Baseball America's projected Angels pitching staff for 2027 has one interesting twist

Baseball America has been revealing its evaluations for every organization, and the Los Angeles Angels were just revealed last week. In these evaluations, they go over the top prospects, certain prospects who excel at certain things, and also look ahead to 2027 when they predict what the lineup will look like.

The catch that comes with their 2027 predictions is they only include players who are in the organization right now. They did not predict any major free agency signing or trade that would shake up the roster, even if that's bound to happen sometime in the next couple of years.

The lineup looks mostly the way you'd expect it to with players in the organization right now. The young core of Logan O'Hoppe, Zach Neto, and Nolan Schanuel are front and center surrounded by other exciting prospects like Nelson Rada and Kyren Paris. Mike Trout is obviously still there too, although they have him making the likely transition to left field. The rotation has the trio of Reid Detmers, Chase Silseth, and Patrick Sandoval that we'll presumably see in 2024 alongside two prospects in Caden Dana and Barrett Kent.

What's surprising about these predictions is what they believe will happen in the bullpen. The only man listed is Sam Bachman who they have as the closer.

Baseball America's 2027 prediction should have Angels fans shocked

The bullpen has been an issue for years now with the Angels. They've failed to develop quality arms which forces them to spend in free agency, and the players they sign often underperform. While it's true that player development has been an issue, the Angels actually have exciting relievers in the pipeline right now.

Jose Soriano is just 25 years old and was one of their better relievers last season. He should play a prominent role in 2024. Ben Joyce got his first taste of big league action and impressed with his electric stuff. He should also play a big role in 2024. Joyce especially comes with the expectations that he'd one day be the closer.

Baseball America did not choose Soriano or Joyce for the closer role. Instead, they pegged Sam Bachman as the team's future closer. This isn't the worst bet in the world, but it's certainly surprising.

The Angels selected Bachman ninth overall in the 2021 MLB Draft with the intention of him being a starting pitcher. All 23 of his appearances in the minor leagues came as a starting pitcher before the Angels promoted him to the majors this past season. Bachman was exclusively a reliever with the Angels and pitched quite well, posting a 3.18 ERA in 11 appearances and 17 innings pitched.

While Bachman looked good out of the 'pen and has the stuff to be a potential closer, it feels rather unlikely that the Angels will give up on him as a starter right now. He's just 24 years old and has the potential to be an important piece to the Angels future rotation. However, in the event that Bachman is transitioned to a full-time reliever, the chances of him being their future closer certainly aren't zero.