After a week in which the Tyler Bremner draft selection was used as the latest exhibit on why the Angels are a hopeless franchise, the young right hander delivered his best start as a professional pitcher. Starting for the Trash Pandas, the UCSB alum threw six scoreless innings and struck out eight batters. This was by far his best outing of the season and served as justification for his ranking in the top half of prospect lists.
Not all minor league lineups are comparable. But the Milwaukee Brewers have the best rated farm system in baseball on thanks to the strength of their bats. And the Biloxi Shuckers lineup features the top overall prospect in baseball in Jesus Made with consensus top 30 prospect Luis Pena.
Bremner shut both of them down, holding them hitless on the night. Mixing his 95 mile per hour fastball and devastating change up, Bremner was able to keep the lineup full of top prospects off balance. He struck out 8 and only allowed 2 hits and 1 walk.
Fastball command is the key to successful pitching at any level and Bremner showcased the type of fastball command that pushed him to the top of preseason draft charts last year. Being able to command the fastball both got Bremner into favorable counts and made his elite change up more effective. For the first time as a professional, Bremner fully looked the part of an elite starter.
Health has been an issue for Tyler Bremner this season. Not only is the professional season a major increase in workload from college, the young hurler dealt with a virus that knocked him out of action for nearly a month. Already dealing with fatigue from being sick, Bremner was pulled on May 5th after pitching 1.1 innings and did not return to the mound until June 2nd.
The illness was severe enough it required Bremner to work on his strength and stamina just to be able to get back on the mound. Against that backdrop, it is safe to assume Bremner was not at one hundred percent when he made the jump to AA and was rocked early at that level. The jump from High A to AA is a big one and doing so while not possessing your full arsenal is a daunting challenge.
Last night's start was the culmination of three months worth of work. Now back to maintaining, not flashing, mid to upper 90s velocity on his fastball Bremner is operating with a fully set of tools. Which sets up a truer evaluation period from here on out. Health is no longer a consideration so the results need to become more consistent.
This is far from the first adverstity Bremner has overcome. He pitched last year with a heavy heart as his mom lost her battle to cancer. Dealing with that heartbreak at such a young age can be devastating but he has dedicated his career to her memory, giving him additional motivation to power through the tough times on the diamond.
This is really an unfair question to ask at this time but with third overall pick Kade Anderson making his professional debut last night fans now expect Bremner to follow suit in short order. Part of that is the Angels reputation for rushing prospects to The Show and part of that is the natural tendency to compare the pitchers drafted back to back last summer.
As of now Bremner is a two pitch pitcher who can rely on his fastball and change up to get outs at the minor league level. When working well (like last night) that 1-2 combination can be effective even against stacked minor league clubs. But Bremner needs to add a third effective pitch before the Angels consider bringing him up to the big club.
These are no longer the Arte/Perry Angels who try to patch up a thin big league roster. The Angels are undergoing a full rebuild and part of that process involves truly developing players so that they can be truly effective when their time at the top level comes.
Bremner is working on a slider that currently projects to be an MLB average pitch but could be much better. It generates a lot of whiffs right now but needs more consistency. He primarily throws the slider to right handers to keep them from cheating on his fastball but rarely tosses it to lefties. He has a curve that can work against southpaws but is by far his worst offering.
While it is tough to predict exactly when things will click for Tyler, he has two wicked pitches that give him a chance to compete at the MLB level soon. With one more year of development, he could be a solid pitcher for the Angels in 2028.
When do you think he will arrive?
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/angels/onsi as Angels Prospect Tyler Bremner Shines in Dominant Double-A Start .
