Angels select Miami (Ohio) pitcher Sam Bachman ninth overall in MLB draft

Making their highest overall draft selection in 24 years, the Angels picked right-handed pitcher Sam Bachman out of Miami (Ohio) University ninth overall in Sunday’s first round.

The hard-throwing 21-year-old became the second straight college pitcher the Angels have taken with a first-round pick, following Reid Detmers’ selection last year at No. 10.

And like Detmers, Bachman profiles as a prospect who could potentially have a short track to the big leagues.

His fastball reaches 100 mph and has natural movement, a pitch his college coach Danny Hayden compared to that of Cincinnati Reds starter Luis Castillo, a former All-Star.

Bachman’s slider can induce whiffs or weakly hit ground balls. He also has a steadily improving changeup that could be the key to his long-term development.

“It’s a dynamic pitch package that plays off itself,” Angels scouting director Matt Swanson said. “The weapons are really impressive. What’s really impressive is the ground-ball rate for him too. It’s not completely just a pure power pitcher. He also has a lot of finesse and grace to how he goes about it on the mound.”

When the Angels went on the clock Sunday, highly touted Vanderbilt pitcher Kumar Rocker was still available, staying on the board far later than most mock drafts projected.

The Angels, however, stuck with Bachman, who some pundits said profiled more as a reliever but the Angels believe can be an effective starter long-term.

“Just spend 10 minutes with him on a Zoom and it’s just very obvious,” Swanson said, “how much Sam genuinely cares about his craft.”