Angels Promote Hot Prospect Who Made History at Double-A

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 17, 2024

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

After just three games with Double-A Rocket City, Caleb Ketchup has been promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake.

The Los Angeles Angels moved the infielder to Triple-A Salt Lake from the Rocket City Trash Pandas as of Saturday. With this move, the Trash Pandas’ roster now sits at 27 players.

Ketchup debuted with the Bees on Sunday and went 2-for-4 with a triple. Despite his best efforts, the Bees couldn’t secure a win in their final road game of the season, falling to a five-game losing streak in El Paso after a 6-2 defeat at Southwest University Park on Sunday afternoon.

.@trashpandas Roster Move:

INF Caleb Ketchup has been promoted to the @SaltLakeBees

Ketchup started in two games for the Trash Pandas and became the first Rocket City player since Denzer Guzman on May 7 to homer in his first Double-A at-bat pic.twitter.com/pbwaahUvHf

— Logan Bourandas (@LoganBourandas) September 14, 2024

In his first Double-A at-bat, the infielder made an immediate impact with a three-run homer and also swiped a base. With that home run, Ketchup became the first Trash Panda to homer in his debut at-bat since Denzer Guzman did it on May 7.

Caleb Ketchup put a little extra mustard into his first Double-A knock, which he's sure to relish 🌭@trashpandas | @Angels | @BisonBaseball pic.twitter.com/t0TsjQuJFr

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 12, 2024

This marks Ketchup's first time on a Triple-A roster.

Drafted by the Angels in the 15th round of the 2023 MLB Draft, Ketchup appeared in 120 games at High-A this season. The Jonesboro, Ga., native posted a .207 batting average with six home runs, and 37 runs batted in and led High-A with 62 stolen bases. Now in his second professional season, he previously played 21 games split between High-A and the Angels’ ACL affiliate.

2024 Trash Panda Caleb Ketchup made his Triple-A debut today and went 2-for-4 with a triple https://t.co/m2O5ejHFHd

— Logan Bourandas (@LoganBourandas) September 15, 2024

Ketchup played college ball at Lipscomb from 2022-23, where he hit .269 with 22 home runs, 69 RBI, and swiped 61 bases. He was named ASUN Defensive Player of the Year in 2022. Before that, he began his collegiate career at the University of Georgia, transferring after the 2021 season.

As a redshirt freshman at Lipscomb, the shortstop quickly made his mark. Ketchup recorded 155 assists, ranking third in the ASUN, along with 69 putouts. He maintained a .933 fielding percentage for the season and was involved in 22 double plays.

From the Lipscomb Bisons to the Los Angeles Angels, Caleb Ketchup has been drafted to the Angels in the 2023 MLB Draft. Congratulations, Caleb! pic.twitter.com/acLY6VuvMi

— Lipscomb University (@lipscomb) July 12, 2023

Ketchup and the Bees will return home to Smith’s Ballpark for their final series of the season, taking on the Oklahoma City Baseball Club in a six-game showdown.

This will be only the second matchup between the two teams this season; Salt Lake previously traveled to Oklahoma City in the first week of May.

While the Bees won the opening game of that series, they lost four of the following five.

The series kicks off at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday.