed pitcher Tyler Bremner out of UC Santa Barbara who they took with the No. 2 overall pick. He began 2026 in High-A and has been solid so far with a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings pitched.

An illness has kept him out for about a month but he is set to return to the mound on Tuesday. It’s obviously still early in his development but the fact that he’s struck out 28 batters so far shows he has dominant stuff and could end up being a really strong arm for the Angels.

Nate Snead 

The Angels selected Nate Snead out of the University of Tennessee and while he was not the most highly touted arm out of college he has impressed in 2026. He began the season in High-A and earned himself a promotion to Double-A after posting a 2.80 ERA in seven starts with 39 strikeouts in 35 and 1/3 innings.

His first start in Double-A was a little rough but the fact that he’s already been promoted shows that he is certainly on the right track.

Nick Rodriguez 

While not much was expected from second baseman Nick Rodriguez when he was drafted in the 10th round last year, he has been an early success story.

After getting drafted last year he hit .281/.396/.371 in Single-A and has followed that up by hitting .278/.361/.392 this season in Double-A. He’s not a power hitter but he’s a reliable contact bat and has certainly turned some heads.

The not-so-good from the draft

Chase Shores

The Angels’ second-round pick in the draft was Chase Shores. The tall right-hander strikes an imposing figure at 6-foot-8 but so far that tall frame has not led to the cleanest results. He has a 5.06 ERA in four outings for the High-A affiliate which is far too early to declare him a bust but surely the Angels were hoping for a faster start.

Luke LaCourse

Another right-handed arm who has struggled is Luke LaCourse. He has a 6.87 ERA on the year in rookie ball and has walked 10 batters in 18 innings. He’s just 19 so he still has plenty of runway ahead of him but it’s not the start to his professional career that he wanted.

Overall, the Angels seemed to do a decent job in the 2025 draft. Obviously a verdict cannot truly be reached for years until we see how many of these players, if any of them, turn into contributors at the big league level.

But the fact that Bremner looks solid so far and they seem to have found a couple of hidden gems in Snead and Rodriguez is enough to give the Angels a B for their 2025 draft class. They’ll be hoping for a similar result next month in the 2026 MLB Draft.

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