The Los Angeles Angels have just three pitching prospects in their top 10, with the other seven being position players. Two of those pitchers — LHP’s Reid Detmers and Hector Yan — were selected to play in the 2021 edition of the Futures Game. This game is meant for the top performing Minor League prospects to show their stuff on a big stage.
Yan is currently with the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils while Detmers is in Double-A with the Rocket City Trash Pandas. However, both got the chance to represent the Angels organization in the Futures Game. And for an organization that notably lacks pitching depth, it didn’t feel that way at Coors Field on Sunday afternoon.
Yan — ranked No. 9 in the Angels organization — walked a batter, then forced two weak pop-ups in his 0.2 innings of work. While there was nothing particularly astonishing in his time, he allowed just one baserunner and zero runs in the American League’s 8-3 loss.
It was Detmers who really made a name for himself, even more so than he’s already done. The Angels’ No. 2 prospect — and MLB’s No. 57 overall prospect — dominated during a short appearance, proving why he’s already made the leap to Double-A.
He pitched the 0.2 innings following Yan, and struck out two batters with ease. One of those batters was New York Mets No. 4 prospect and MLB No. 73 prospect Brett Baty, who Detmers struck out on three pitches.
In total, the two Angels pitchers gave up just one walk, zero hits, and zero runs over 1.1 innings of work. Notably missing from the game was Angels No. 1 prospect and MLB No. 38 prospect Brandon Marsh, who missed most of the first half with a shoulder injury.
Marsh and Detmers could find themselves with the Major League team as early as 2022, with Yan likely to make movement up the ladder at a slower pace.
Angels stockpiling pitchers in MLB Draft
Despite the Angels having some good pitching prospects at the top, they have severely lacking depth. They rank in the bottom half in ERA in every level of Minor and Major League Baseball. Because of that, they went into the 2021 MLB Draft with a defined strategy.
Through the first 10 rounds of the draft, the Angels selected college pitchers with all 10 of their picks. During Day 3 — rounds 11-20 — that strategy did not seem to stop, as they completely reload their pitching depth.
