Angels Outfield Prospect Named as Potential 2024 Breakout Star
The Los Angeles Angels aren't coming into the 2024 season with much promise of contending for postseason play. They lost their best player in free agency, hired a new manager and coaching staff, and are dependent on the health of two oft-injured veterans to determine their success.
The Halos won 73 games last season and might be even worse in 2024. As it stands, they would have to surprise several better-constructed teams as an underdog in order to play into October. It's an unusual situation for a team that has tried to avoid the perception of "rebuilding" for the better part of two decades.
Although the Angels are focused on the present, their future looks bright. As we've seen in the last couple seasons, many of their top prospects got a shot in the big leagues quickly.
The Halos' farm system has typically rated poorly among most evaluators. (Outlets will be compiling their initial 2024 organizational rankings in the next month or so.) The Halos still have some great prospects, including 18-year-old outfielder Nelson Rada.
Rada may be young, but he is on the rise. Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently rated Rada as the breakout star for the organization.
Los Angeles Angels: OF Nelson Rada (Age: 18) Signed for $1.9 million out of Venezuela in 2022, Rada hit .311/.446/.439 in the Dominican Summer League in his pro debut, and he made the jump straight to Single-A for his first season stateside in 2023. Still 17 for much of the year, he hit .276/.396/.346 with 21 extra-base hits and 55 steals in 115 games. He currently profiles as a table-setting center fielder, but there is potential for him to develop more extra-base pop in the coming years.
The 18-year-old is the number-3 prospect in the Angels' farm system, according to MLB Pipeline. In two minor league seasons, Rada has slashed .285/.410/.371 with a .781 OPS, three home runs, and 74 RBIs in 603 ABs and 165 games. He also added 82 stolen bases — 55 in his age-17 season at Class-A Inland Empire.
The Angels signed Rada as an amateur out of Venezuela in Jan. 2022. He has ascended quickly ever since. A left-handed hitter, Rada is among the top-ranked outfielders and is the youngest player from the 2022 international class.
Rada is a product of the Angels' Dominican Republic academy, and he impressed in instructional league play from the start. This is only the beginning for a young outfielder whose ceiling could be sky-high.
