The Los Angeles Angels will make one selection on Sunday when the 2022 MLB Draft officially kicks off at the Xbox Plaza at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. Not far from home, the Angels are tasked with making the No. 13 overall pick, and hopefully continuing to bolster their farm system.
The Halos have taken pitchers with each of their last two first-round picks. In 2020’s shortened draft, it was Reid Detmers. He quickly shot his way up the Angels’ top prospects list, and is now a regular part of the MLB rotation less than two years after he was selected.
In 2021’s 20-round draft, it was Sam Bachman. Bachman is still working his way through the Minor Leagues, but has shown serious potential as a mid-rotation starter. He started his pro career at the High-A level.
Last draft, the Angels made headlines by selecting pitchers in all 20 rounds of the draft, 19 of them being college pitchers as opposed to high school. It showed a serious commitment by general manager Perry Minasian that pitching would be his top priority when building organizational rosters.
On Sunday night, it will be confirmed whether or not Minasian continues this trend or if he returns to position players. The Angels drafted a position player every season between 2015 and 2019 in the first round. This included Taylor Ward, Matt Thaiss, Jo Adell, Jordyn Adams, and Will Wilson.
Draft Information
The first two rounds of the draft will be televised Sunday evening from downtown L.A. With compensatory and competitive balance picks, the first two rounds consists of 80 selections. Each team will have a representative on hand, with Bill Stoneman serving as the face of the Angels.
ESPN will broadcast the first round, beginning at 4:00 p.m. PT, while MLB Network will broadcast both rounds. In the MLB Draft, teams get three minutes to make first round selections (picks 1-32), two minutes for competitive balance round A picks (33-39), and one minute for picks 40-80.
Rounds 3-10 begin Monday at 11 a.m. and rounds 11-20 begin Tuesday at 11 a.m. Those rounds will be held at a downtown hotel and will be streamed on MLB.com.
The No. 1 overall pick — which belongs to the Baltimore Orioles — is widely expected to be Druw Jones. The son of 10-time Gold Glove winner Andruw Jones, Druw is a Georgia high school product that figures to be one of the best outfield prospects in some time.