First pitcher selected in this year\u2019s draft: Jackson Flora of UC Santa Barbara, taken fourth overall by the San Francisco Giants.<\/p>\n
Bremner followed the first round of Saturday\u2019s draft from an airplane, watching on the seat-back screen in front of him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was cool to see someone I knew get picked that high,\u201d Bremner said. \u201cHe\u2019s stoked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under former general manager Perry Minasian<\/a>, college players would be stoked to be drafted by the Angels<\/a>, who did not hesitate to promote top prospects to the major leagues<\/a> after the briefest of minor-league stints.<\/p>\n American League catcher Nathan Flewelling greets American League pitcher Tyler Bremner, left, during the MLB All-Star Futures game on Sunday in Philadelphia. <\/p>\n (Chris Szagola \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n Bremner has yet to rise above Class A, but he did participate in Sunday\u2019s Futures Game. He retired the only batter he faced.<\/p>\n The pitchers whom the Angels might well have taken in place of him, Kade Anderson and Seth Hernandez, each pitched a scoreless inning in the game.<\/p>\n After the Angels drafted Bremner with the second pick, the Seattle Mariners selected Anderson, an LSU product considered the most polished pitcher available. Anderson is 8-1 with a 1.36 ERA at double A, likely the next man up should the Mariners\u2019 rotation need one.<\/p>\n The Mariners had alerted him after the first pick \u2014 infielder Eli Willits, by the Washington Nationals \u2014 that they would take him with the third, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI got to watch the Angels make their pick, and then it was my turn,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI never talked to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Anderson signed for $8.8 million and Bremner for $7.7 million. Under Minasian, the Angels chose to spend less on the first-round pick and spread the savings among players drafted in lower rounds.<\/p>\n Hernandez, the first high school pitcher selected last year, played at Corona High, about 20 miles from Angel Stadium. Hernandez is 6-foot-1 with a 2.61 ERA at Class A for the Pittsburgh Pirates, with 111 strikeouts in 69 innings.<\/p>\n He said he had talked with the Angels but did not expect them to select him because he \u201cknew what direction they were going.\u201d (Translation: trying to save money in the first round.)<\/p>\n \u201cIt would have been cool to go there,\u201d Hernandez said, \u201cbut I\u2019m happy with where I\u2019m at with the Pirates.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever success the Angels might have in developing players drafted in the lower rounds, their 2025 draft will be remembered for this: They had their choice of any pitcher in America, and they chose Bremner.<\/p>\n![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783935418_531_.jpeg\")
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