Samuel Aldegheri has had quite the 2024 campaign. The 22-year-old left-hander started the season with the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Aldegheri still had strides to make as a player, and with the Phillies being one of the best teams in baseball, it was likely he would spend the entire year making those strides at a lower level.
The Phillies rewarded him, though, with a promotion to Double-A Reading, a massive step for the young southpaw. But then in late July, Aldegheri received the news that he would be heading Southwest to join the Rocket City Trash Pandas after he had been traded — along with George Klassen — to the Los Angeles Angels.
The Angels gave the Phillies star closer Carlos Estévez in exchange for the two promising young pitchers. And it didn’t take long for the Angels to recognize what they might have with Aldegheri. He made four starts with the Trash Pandas before the Angels decided to skip Triple-A entirely and bring him right to the Majors.
He gave up seven runs (two earned) in his Major League debut, but knew he had some things to clean up. He worked on it quickly, and against the Texas Rangers on Friday, he gave up one earned run in six innings of work with seven strikeouts and only four baserunners. It earned him his first MLB victory and the first by an Italian-born pitcher since 1949.
Aldeheri still has plenty to work on, as he knows. But he got to bask in the victory on Friday night, via Dave Sessions of MLB.com:
“It was, for sure, something I was looking to accomplish,” Aldegheri said of winning a Major League game. “I did it, so it feels really great.”
Manager Ron Washington wouldn’t make any grand conclusions about who Aldegheri is on the mound, but he liked what he saw from the 22-year-old.
“He kept a good-swinging team off balance over there. … This kid has an idea of how to pitch, and he showed that tonight,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “He set things up so when he did throw his fastball up in the zone, he got hacks at it.”
The Angels are in a mode of trying to figure out exactly what they have in some of their young players before entering the offseason. If they feel they have enough to compete, it might force them into action in free agency. But if they feel their young players still need another year to grow, it might be worth standing pat.
Aldegheri is one of those with room to grow, but there is a reason he is the No. 8 prospect in the Angels organization.
Samuel Aldegheri joins intriguing young rotation
Aldegheri is currently alongside No. 1 prospect Caden Dana, Reid Detmers and Jack Kochanowicz as young pitchers the Angels are taking a hard look at as they plan for the 2025 season. Dana makes his second MLB start on Sunday against the Rangers.