The next LA Angels pitching prospect to make their MLB debut will be...

Following the historic debut performance from LA Angels pitching prospect Chase Silseth (which I 100% called by the way), the entire league has been put on notice that this isn’t the same old Halos with regards to pitching anymore.

Now boasting a farm system with several high-quality arms on the fast track to the majors, it’s only a matter of time before we fully see the next generation of Angels pitchers follow in Silseth’s footsteps and make their mark on the majors. The only question now is who will be the first to make the jump.

#4 LA Angels pitching prospect who may debut in 2022: Davis Daniel

The only pitcher from Triple-A Salt Lake on this list, 24-year-old Davis Daniel represents the safest pick to make his debut for the LA Angels this year. That said, just because he’s less flashy than the others here doesn’t make him any less likely to produce in the majors this year.

Drafted in the seventh round by the Angels in 2019, the fact that Daniel has developed as quickly as he has is a nice surprise. Despite never really wowing while at Auburn, Daniel, now the Angels’ 12th ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, quickly found his stride in High-A Tri-City last year, putting up a 2.31 ERA, 0.986 WHIP and 12.3 K/9 in nine starts. The righty continued this hot streak after being promoted to Double-A Rocket City, where he owned an equally impressive 2.68 ERA, 1.000 WHIP and 12.6 K/9 in nine more starts.

Across his first 18 professional starts, Daniel recorded five starts without allowing a run and five double-digit strikeout performances. And keep in mind, all of this is coming after he was limited to just one start at Auburn in 2019 after he went down with a UCL tear and required Tommy John surgery.

Though Daniel struggled in Triple-A in 2021, getting lit up to the tune of a 10.29 ERA in five appearances, he’s completely turned things around this season. While his 4.60 ERA and 1.261 WHIP aren’t too impressive at first glance, remember that the Pacific Coast League is a notoriously hitter friendly league where almost every pitcher struggles to some extent.

Currently 2/3 of an inning short of qualifying for the leaderboards, his ERA would be the eighth-best in the league and would make him one of only 10 qualified starting pitchers with a sub-5 ERA. Likewise, his WHIP would slot in at seventh and his .239 batting average against would be the sixth best. Even his seemingly awful 1.84 HR/9 is still the 15th best in the league (as of May 18).

Plus, prior to his last start where he was roughed up and surrendered six earned runs, Daniel had a much improved 3.24 ERA through his first five starts.

The only real concern for Daniel is his massive drop in strikeout rate this season. Across all three levels in 2021, he owned an elite 12.1 K/9. This is now down to a lackluster 6.1 K/9 in 2022 as he’s only struck out 20 batters in 29.1 innings.

Scouts have noted that Daniel’s stuff never really jumped off the page, so this may be a case where the more advanced hitters of the PCL aren’t being fooled by his breaking pitches while the movement on his low-90s fastball simply isn’t enough to blow batters away anymore.

Though he still may debut this season as a starter, realistically the long-term outlook for Daniel is that he will need to drop one of his four pitches and convert to a middle reliever if he wants to stick around in the big leagues.

#3 LA Angels pitching prospect who may debut in 2022: Sam Bachman

Next up is 22-year-old Sam Bachman, AKA the pitcher many LA Angels fans have been anxiously waiting to see pitch in the majors since he was taken ninth overall in last year’s draft.

A standout in three seasons at Miami University of Ohio, it’s long been speculated that the Angels would have Bachman speed through the minors as quickly as possible and get him major league ready within a year of his drafting. Though there is still a decent chance he makes it to the majors this season, an early season IL stint (back spasms) that sidelined him until May 6 has most definitely slowed plans a bit.

Nonetheless, there’s a reason Bachman is the Angels #1 prospect despite his inexperience. Boasting a career 3.06 ERA along with 11.3 K/9 at college, Bachman saved the best for last as he was nearly unstoppable as a junior, putting up a 1.81 ERA with 14.0 K/9 in 12 starts.

Bachman proved just how developed he is as a pitcher when, less than a month after the draft, he made his Single-A debut with the Tri-City Dust Devils, firing two shutout innings and allowing only one hit. He would close out his first professional season with a 3.77 ERA, 1.186 WHIP and 9.4 K/9 in five starts.

Jump ahead to this year and through his first two starts back from the IL with the Trash Pandas, Bachman hasn’t missed a beat. In seven innings, Bachman is yet to allow a run and has only given up one hit.

Obviously, the Angels are going to take things a bit slower with their prize possession after missing the first month of the season, but these early numbers are incredibly promising. Once his fastball begins touching 100 mph and his slider returns to unhittable form, Bachman will make it known to the whole league why he was arguably the best pitcher of the 2021 draft class.

#1 LA Angels pitching prospect who may debut in 2022: Brett Kerry

Rounding out this list is 23-year-old Brett Kerry, who you may recall as the other pitcher besides Silseth I promoted in my breakout LA Angels prospects article.

In case you need a refresher, Kerry has absolutely dominated Double-A this year. Even after his May 17 blowup (five ER) he still has a 3.41 ERA (was 2.48 before), 1.02 WHIP, 48 strikeouts, 12.58 K/9, 1.57 BB/9, and a whopping 87.8% left on base percentage in 34.1 innings (seven starts). For context, those last four stats all rank in the top-15 in Double-A, with his ERA and WHIP still slotting into the top 25.

With Silseth now in the majors for at least another week, Kerry is by default the best remaining pitcher in the entire Angels farm system. Like Silseth, he’s also the only Angels pitching prospect this year to win Pitcher of the Week honors at any level after striking out 20 batters and allowing only one run in his first two starts of the season. 

No one could have expected this from the USC product after he was drafted in the fifth round last year and just barely cracked the Angels’ top prospect list at #29. After all, the biggest knock against him by scouts was his middling pitching repertoire that lacked a true out pitch.

However, by utilizing near perfect command over all his pitches, Kerry is able to efficiently paint the zone and place every pitch exactly where it needs to be.

At this point, there really isn’t anything left for Kerry to prove. Like Silseth, there’s not much reason to send him to Triple-A, especially since the hitter-friendly PCL wouldn’t do much for his overall development.

While there are still a few pitchers ahead of him on the depth chart, Angels fans should know better than most just how much havoc injuries can wreak on a starting rotation over the course of a season. For Kerry, it may no longer be a matter of if he pitches in the majors this year, but when.