Stop me if you've heard this story before. The Los Angeles Angels rush a prospect to the majors, the prospect struggles, and suddenly his future is up in the air. It’s something the Angels do as well as any team in baseball, and obviously that’s not a compliment.
The latest example is pitcher Sam Aldigheri, who was named the team’s top candidate for a bounce-back season by Baseball America. This is sort like being a candidate for the “comeback player of the year” award in other sports. The bad news is that you have to be close to awful to be eligible for it, but the good news is that the struggles that led to your bad season are believed to be fixable, so you’ve still got a reasonable shot.
Aldegheri’s big-league stats to date reflect his struggles. He started three games in 2024 and appeared in four last year, and his ERAs in those two seasons were 4.85 and 7.90, respectively. His big problem has been control, as Aldeghiri has walked ten batters in each of his two seasons.
So why would Baseball America select him as a comeback candidate? His strikeout rate was close to 33 percent, according to Mark Chiarelli and Matt Eddy of BA, and his swing-and-miss numbers took a major hit when he was sent back down to Double-A Rocket City in 2024.
They recovered to some extent last year in the second half of the season, hence the reason for optimism. These kinds of setbacks are obviously tough for prospects, especially with the Angels, but he’s still just 24, so the native of Italy will come to spring graining with a chance to work with new Angels pitching coach Mike Maddux.
Aldedgheri has slipped accordingly in the prospect rankings. He was ranked third in the Angels system last year, but he’s now 15th coming into this season. He slipped into BA’s Top 100 prospect list back in 2024 with a rank of 93.
He has a future if things break right for him. Aldegheri’s fastball sits in the 90s, so he’s not a big-velocity hurler, but he has an effective slider, curveball and changeup to keep hitters off balance.
It’s a conventional arsenal, but the pitcher’s weapons play if he can regain his command and control. Maddux can help him do that, but there’s still a good chance he lands back at Triple A to reestablish himself given all the arms the Halos have added. A couple of good months at that level, though, and Aldegheri could land himself a promotion, not to mention a chance to help the Angels get back to the .500 mark.