Ángeles and Hoglund promoted to Midland
On Monday, September 11, the Oakland Athletics transferred infielder Euribiel "Rubi" Ángeles and pitcher Gunnar Hoglund from Lansing to the Double-A Midland RockHounds, which play a season extending one week longer than the Midwest League. Ángeles, 21, followed up playing 97 games with Lansing in 2022 by taking part in
On Monday, September 11, the Oakland Athletics transferred infielder Euribiel "Rubi" Ángeles and pitcher Gunnar Hoglund from Lansing to the Double-A Midland RockHounds, which play a season extending one week longer than the Midwest League.
Ángeles, 21, followed up playing 97 games with Lansing in 2022 by taking part in 110 games for the Lugnuts in 2023, increasing his hits (101 to 108), runs (29 to 40), triples (1 to 4), home runs (2 to 7), RBIs (32 to 50) and stolen bases (8 to 21) while decreasing his strikeouts (58 to 56). He finished the season at his best, hitting .317 (26-for-82) in August and .429 (15-for-35) in September, with a home run in his final Lugnuts at-bat. He was originally acquired in an April 2022 trade with the San Diego Padres with pitcher Adrián Martínez for pitchers Sean Manaea and Aaron Holiday.
Euribiel Ángeles stays SIZZLING, batting .429 (15-for-35) in September.#GoNuts 🔩 pic.twitter.com/C7DDhDmYNg
— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) September 10, 2023
Gunnar Hoglund, 23, was also originally acquired via trade, picked up in a March 2022 trade as part of a four-player package from the Toronto Blue Jays for third baseman Matt Chapman. (Coincidentally, the other three players included – Kevin Smith, Kirby Snead and Zach Logue – had already come through Lansing on their way up the Blue Jays' ladder.) Hoglund made three starts for the Lugnuts after getting called up from Single-A Stockton, posting a 1.42 ERA with five hits and two runs allowed in 12 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out 14. He was marvelous in his Midwest League debut, coming a Trey Faltine HBP away from five perfect innings at Dayton on August 26, followed that up with two runs allowed in 3 2/3 innings at home against West Michigan on September 2, and finished things up with four innings of two-hit scoreless ball at Lake County on September 9.
.@GunnarHoglund's High-A debut was superb: five hitless innings with seven strikeouts at Day Air Ballpark on Saturday night.@jgoldstrass was on the call in Dayton:https://t.co/ptSUsxSeXb
— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) August 28, 2023
Taken on a two-player level, it is a fine reward for Ángeles to move up to Double-A for a week following two full seasons in Lansing, just as it is a treat for Hoglund to make a Double-A start in his continued return to full health following Tommy John surgery and a biceps strain.
But on a larger level, the 2023 Lansing Lugnuts who moved up the ladder to Midland this season:
- 5 starting pitchers: Brady Basso, Blake Beers, Joelvis Del Rosario, Gunnar Hoglund, Jack Perkins.
- 4 relief pitchers: Tyler Baum, Stevie Emanuels, Grant Holman, Jorge Juan. - 1 catcher: Daniel Susac.
- 5 infielders: Euribiel Ángeles, Max Muncy, Drew Swift, Sahid Valenzuela, Jack Winkler.
- 3 outfielders: Lazaro Armenteros, Jonny Butler, Caeden Trenkle.
That's a full rotation and starting lineup, plus a back end of the bullpen!
A fourth outfielder, Brayan Buelvas, saw time with Lansing, was reassigned to Stockton, and then was promoted from the Ports all the way up to Midland for 19 games. This isn't even to mention infielder Mariano Ricciardi, who asked for and was given his release by Oakland and went on to play 29 games for the Angels' Double-A affiliate, Rocket City.
20 players went from Lansing this season to Double-A, considered the true proving ground to see if a player is going to reach the Major Leagues.
Of those players, the Midland statistical standouts have been Armenteros, with 37 extra-base hits and an .862 OPS; the 21-year-old Muncy, hitting .303 with an .813 OPS; Susac in a limited sample, batting .333 in nine games; and southpaw Basso, who has a 1.53 ERA in four starts spanning 17 2/3 innings and is now on the prospect radar.
LHP Brady Basso joins the #Athletics' Top 30 Prospects list with Tyler Soderstrom graduating.
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 9, 2023
Stats, grades + more on the southpaw with a 2.32 ERA across two levels in '23: https://t.co/X6UQvCt7BO pic.twitter.com/idgDWATUYw
In 2022, by way of comparison, 11 Lugnuts finished the year at the upper levels, including...
- Hogan Harris, made his MLB debut this year
- Mason Miller, made his MLB debut this year
- Tyler Soderstrom, made his MLB debut this year
- Brett Harris, reached Triple-A, on the verge of his debut next year
Look again at that list of Nuts who reached the Texas League, and you'll see the wave of approaching future A's talent.
The New Oakland 🔥
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) August 20, 2023
(via bbflicks/ig) pic.twitter.com/A34lsiaRQK
We can extend this the other way, too, in order to see farther into the future. Consider, if there were players who earned promotions from Lansing, then there had to players who came in to replace them. This brings us to...
Players Who Began the Year at Lower Levels and Finished in Lansing - 5 starting pitchers: Jose Dicochea, Jake Garland, James González, Luis Morales, Yehizon Sanchez.
- 2 relief pitchers: Mark Adamiak, Pedro Santos.
- 1 catcher: Carlos Amaya.
- 5 infielders: Colby Halter, Brennan Milone, T.J. Schofield-Sam, Jacob Wilson, Casey Yamauchi.
- 3 outfielders: Clark Elliott, Colby Thomas.
The list leaves off players like, say, starters Jacob Watters and Mitch Myers and outfielders Danny Bautista, Jr., and Junior Pérez who spent the entire season developing in Lansing, but it does give you a larger idea of the movement within the organization. Everybody's working together to help the Athletics, short-term or long-term, and Lansing, Michigan, was center stage for that progress this year.