Halos Today

Angels Prospect Wins Prestigious Award

J.P. Hoornstra|
An Angels cap and glove before the game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
An Angels cap and glove before the game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

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Los Angeles Angels

The Angels routinely rank among the poorest farm systems in Major League Baseball, though their front office tends not to measure a prospect's potential by external rankings.

More news: Angels Sign Former Marlins Prospect to Free Agent Contract

In the case of Raudi Rodriguez, that's a good thing. A former 19th-round draft pick out of a Georgia high school, Rodriguez is not listed among the Top 30 prospects in the organization by MLB Pipeline.

Nonetheless, Rodriguez earned a prestigious honor Monday, when he was named California League Player of the Month.

More news: Former Angels First-Round Draft Pick Has Breakthrough Week in Minors

The transition from short-season baseball to the full-season Class-A level is not an easy one for many prospects to make. Rodriguez, 21, spent each of the last two seasons with the Angels' Arizona Complex League affiliate. He played 12 games in 2023 and 29 games in 2024, slashing .274/.361/.355.

Already in 2025 he's played 25 games for the Inland Empire 66ers. In 89 at-bats, he's slashing .292/.396/.506 with seven triples and six steals in six attempts. His 1.008 OPS in 21 April games was enough to win the monthly award from among 100 players with at least 25 plate appearances in the league this season.

More news: Ex-Angels Infielder Slams Team Policy for Contributing to Injuries

Rodriguez's back story is an interesting one. Born in the Dominican Republic, he moved to the United States and attended high school in Statesboro, Georgia, making him eligible for the 2023 draft.

Rodriguez's patience at the plate helped him reach base in all but one of his first 18 games of the season with Inland Empire.

Lauded as a plus defender at all three outfield positions, Rodriguez was scouted by Chris McAlpin, the Angels' area scout for Georgia, prior to being selected in the draft.

In one pre-draft workout, Rodriguez was clocked throwing the ball 95 mph from center field.

Despite previously being committed to play for the University of South Carolina, Rodriguez signed with the Angels straight out of Georgia Premier Academy after the draft.

Rodriguez was previously honored as the California League Player of the Week for the week of April 7-13.

More news: Former Angels Outfielder Has Ambitions to Manage in MLB

Another Angels prospect, first baseman Ryan Nicholson, was named Northwest League Player of the Month on Monday. The Angels' 10th-round pick in the 2024 draft out of Kentucky, Nicholson is slashing .318/.459/.553 through his first 25 games with the Angels' advanced Class-A affiliate.

Nicholson appeared in 30 games last year with Class-A Inland Empire, slashing .292/.403/.504 before earning the promotion to begin the 2025 season. He could very well be calling Rodriguez a Tri-City Dust Devils teammate before long.

For more Angels news, visit Angels on SI.

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J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

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