Angels minor league report: Kernels are on fire

The Kernels entered May with a lackluster .500 record, but won five straight games last week, giving them ten W's in their last twelve games and hopefully setting the tone for the remainder of the year. The rotation is finding some consistency, thanks to multiple quality outings from unheralded Orangel Arenas and teenage Tyler Skaggs, the bullpen has made some progress, and everyone in the lineup is contributing. This team is beginning to play up to its potential.

Orangel Arenas - (2 starts) 2 W's, 13 IP, 8 hits, 0 ER, 8 K/5 BB

Arenas has thrown two consecutive shutouts, one of them in Miller Park, and five of his seven starts this year have been of the quality variety. His 5.87 K rate isn't spectacular, but his sinking fastball/slider combo have the opposition pounding the ball into the ground at a futile 59% rate. On paper, Arenas' stuff reminds me of Bobby Mosebach's arsenal.

Casey Haerther -(29 AB's) .517/.533/.759 with 4 dbls, 1 HR, 7 RBI's, and 2 SB's

When the week began, UCLA alum Haerther was hitting .203. Today, he's hitting .300. You can see footage of an RBI knock here, though my apologies to Haerther because it's not the best representation of his swing. He's taking a two-strike breaking ball the other way, just like he should, but the adjustment he makes is distinctly non-fluid. Here's another video of him pulling the ball in college, for comparison's sake.

Garrett Richards - (2 starts) 1 W, 15.2 IP, 3.45 ERA, 12 hits, 16 K/5 BB

Richards balanced out an uninspiring performance early in the week with a complete game gem yesterday, giving him his first quality start in the last four tries. The K's are obviously great, but the other positive indicator is the 14 groundball outs he induced last night, bringing his GB percentage up to a very good 58%. As we keep hearing, commanding the fastball down in the zone and finding consistency with his delivery is really the key for him.

Mike Trout - (30 AB's) .333/.412/.667 with 1 dbl, 3 HR's, 8 runs, 5 SB's, and 3 K/4 BB

I said last week that Trout had put up his finest week of the young year, but he's already outdone himself. In the month of April, Trout played the role of the good, small-ball soldier, going the other way a well-balanced 40% of the time. F-that. Trout is now pulling the ball more, and his slugging percentage has consequently jumped through the roof. Impressively though, his latest homerun went to the opposite field. He's also maintaining his leadoff cred, stealing five bases and maintaining the walks while striking out half as often as last week. Here's a nice piece on him and Grichuk.

Tyler Skaggs, lhsp - (2 starts) 1 W, 10 IP, 2.70 ERA, 8 hits, 6 K/2 BB

Entering Saturday's game, Skaggs had not yielded a run since April 12th. That streak ended in the first inning, but Skaggs showed off his composure by shutting down the Timber Rattlers over the next 4 frames, keeping the Kernels in a game that they ultimately won. His performance is outshining the scouting reports so far, but if he keeps this up, that gap will close. Check out footage here.

Tyler Kehrer, lhrp - (2 appearances) 1 W, 1 Sv, 9 IP, 1.00 ERA, 6 hits, 9 K/6 BB

Kehrer began the year in the Kernel's rotation, but yielded the starting role to Skaggs early on. As his 15 K/17 BB ratio indicates, he's having a devil of a time harnessing his control. I saw him pitch three weeks ago, and he appears to have modified his mechanics since this video was taken of him early last year. He's cut the spinoff from the mound, and appears to have even slowed down his delivery tempo. Those changes are undoubtedly meant to help him repeat his delivery and find the strikezone more consistently, but when I saw him he was topping out at 90/91 mph and not the 95/96 mph he was hitting last year. He remains an intriguing arm, but his development could go in any number of different directions, not all of them what you'd hope for.