Being left-handed is a huge benefit when playing baseball, especially for pitchers. From the Hall of Famers like Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson to an ageless wonder in Jaime Moyer. A lefty almost always will have a spot on a roster. In this edition of the prospect profile, let’s look at the Los Angeles Angels’ number 3 prospect, left-handed starting pitcher Ky Bush.
Prospect Profile Ky Bush
The 2021 Season
The draft class of 2021 had some high-end pitching prospects. The first 10 selections in this draft were pitchers, the first of which was Jack Leiter, the ace of the Vanderbilt staff that was also loaded. With their 1st selection, the Angels took Sam Bachman with the 9th overall pick. Later on with their 2nd round pick, they took the left-handed starter Bush.
Bush is a 6’6″, 240-pound lefty from Saint Mary’s College of California. In his 2021 season, Bush put up a 2.99 ERA with 7 wins in 14 games started at the college level. That was followed up by some short work at High-A that yielded a 4.50 ERA and 0-2 record in 5 games started. But that was not all that important considering it was just his first taste of professional baseball.
Ky Bush, one of the #Angels top prospects, has begun throwing in extended Spring Training.https://t.co/6wc3LSiub2
— AngelsNation.com (@AngelsNationLA) May 31, 2023
It wasn’t all that bad in the short time he got to showcase his stuff. A 20/5 strike-out-to-walk ratio could have been better. However, measuring the raw potential of a guy in a small window is beyond difficult. Just seeing them make the jump to the next level at High-A is a challenging task. Lately, the Angels have been starting their top guys at Double-A, which is challenging for many prospects as it’s the first roadblock on the road to majors.
First Full Season
2022 was a giant step forward for prospect Ky Bush. His numbers in an entire season at Double-A were as follows: a 7-6 record with a 3.61 ERA in 21 starts. This was on top of a K/9 of 8.8, an improvement from the college rate of about 7. His walks per-9 dropped from 3.8 in limited action in 2021 to 2.5 in 2022. The Double-A Trash Pandas were incredibly good all season. So good in fact, there are a handful of players who have had call-ups to the majors between 2021 and 2022.
Another sign that Bush was doing well was his opportunity to pitch in the Futures Game during Major League Baseball’s All-Star break. This game allows fans to see players that could help and be on their team’s major league roster. He pitched a scoreless inning while facing this year’s top prospect, the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker. In this inning, his fastball had an average velocity of 93.8 MPH.
Bush’s 2022 season was definitely one to build off of. He proved he can get the opponent out and that’s honestly the biggest key. So many young pitchers are throwers and not pitchers, meaning that they rely a lot on their velocity over the location of the pitches to get outs. If Bush can figure out the pitching part before the throwing part, he could be a great pitcher in the rotation or the bullpen.
Projecting Bush’s Future
The Angels have issues on the pitching side again this year. From vets not living up to their potential, guys struggling, and some just being injured. This has led to them having to find replacements all over the place. Signing free agents with high upside and low risk. Promoting prospects from within the organization. Every possible option is on the table.
Bush could be on his way to Anaheim soon. If Aaron Loup continues to struggle, the hands of the Angels could be forced into promoting their 3rd best prospect in Bush to Anaheim. What’s the likelihood of that happening? It’s probably relatively likely. It seems that they are willing to let Loup figure it out as of writing this. Could that change as time goes on? Absolutely.
The benefits of being left-handed in baseball always allow the door to never be fully closed. The amount of hitters who are dangerous and left-handed is high. The combination of Loup not being able to get those guys out and Bush’s ability to get guys out might be all that needs to happen for him to be the next young Angles pitcher to be called-up to the majors. At this point, they could be waiting for a trade to appear, for Bush to come off the IL, or for Loup to get it right. Regardless of the variables, it seems that Bush will be up in the majors sometime in 2023
Photo Credit- Kevin Jairaj- USA TODAY Sports
Players Mentioned- Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, Jamie Moyer, Ky Bush, Jack Leiter, Sam Bachman, Jordan Walker, Aaron Loup
