Pitching Prospect Could Make A Comeback After Tough Season

For every Los Angeles Angels pitching prospect who found something during the second half of the season, you can find two at least two more that lost their way. That was definitely the case for left-hander Sam Aldegheri, who was named a candidate for a comeback season by Mark Chiarelli and Matt Eddy of Baseball America. 

Aldegheri entered this season with cult hero credentials. He pitched well for Italy in the World Baseball Classic, which instantly put him on everyone’s radar. 

Unfortunately, that was as close as Aldegheri got to having genine success this season. He had a couple of outings where he looked okay if he could straighten out his control issues, but after that he was sent down to the minors. 

The worst part of this, according to the writers, was that it affected Aldegheri’s swing-and-miss numbers, which were promising before the starter lost it. The 23-year old spent most of the year with Double-A Rocket City, and both his fastball velocity and his pitch shape began declining, which Chiarelli said has had a “cascading” effect on the rest of his arsenal. 

The writer also added that Aldegheri’s “surface-level production" was better in the second half of the season, although he didn’t elaborate on what that meant. 

Fortunately, the left-hander is one of several prospects who will get a second chance. Interim GM John Mozeliak announced this week that the Angeles will be moving on from manager Kurt Suzuki, and all of his coaches will be leaving as well. 

That means the host of voices who may have been misdirecting Aldegheri will be gone, and that includes former pitching coach Mike Maddux, who was fired for apparently not using analytics data or believing in it enough, although that was never clarified. 

One thing that could play in Aldegheri’s favor is that the Angels will be hiring a new farm director from outside the organization. Presumably that farm director will be aligned with the new GM, with a manager to be named after that, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com in a recent piece he did analyzing the aftermath of the recent moves. 

Part of that start will be finding a home for Aldegeri at an appropriate level. He’s been yo-yoed back and forth between MLB, Triple-A and Double-A, and in some respects that mirrors the journey of right-handers Ryan Johnson, who somehow found himself and stood out in the second half of the season.