PG Down on the Farm: AL West

David Rawnsley

It’s the time of the year again (i.e. the off-season) for the annual PG Down on the Farm feature. We identify a top prospect in each of the 30 Major League organizations with as much Perfect Game background as possible and delve into that PG history for some insight into his development as a prospect. Some of them might be high profile, high draft pick, ex-PG All-American talents who fans have been long familiar with. Others might be more obscure prospects who have significantly improved either in college or as professionals. Note that players who have used up their rookie eligibility are not considered.

The idea isn’t to necessarily pick the best PG background prospect in each organization but the one who might be closest to the big leagues. Sometimes that is the same player, other times not.

And there is plenty of variation among organizations in their quantity and quality of prospects, whether it be those with PG backgrounds or not.

The profiles will be organized by League/Division and run on the following schedule:

American League East (December 2)
American League Central (December 4)
American League West (December 6)
National League East (December 9)
National League Central (December 11)
National League West (December 13)

American League West

Houston Astros -- LHP Colton Gordon

High School: Lakewood Ranch HS (Bradenton, FL)
Travel Team: Florida Burn
College: Hillsborough CC, Florida, Central Florida
Final PG Class Ranking: 229
Drafted: 8th round, 2021, Houston
Highest 2024 Level: AAA
2025 Age: 26

Gordon was an integral starter for the highly successful Florida Burn program from 2013-2016 and won numerous All-Tournament awards and was the Most Valuable Pitcher at the 2016 BCS finals. He relied more on command and deception, like many Florida Burn pitchers, than on raw stuff and velocity and was regularly 86-88 in the summer before his senior year to go with a mid-70’s curveball that was his best pitch, plus an upper 70’s change up. He never pitched at a PG showcase.

Gordon had a successful senior year at Lakewood Ranch (FL) High School, going 4-2, 1.21 with 77 strikeouts in 52 innings and was ranked 229th in the final PG Class of 2017 national rankings. He was signed with Florida but red-shirted in 2018 before transferring to Hillsborough CC for the 2019 season. Gordon threw well in the abbreviated 2020 pandemic season at Central Florida and was off to an excellent start in 2021, going 5-2, 2.77 with 72 strikeouts in 55 innings in 9 starts before going down with an injured elbow and eventually undergoing TJ surgery two months before the 2021 draft.

The Astros liked what they’d seen of Gordon, who was now throwing in the 89-92 mph range and topping out at 94, and picked him in the eighth round despite the injury, signing him to a $127,500 bonus.

Once Gordon was healthy in 2022, he made quick work of rookie ball and both A levels, striking out 78 hitters and only walking 8 hitters in 53 innings.

2024 Summary

Gordon spent all of 2024 in AAA, posting an 8-2, 3.94 record in 123 innings and 24 starts, giving him over 250 innings of experience at the AA and AAA levels the past two seasons.

2025 Perspective

Given that he will be 26-years old at the start of the 2025 season with extensive upper minor league experience, Gordon is basically done with his development. He’ll be at or near the top of the list when the Astros need to add pitching next spring and summer.

2023 Featured PG Player: RHP Spencer Arrighetti

2024 Update: Arrighetti was unexpectedly called up on April 10 due to injuries on the Astros staff and ended up making 28 starts, going 7-13, 4.53 with an impressive 171 strikeouts in 145 innings.

2022 Featured PG Player: OF Colin Barber
2021 Featured PG Player: 3B Joseph Perez

Los Angeles Angels -- RHP Caden Dana

High School: Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.)
Travel Team: Artillery Scout Team
Final PG Class Ranking: 49
Drafted: 11th round, 2022, Los Angeles Angels
Highest 2024 Level: MLB
2025 Age: 21

Dana was well known to Perfect Game’s Northeast scouts going into the summer of 2021 but he had never pitched at a PG event previously, in part because of the 2020 pandemic year. The big bodied right-hander, who lives in New York but attended school in New Jersey at Don Bosco Prep, made about as outstanding a first impression as possible at his first event, the 2021 PG 17U National Select Championship at the East Cobb Complex in mid-June. Dana was 91-95 mph with an upper 70’s curveball while striking out seven hitters in four innings.

