The Los Angeles Angels have seen plenty of pitching prospects drift off course, and Sam Aldegheri fits that frustrating pattern. But Baseball America’s Mark Chiarelli and Matt Eddy also see him as a candidate to bounce back.
Aldegheri came into the season with some buzz after his work for Italy in the World Baseball Classic put him on the map. For a brief stretch, it looked like he might build on that attention.
He had a few outings that suggested a real fix could be coming if he could settle his control. After that, though, the season unraveled and he was sent back to the minors.
What hurt most, according to the Baseball America writers, was that the strikeout stuff slipped along with everything else. Aldegheri spent most of the year at Double-A Rocket City, and both his fastball velocity and pitch shape trended downward. Chiarelli said that had a “cascading” effect on the rest of his arsenal.
The report also noted that Aldegheri’s “surface-level production" was better in the second half of the season, though no further explanation was given.
Now he may get a cleaner shot at turning things around. 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 opens the door for a new set of voices, including a new farm director coming from outside the organization.
Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com recently wrote that the new farm director will presumably line up with the new GM, followed by a manager to be named after that.
Aldegheri’s next step will also depend on getting placed at the right level. He has been bounced between MLB, Triple-A and Double-A, and that kind of movement mirrors the path of right-hander Ryan Johnson, who somehow found himself and stood out in the second half of the season.
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