With Major League Baseball All-Star week approaching, the Los Angeles Angels are set to be represented in the All-Star Futures Game by two of their top prospects.
Edgar Quero (No. 2) and Kyren Paris (No. 8), were named to their respective roster with the help of MLB, MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and all 30 MLB clubs. The 25 players selected include choices from each team, with all levels of player development leagues eligible.
Quero and Paris are highly-regarded prospects in general manager Perry Minasian’s system, both of whom have earned high praise from the Angels lead man, per Jeff Fletcher of the O.C. Register:
We’ve challenged both with the assignments they’re at,” Minasian said. “They’re very young for that level. And they’ve taken that challenge and run with it and says a lot about them. They’re both well worthy of that honor and will represent us really well.”
The National League versus American League format continues, being managed by former All-Star Harold Reynolds and current MLB Senior Vice President of on-field operations Raul Ibañez. The game is slated for Saturday, July 8th at T-Mobile Park, first pitch scheduled at 4:00 p.m. PT.
Quero is the most intriguing of the Angels’ selections, mainly because he’s a 20-year-old player in Double-A with the Rocket City Trash Pandas. Playing against competition nearly four years older than him, the switch-hitting catcher has posted a .719 on-base plus slugging, with two home runs and 27 RBI.
The exceptional part of his game is his ability to take his walks and get on base. The Angels are confident that both his game-calling and power will mature with age, given he slugged 17 homers in Single-A in 2022.
He’s one of 11 internationally-born players featured in the Futures Game, with Quero being signed out of Cuba prior to the 2021 season.
The other Angels farmhand joining the team is an infielder drafted in the 2nd round of the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft out of high school. Paris is another highly-regarded infield prospect in the system, also playing up to the level of competition he’s facing.
Now in his fourth season in the Angels system, Paris is carrying a .760 OPS with 11 home runs, 29 RBI and 42 walks in 244 at-bats. After a solid few months to open the season, the middle-infielder has a .703 OPS in the month of June.
He remains a stolen base threat, using his raw athleticism to make things happen on the base paths.
Angels star Shohei Ohtani voted into MLB All-Star Game
Shohei Ohtani was named to the 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game after leading the American League following Phase one of fan voting.
Ohtani received 2,646,307 votes, earning the nod as the starting designated hitter for the AL squad. This is Ohtani’s third straight All-Star Game selection.
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