That outing paled in comparison to his performance at the PG National Showcase a month later at Tropicana Field in Florida. Dana struck out all six hitters his faced in a dominant performance, working in the 92-94 mph range and landing a plus power curveball for strikes at will. His report from that event read:

Extra tall and very projectable frame with a classic pitchers build. A primary right-handed pitcher, athletic and in line delivery with a loose and clean arm stroke and 3/4 release. Good angle and some sink to the fastball that showed good quality. Big breaking curveball with 11/5 shape and true swing and miss potential. Can pitch backwards and run the heater on the hands. Changeup has fade and upside. Pounded the zone in an easy outing, really tough on hitters as he struck out all six batters he faced. Selected to play in the Perfect Game All-American Classic.

Dana was outstanding his senior year at Don Bosco, going 8-1, 1.33 with 70 strikeouts and only 13 walks in 47 innings and was named the New Jersey state Player of the Year. He finished his prep career ranked 49th in the Perfect Game 2022 class rankings.

Scouts perceived Dana’s commitment to Kentucky as strong enough to not to risk a high round pick but the Angels saved enough money from their top 10 round selections and signed Dana as an 11th round pick for a $1.5M bonus. In hindsight, that appears to be one of the best decisions in the entire 2022 draft at this point given Dana’s rapid ascent to the big leagues.

2024 Summary

Dana spent all of his age 20 year in AA and become one of the top right-handed pitching prospects in the game, going 9-7, 2.52 in 23 starts and 135 innings, striking out 147 and only allowing 89 hits. Despite that heavy workload, the Angels called him up for three starts in September while also starting his service time clock.

2025 Perspective

The Angels certainly projected their confidence in Dana with their September call up and it’s easy to see that their 2025 starting rotation is wide open. The Angels haven’t been hesitant in the least in advancing players to the Majors quickly.

2023 Featured PG Player: 1B Nolan Schanuel

2024 Update: Schanuel was the Angels regular first baseman all season, posting a .250-13-54/.706 OPS line in 147 games while increasing his power output throughout the season.

2022 Featured PG Player: RHP Landon Marceaux
2021 Featured PG Player: IF Jeremiah Jackson

Athletics -- SS Jacob Wilson

High School: Thousand Oaks HS (Thousand Oaks, CA)
Travel Team: GBG
College: Grand Canyon
Final PG Class Ranking: 500
Drafted: 1st round (6th overall), 2023, Oakland
Highest 2024 Level: MLB
2025 Age: 23

Wilson is the son of former MLB shortstop Jack Wilson, who was also his coach at Thousand Oaks (CA) High School. In the summers, Wilson played for Michael Garciaparra and GBG Baseball, so his early influences and coaching at being a middle infielder were at an elite level

Wilson was a frequent participant in national level PG tournaments with GBG and played especially well every year in the PG Fall Championships held in Arizona, along with playing in Jupiter in 2019. His only PG Showcase was the 2018 PG Underclass All-American Games in San Diego prior to his junior year, when he received a PG grade of 9 and the following report:

Large, athletic frame with square shoulders and a projectable build with room to fill throughout moving forward. Primary second baseman, moves well on feet and shows range going up the middle, flexible actions and takes good angles to the ball, repeats well and hands play out front, quick release on throws from a lower release point, accurate across the diamond. Righthanded hitter, begins with an open stance and a high hand set and back elbow in the box. Moving parts to load and stayed on time in live action, found the barrel regularly. Full swing path through the back and generates leverage when extended out front, creates line drive contact to all parts of the field. Ball came off the barrel well to the opposite field, collected a double down the line in live action; projects moving forward. Good student. Verbal commitment to Grand Canyon.

