The Los Angels Angels are now on the clock, and it has nothing to do with more trades or a free agents signing. The Halos need to protect three of their own, and they have until 6 PM EST tomorrow to do it.
All three players are pitchers, and they need to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft. The names may not be familiar to many Angels fans, but right handers Joel Hurtado, Walbert Urena and lef-hander Samy Natera Jr. are key prospect who could be showing up in Anaheim soon.
So let’s review. Hurtado is ranked 22nd in the Angels’ farm system by MLB Pipeline, and he throws hard. He finished the season in Triple A, and he threw a pitch at 104 mph, which was the hardest pitch thrown in minor league baseball this past year. That kind of velocity plays, which is why he needs to be protected, and assuming he is, Hurtado will get a long look in spring training.
Urena is the furthest away from making the majors, but he could be a back-end starter in 2027 if he continues to develop quickly, according to Evan Roberts of Halo Hangout. He finished the season at Triple A Salt Lake, where he struck out ten in his lone appearance there, so more of the same this year is the Goa going forward for Arena.
Natera is the closets to making the Opening Day roster. He, too, ended his season in Triple A Salt Lake after posting a 2.64 ERA to go with a 1.28 WHIP in 47-2/3 innings at Double A Rocket City. With reliever Reid Detmers moving from the bullpen to the rotation, there’s room for a lefty to go with reliever Brock Burke if Natera can make a strong impression on new pitching coach Mike Maddux and rookie manager Kurt Suzuki.
What’s noteworthy about these three pitchers is that the Angels cleared out a lot of roster fodder to focus on their development. These moves were made a few weeks ago, and the long list of players who were released included many prospects who were either stuck at the lower levels or failed in Anaheim. It’s part of a pitching overhaul that gives Angels fans hope that they won’t have to watch the ongoing pitching debacles that happened constantly in August and September as the Halos tumbled into the basement of the AL West.