Angels' Van Scoyoc twirls scoreless AFL start

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- There were a handful of contributing factors that led to Connor Van Scoyoc becoming the first hurler to work five scoreless frames in the 2022 Arizona Fall League campaign on Friday afternoon for Scottsdale. It took consistency with his pitch mix in the zone, some timely swings-and-misses and savvy defensive positioning; it also helped that his dad, Aaron, flew in the night before to cheer him on and see him pitch in person.

The 6-foot-6 right-hander struck out three without any walks and limited the Glendale bats to just three hits over his outing. Even with the game shortened to seven innings, the Scorpions’ 2-0 win at Camelback Ranch marks the first shutout victory of the AFL season.

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Van Scoyoc’s family baseball culture is extensive: his great uncle, Mike Boddicker, is a former All-Star who pitched 14 Major League seasons, primarily with the Orioles; his brother, Spencer, played baseball at Arizona State, where Connor was committed prior to the Angels selecting him in the 11th round of the 2018 Draft; his grandfather is a revered high school coach in Iowa; and his father, Aaron, who played three seasons in the Yankees’ system.

Van Scoyoc was something of an unlikely candidate to record the league’s first scoreless performance based on his first two fall starts in which he allowed 11 runs over just five innings.

“I learned a lot from my first two outings,” Van Scoyoc said. “I struggled a little bit here and there, but I found out the biggest thing is that even with a smaller zone, just get ahead and stay ahead.

“People are more aggressive, especially in the zone [in the AFL]. Some big swings, easy to read hitters more now. … In [Single]-A, everybody has similar swings, everybody had the same approach; now it’s a different approach, different batters.”

Of the 18 batters Van Scoyoc faced in his third start, he threw a first-pitch strike to 13 of them. He deftly interweaved his entire repertoire, which consists of a sinker/cutter combo, along with a developing breaking pitch – all of which he has honed with members of the organization’s coaching staff.

The only inning that presented considerable traffic on the basepaths was the first, and that was largely a byproduct of Van Scoyoc’s over-exuberance. The second Glendale batter chopped a ball destined for a fielder, but the Angels’ hurler got a paw to it, allowing him to reach; after another single put runners on the corners, the righty had to bow his neck.

After falling behind the Glendale cleanup batter, Rece Hinds (CIN No. 18) -- who mashed a grand slam the night prior -- Van Scoyoc peppered the zone and got the strikeout he needed. He retired the next batter to escape unscathed, setting the tone for his first AFL win.

“Throwing everything for a strike,” Van Scoyoc said of what clicked. “Big league hitters, they don’t chase that much; Minor League hitters you can get them out out of the zone -- [in the AFL], you got to get them out in the zone.”

The 22-year-old spent the entirety of the 2022 regular season at Single-A Inland Empire, where the 140 strikeouts that he compiled marked the most of any hurler in the Halos’ system at a single level. After a rocky debut season in ‘21 which saw him log a 7.99 ERA in seven Single-A outings, he found his groove at the onset of this past summer: over a 13-outing stretch from June 9-Sept. 3, he went 9-0 with a 1.93 ERA, throwing 65% of his pitches for strikes.

The Scorpions’ shutout was polished off by Giants right-hander Tyler Myrick, who retired all six batters that he faced en route to his second save. He struck out four batters in the process, all of which rank among their respective clubs’ Top 30 prospects, including the Dodgers’ Andy Pages, who is MLB’s No. 66 overall prospect.