Wilson started at third base at Grand Canyon as a freshman and moved to shortstop for his sophomore and junior seasons while hitting a combined .361-22-155/.977 OPS is 155 games and showing very sure handed actions and skills and average athleticism at shortstop defensively. Perhaps his most impressive accomplishment over those three years, one that drove a lot of the national publicity for Wilson, was the fact that he only struck out 31 times in three years, including only five times in 217 plate appearances as a junior.

Going into the 2023 draft, scouts were concerned about whether Wilson’s high contact approach might equate to essentially no power at the professional level. That didn’t prove to hurt Wilson’s draft status, though, as he was the first middle infielder selected with the sixth overall pick by the A’s and signed for a $5.5M bonus.

2024 Summary

Wilson’s completely dominant performance the first half of the 2024 minor league season essentially left the Athletics with no choice but to call him up after he hit .433 with 35 extra base hits in 53 games between AA and AAA. A hamstring injury in his first MLB game kept him on the DL long enough to preserve his rookie status for 2025.

2025 Perspective

The starting job would appear to be Wilson’s to lose with how little others at the position gave the team in 2024, especially offensively. It’s not hard to see him building some ROY credentials if that happens.

2023 Featured PG Player: RHP Joe Boyle

2024 Update: Boyle’s command issues came back in 2024 after a promising MLB debut in 2023, as he walked 40 hitters in 47 big league innings while going 3-6, 6.42. He posted similar numbers in AAA as well.

2022 Featured PG Player: C/1B Tyler Soderstrom
2021 Featured PG Player: SS-2B Nick Allen

Seattle Mariners -- IF Cole Young

High School: North Allegheny HS (Wexford, PA)
Travel Team: Canes National
Final PG Class Ranking: 17
Drafted: 1st round (21st overall), 2022, Seattle
Highest 2024 Level: AA
2025 Age: 21

Young was a standout on the PG circuit from when he was 13 years old and played at the 2018 PG 14U Select Festival. He hit a combined .420-9-85 in 107 PG tournament games from 2018-2020, mostly as the shortstop for Canes National, with his best tournament probably being the 2020 WWBA 16U National Championships, where he was named MVP. Young also participated in numerous PG showcases over the course of his high school career and was generally a yard rat who you could count on being in the middle of, and excelling, at every major event.

He played at the 2021 PG National Showcase and at the 2021 Perfect Game All-American Classic, with his National report reading:

Medium, athletic frame with square shoulders and present physical strength proportioned throughout. Quick-twitch, posted a 6.49 60-yard dash. Primary shortstop, fields it out front, soft hands and play extremely well at the ball, advanced defensive actions and very clean overall, shows first step quickness and lateral twitch, can throw accurately from multiple slots with arm strength and accuracy. Left-handed hitter, begins with a slightly open stance and a high hand set at the plate. Sound approach in the box, gets the barrel through the zone, tight turn in swing, gets the barrel through and flashes lift out front, able to work to all fields, line drive contact off of the barrel.

Young hit over .400 every year in high school, including .433 as a senior, but interestingly hit for more power with wood bats in the summer and fall, something scouts surely remembered. He finished his career ranked 17th in the PG national class rankings and held a scholarship to Duke.

The Mariners selected Young with the 21st overall pick in the 2022 draft and signed him to a $3.3M bonus.

2024 Summary

Young spent all of 2024 in AA as a 20-year old, hitting .271-9-57 with 23 steals and 67 walks in 124 games while playing 37 games at second base in addition to his work at shortstop. The Mariners 2022 first round pick already has over 1,100 minor league plate appearances.

2025 Perspective

In a perfect world Young would get another year of development to help grow his power and defensive versatility. But the last time Seattle had even a big league average second baseman was in 2017 with an aging Robinson Cano. Even a 21-year old Young has a strong chance to be their best second baseman since then if given the chance in 2025.

