Hot shot Angels prospect made a very strong impression during 2024 pro debut

Overall, Angels fans have to like what they saw from 17-year-old prospect Joswa Lugo in his first professional season. Signed for $2.3 million, Lugo is part of a long line of hopeful Halos prospects that could help turn this franchise around in the future. He's still a teenager, but offers plenty of promise moving forward.

In 53 games in the Dominican Summer League, Lugo batted .301 with 11 doubles, five home runs and three triples alongside 18 stolen bases and 17 walks. He's shown clear maturity at the plate, with a disciplined approach, and an ability to hit all over the field. He's also exhibited tremendous strength and stands at an imposing 6-foot-3. Again, he's 17, so he may not be done growing.

He's the Angels No. 6 prospect in MLB.com's latest prospect rankings behind Caden Dana, Christian Moore, George Klassen, Nelson Rada and Ryan Johnson. Dana has already seen time in the big leagues while the other four have an estimated time of arrival some time in 2026, given how quickly the Angels move their top prospects through the pipeline.

Lugo is expected to reach the bigs in 2029, so despite him being quite a while away from being on the Angels' roster, the organization is very much invested in what he can bring to a struggling franchise. He was among 15 international signings by Los Angeles this past year, but his early success has risen him to the top at a cascading pace. It remains to be seen whether the Angels will push Lugo next season via a promotion to either the ACL, the Arizona Complex League, or Low-A Inland Empire over keeping him in the DSL another year. Given his success and prowess, they will likely want to challenge Lugo like they did with Rada the past couple seasons. Rada just turned 19-years-old in August, and completed a full season in AA Rocket City this year. In 2023, Rada was assigned to Inland Empire at 17-years-old.

Can we really get this amped up about a 17-year-old playing well in the Dominican Summer League? Absolutely, we can do that. The Angels may have struck gold on a future All-Star, so let's forget how young he is. Any positive result from this organization should be well-absorbed and well-celebrated by LA fans. There isn't much for them to hang their hat on, but watching a young prospect blossom is definitely worth the time to invest and bask in.