Another rising player from the baseball Mecca that is Arizona, Wood was built more like a match stick before his Senior season. He busted out that year as a power hitter. The performance was good enough to get him a first round pick (23rd) overall with the Angels, and set him up with a juicy $1.3 million signing bonus.
With the Rookie Arizona Angels he had an impressive start with a .308 average and a .462 slugging percentage even if he was dinger-free during his rookie stint, a troubling footnote for a power hitter.
He was promoted to Provo in the Pioneer League and hit the dog days of August, batting below .200 for the final weeks of the month, dragging his average down to .278 in an otherwise booming run.
There's a big difference between Rookie and Low-A ball and high school, so his home run production, which didn't top 5 dingers for 2005, suffered.
In 2004 Wood was sent to the Midwest League Cedar Rapids team. He popped off .251/.404 for the Kernals.
Player: Richard
Brandon Wood (Brandon)
Position: Shortstop (SS)
Height: 6-2 Weight: 180
Birthdate:03.02.85 Birthplace: Austin, Texas
Home Town:Scottsdale, AZ
High School:Horizon High School
Bats: R Throws:R
Organization:Los Angeles Angels
at Anaheim
Acquired: Angels, 2003 1st Round 23rd OA
Signed By:Jeff Scholzen
Last Ballclub:Rancho
Cucamonga Quakes
2004 FAB50 Ranking: NR
Thus far 2005 has been Wood's breakout year. Playing for the High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, he's starting to have the kind of season that we'd expect from a player of his caliber. Batting .315/.652 to date his measurements are an enticing 46-4-36, if you like doubles, triples, and dingers. You have to like the 36 dingers, particularly. It affirms that he's the kind of big bat that the Angels were paying for.
We see Brandon progressing well through the system. He's on a fast track, but he's not ready for prime time quite yet. If he keeps putting up these kind of numbers, and has a good spring, we expect to see him in a Stingers uniform in 2006, with an eye towards him being available as an every-day player for the Angels in 2007.
