Throughout the season, MLB is constantly updating its top 100 prospects list to reflect the improvements and declines made by young players as they make their way to the Minor Leagues. For most of the season, the Los Angeles Angels had two players on this list, Reid Detmers and Brandon Marsh.
In the 2021 MLB Draft, however, the Angels selected RHP Sam Bachman with their first-round pick. He made his debut in High-A at 21 years old, and has been next to dominant. In 10.2 innings over four starts, Bachman has a 1.69 ERA, a 0.656 WHIP, and an 11.0 K/BB rate.
Because of this, he has been placed on MLB’s top prospects list, debuting at No. 94 overall. He joins Detmers — No. 24 — and Marsh — No. 43 — as the only three Angels players to make the cut.
Marsh and Detmers should be removed before the start of next season, as they figure to be with the big league club permanently. However, it takes some time after players are called up before they are no longer considered prospects.
It was predicted that Bachman would climb up the Angels ranks very quickly, as he has two MLB-ready pitches in his arsenal. This is likely the reason for such a high early ranking. He is already the No. 3 overall Angels prospect, and will almost assuredly be No. 1 when the 2022 season begins.
Rounding out the remainder of the Halos top five are High-A OF Jordyn Adams and High-A SS Kyren Paris. These two won’t be quite as quick of movers as Bachman, but both have shown potential to be Major League-level players one day.
Cooper Criswell makes MLB debut
It did not go as planned in terms of statistics, but it was still a dream come true day for Cooper Criswell, who made his MLB debut on Friday against the San Diego Padres.
The Angels desperately needed a starting pitcher as they deal with a injury-ravaged rotation, and Criswell was who they felt most comfortable with.