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Angels Praised For High Value With This Pair Of Picks
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- Angels Praised For High Value With This Pair Of Picks
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
The Los Angeles Angels just had one of their more successful drafts in recent memory, and they're being applauded for taking a different approach this time around. One of the tributes came from Baseball America, which praised the Halos for a couple of their high-value draft picks.
One is fairly obvious, but the other isn't so let's take a look at the two players and find out what all the excitement is about in the report from John Coppolella.
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Jared Grindlinger, Outfielder/Pitcher
Coppolella compared Grindlinger to Austin Riley , which is a heady comp indeed. The Braves believed that two-way high school players like Rile and Freddie Freeman before him had what the writer called an intuitive, intangible approach to hitting because they had been legitimate pitching prospects. It led to an advanced approach to hitting based on an understanding of what pitchers were trying to do them, and he sees some of that in Advincula.
That's a long way from "see ball, hit ball," and Grindlinger is a long way from that level of approach. He's also still growing into his body at 6'3", 190 pounds, plus he's just 17-years old. But there's no doubt that the evaluators love him, and they love the gamble the Angels took with Grindlinger after years of betting on college players who were close to being ready for the majors. That's the way the metrics and analytics crowd rolls, so we'll see if it plays out on the field, although it'll be a while before we get any proof.
Jarren Advincula, Second Baseman
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Coppolella was less analytical with Advincula, whom he sees as more of a pure hitter. He led all Division I schools with 111 hits and a .434 average at Georgia Tech. He also has great plate discipline, according to the writer, as he finished with 30 walks versus just 16 strikeouts.
That used to be a great combination for a prospect, but things ain't what they used to be, as we all know. What's surprising about this evaluation is that Coppolella left power out of the equation, which rarely happens nowadays. He sees Advincula as a middle infielder who will rise rapidly through the minors, which certainly matches up well with the Angels, and the comp the writer offered here was Luis Arraez , who won a couple of batting titles with the Miami Marlins .
But Arraez was a different player, as he rarely walked and almost never hit for power. If Advincula does make it through the minors, it will be interesting to see what his value is if he does find a home and makes it to Anaheim.