2023 Featured PG Player: MIF Ryan Bliss

2024 Update: Bliss got his first MLB opportunity in 2024, hitting .222-2-9 with 5 SB’s in 63 at-bats after a late-May call-up. He continued to excel in AAA, hitting .269-12-54 with 50 SB’s in 93 games.

2022 Featured PG Player: RHP Emerson Hancock
2021 Featured PG Player: OF Zach DeLoach

Texas Rangers -- RHP Kumar Rocker

High School: North Oconee HS (Bogart, GA)
Travel Team: East Cobb Astros
College: Vanderbilt
Final PG Class Ranking: 8
Drafted: 1st round (3rd overall), 2022, Texas
Highest 2024 Level: MLB
2025 Age: 25

Rocker’s long and winding journey from being the face of the 2018 high school class to finally making his Major League debut in 2024 should probably the topic of a book or movie, as rarely has a story taken more unexpected turns than Rocker’s.

Watching Rocker pitch in high school was fun. The son of College Football Hall of Fame lineman Tracy Rocker, he was every bit of 6-foot-5, 250-pounds of muscle and athleticism on the mound and threw easily and threw strikes. Rocker was touching 90 mph after his freshman year and was sitting in the mid-90’s and topping out at 98 mph at most outings prior to his senior year. He spent much of his high school career ranked first in the 2018 class rankings, although he slipped to eighth by draft time.

Rocker’s report from the 2017 PG National Showcase read as follows:

Extra big physically imposing build, lots of lower half strength. Hands over head delivery, low effort delivery with some spin off the front side, arm is fast and loose and easy. Mid-90's fastball, topped out at 98 mph, might even be more in there, gets big running action at times, shows fastball command and can spot it up to both sides of the plate. Mid-80's slider flashes sharpness, has feel for spinning it. Developing change up with some sinking action. #1 ranked player in the class per the PG rankings. Good student, verbal commitment to Vanderbilt. Selected for the 2017 Perfect Game All-American Classic.

There were two talent-based concerns that scouts had going into the 2018 draft. First, Rocker’s fastball tended to be straight and “light” and the best hitters consistently had good cuts, and often solid contact, against it. Second, Rocker would often lower his arm slot on his mid-80’s slider and get under the pitch. The third, more practical, concern was that Rocker was considered virtually unsingable away from his Vanderbilt commitment.

Rocker’s freshman year at Vanderbilt in 2019 was legendary. He threw a 19 strike out no-hitter in the Super-Regionals and was named the MVP of the College World Series, winning two games as Vanderbilt rolled to the national championship

After the covid year in 2020, Rocker was just as good in 2021, going 14-4, 2.73 with 179 strikeouts in 122 innings, allowing only 75 hits.

The next three years included being picked twice in the first round, 10th overall by the Mets in 2021 and 3rd overall by the Rangers in 2022 (where he eventually signed for a $5.2M bonus). It also included shoulder and elbow surgery, plenty of acrimonious negotiations, a short stint in an independent league and very few innings on the mound.

2024 Summary

Rocker made a very quick recovery from 2023 TJ surgery was so impressive in 36 minor league innings (55 K’s versus only 24 hits allowed) that he was called up in September and made three big league starts, posting a 3.86 ERA in 11 2/3’s innings.

2025 Perspective

Rocker’s injury history and lack of innings since his junior year at Vanderbilt in 2021 make nothing a certainty but Rocker would appear to be well positioned to challenge for a spot in the Rangers rotation out of spring training. The organization strongly needs one or more of their young pitching prospects to step up.

2023 Featured PG Player: OF Evan Carter

2024 Update: Carter spent much of the 2024 season on the DL with a back injury, hitting only .188-5-15 in 45 MLB games. His inability to play contributed to the Rangers disappointing 2024 season after Carter was a 2023 post-season star.

2022 Featured PG Player: RHP Owen White
2021 Featured PG Player: RHP Cole Winn

PERFECTGAME.TV