This unique Angels prospect is showing off both an elite skill and a concerning trend

The Angels watched top outfield prospect Nelson Rada's stock rise during an impressive spring training showing that had the baby-faced 19-year-old looking surprisingly comfortable against competition way beyond his years. While he was never truly a consideration to crack the big league roster, Rada slashed .333/.462/.333 in 26 spring plate appearances.

Signing out of Venezuela, Rada was the jewel of the Angels' 2021 international free agent class, ranking 14th in Baseball America's international prospects, and has quickly moved through the Angels' system. Despite struggling for the majority of the 2024 season as an 18-year-old who was aggressively assigned to the Double-A Trash Pandas to begin the season, Rada has garnered some attention.

Standing just 5-foot-9, the diminutive outfielder would finish 2024 with a .234/.331/.269 line with one home run and 35 stolen bases, showcasing both an extreme lack of power to go along with some blazing speed.

In the offseason, he was named as one of the prospects outside of the top-100 most likely to eventually lead the majors in stolen bases. The exciting superlative was bestowed on the youngster not just because of his wheels, but also due to his on-base skills.

So far in 2025, repeating Double-A for a second time, Rada has looked much more comfortable, which is super impressive considering that he doesn't turn 20 until August 24 and is significantly younger than his average competition.

On the season, Rada has posted a .273/.396/.317 line with 0 homers and 20 stolen bases in 25 attempts.

Angels prospect Nelson Rada's on-base skills can be both a key factor to his future success, while also potentially leading to his downfall

Since making his professional debut in 2022, Rada has always displayed impressive on-base skills. For many speedy slap hitters, their value is tied to their ability to put the ball in play and beat out hits with their legs.

While Rada has some ability there, the reason why he's an exciting prospect is that he has consistently gotten on base with having to rely on putting the ball in play.

In 2022, playing in the Dominican Summer League, Rada posted an impressive 12.6% walk rate, showing some advanced feel for the strike zone and an ability to get on base without having to make contact. His strikeout rate matched his walk rate at 12.6%, leading to optimism that he could maximize his on-base skills.

In 2023, as a 17-year-old in A-ball, he managed to continue getting on base via the walk with a 13.5% mark, leading to a .395 on-base percentage and a whopping 55 steals. At the same time, he saw his strikeout rate begin to rise, coming in at 18.1%.

As mentioned above, Rada struggled for the most part in 2024, which was not entirely surprising given his young age and aggressive promotion. His walk rate took a hit, but still came in at a solid 11.4%, though he struck out nearly a quarter of the time at a 23.3% clip.

So far this season, Rada has reached rarified air with regards to drawing walks, posting a sky-high 15.4%, which combined with his improved if still powerless contact, has him tracking as a prospect with elite on-base ability.

However, his strikeout rate continues to rise, sitting at 25.7% on the season. It's not uncommon to see a prospect's strikeouts rise as they advance through the system, but for Rada, this is his second year at Double-A, indicating that this number should be moving down, not up.

Part of the reason that Rada draws so many walks is that he often goes deep into counts. This is not uncommon for high-walk, high-strikeout power hitters, but for a hitter like Rada, the lack of power makes an elevated strikeout rate untenable.

As a result, he may be faced with a decision. Change his approach and become more aggressive early in the count which will suppress his walk total and therefore much of his value, or figure out a way to improve his two strike contact to retain the elite walk rate while cutting back on the Ks.

That will be a tough needle to thread, and the rest of the season will go a long way toward determining if Rada can reach his ceiling as an elite leadoff man with exceptional speed and on-base skills, or play more like his floor which would be that of a reserve outfielder and pinch runner with little offensive value.

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