Angels Prospects Getting Closer to Making Major League Debut

Minor league season is in full swing and prospects are playing their way to the cups of the Major Leagues. Once a player reaches AA a promotion is possible at any time. Getting to AAA puts a player on the doorstep of MLB. In the last two weeks, players at areas of critical need made enough noise to be firmly on Angels fans radars.

Najer Victor could be in the Angels bullpen soon.

Like Lucas Ramirez, Najer Victor made a name for himself in the World Baseball Classic. He entered a game against Team USA in relief and struck out Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Gunnar Henderson, and Roman Anthony in an inning and a third.

He took that hot start to AA Rocket City and managed to strike out 21 batters in 12.2 innings while only allowing 4 hits. His work came in 9 games so he is going multiple innings on a regular basis. 9 walks is a bit worrisome but his command has been even better as of late.

Najer Victor was promoted to AAA this week and pitched 1.2 innings with 2 K's, no hits and no walks last night. In his first AAA game on May 6th he struck out 3 batters in one inning. That AAA success follows a great cap to his AA stint in which he threw 2 innings and struck out 5 batters against one walk.

The Angels bullpen could definitely use some help and Najer Victor appears to be the next man to get a shot.

Raudi Rodriguez is thriving at AA.

Currently riding a 22 game on base streak, Raudi Rodriguez is getting a lot of attention in the baseball world. After starting the season a brutal 0 for his first 18 plate appearances to start the season, Raudi's overall numbers have improved a ton and he currently sports an impressive .426 on base percentage.

Rodriguez put himself on the map with a great showing in the Arizona Fall League last year when he put up a ridiculous .433/.514/.650 line in 18 games against the best prospects in baseball. As a result there was a lot attention paid to him when the AA season began.

Now settled into the new level of competition, Rodriguez has 27 hits in his last 24 games to go with 24 walks in that same span. This is the second time Rodriguez has made this list. For an Angels team that is currently really weak in left field and can use more men on base, Rodriguez has a clear path to The Show if he can keep up this pace.

Samy Natera Jr. is also making some noise in AAA.

Natera pitched for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic then started the year at AAA Salt Lake City. A southpaw reliever, Natera has thrown 18.1 innings in 12 appearances and struck out 25 batters. He's only allowed 13 hits but walks are an issue. Natera has given up 24 free passes.

Getting away from the thin air of Salt Lake and the Pacific Coast League may help him with his breaking pitches but overall he has a walk rate of 5.4 per 9 innings. That is a little over one walk ever other inning.

The good news is the stuff is developing and he is getting swings and misses. With just a little more command Natera could be in the Angels bullpen this season.

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