Phillies to Pandas: Pair of Newly-Traded Arms Get Fresh Start in Rocket City

One trade changed the careers and lives of two pitchers who now find themselves in the Rocket City Trash Pandas rotation. On July 27, the Los Angeles Angels traded closer Carlos Estévez to the Philadelphia Phillies for left-handed pitcher Samuel Aldegheri and right-handed pitcher George Klassen.

Both pitchers received by the Angels found themselves as top prospects for their new organization with Aldgheri at No. 8 and Klassen at No. 3.

For both players, the Phillies was the only major league organization they had ever known and now would have to continue their careers with a new club.

Both 22-year-olds, Aldegheri is the more experienced of the duo as he first signed with the Phillies in 2021 as a minor league free agent.

“It was tough because it was the first team that I signed with,” Aldegheri said. “The guys I have over there were my best friends in the U.S, at the same time I know it’s a business.”

Aldegheri started his professional career in his home country of Italy having played for Parma Clima Baseball for two seasons before signing with the Phillies in July of 2019.

The Verona, Italy native moved to the United States and made his debut in the organization in the Florida Complex League as a 19-year-old.

Aldegheri had risen all the way to Double-A Reading and made two starts there before the trade happened while his team was on the road.

“I flew back home because we were playing on the road in New Hampshire,” Aldegheri said. “I packed my stuff and flew to Biloxi to meet the team, it went by really fast.”

Aldegheri was assigned directly to the Trash Pandas after joining the Angels where he made his debut in front of his new home crowd on August 7.

“It’s been a good experience,” Aldegheri said. “I’m lucky to be around great staff and everyone gave me a warm welcome. I've been here for three weeks but I feel like I've been here for a year.”

On the other side of the coin, Klassen’s road to the Trash Pandas saw more miles flown over the past year.

Having been drafted by the Phillies in the sixth round in the 2023 First-Year Player Draft out of Minnesota, Klassen made his professional debut this season for Single-A Clearwater.

The West Bend, Wisconsin native was quick to make a good impression, having been named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Month in April.

Klassen moved up a level later in the season to High-A Jersey Shore where after five starts, he found out he was hitting the road again. Only this time, it was to the other side of the country.

“A lot goes into it, you get notified that you're gone and less than two days later you're actually there,” Klassen said. “It doesn’t hit you until you're at the facility, so for me it didn’t hit until I was on the plane going to California.”

On a day where he was scheduled to start, Klassen instead found himself saying his farewells to his teammates.

“It’s not the best feeling in the world,” Klassen said. “I made a couple friends that I still talk to, we spent almost a year together so that part’s a bummer.”

Unlike Aldegheri, Klassen’s first stop in the Angels organization was Single-A Inland Empire where he made one start and struck out a career-high 10 batters in five innings.

That start led him to his fourth professional team of the year: Rocket City.

“It’s been a lot going from one organization to another but the best way to deal with it is to take everything one step at a time,” Klassen said. “If you take it all in at once it’s overwhelming so I take it day by day and activity by activity.”

Even though this season is his first time playing in professional games, Klassen feels like he’s experienced a career’s worth of emotions.

“I feel like I’ve covered every single check point,” Klassen said. “I know how it feels to get promoted, traded and figure out a way to compete when you're traveling across the country. The easiest way to fulfill that is working with what you’ve got, stick to your roots and enjoy the process.”

Both players went to an organization they knew little about beforehand.

“I knew a little bit because of Shohei Ohtani, and Logan O’Hoppe was with the Phillies, him and [Mickey] Moniak,” Aldegheri said. “Only things you can see on social media.”

“Before the draft I hardly spoke with them,” Klassen said. “I’m just getting my feet wet over here.”

Now being a top prospect in the Angels organization comes with the outside noise of potentially having the chance to make your major league debut at any given moment.

Former Trash Pandas Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel were both the first from their draft class to make their big-league debut. Current teammate Christian Moore was the first from this year’s class to reach the Double-A level.

Both pitchers are now learning to tune out the clangor.

“A little at first but then I realize that it doesn’t really matter, and I need to do my job,” Aldegheri said. “Whatever I need to get on top, whatever happens is gonna happen I’m not gonna think about it.”

“Once you start putting outside factors in your head it affects how you play and go about your day,” Klassen said. “You just gotta make things simple wherever you're placed, and it makes playing a lot more fun.”

As both pitchers close their regular season, they’ve each found something to work on to start their time with the Angels organization.

“One thing that I really like is we started to use my change up against lefties,” Aldegheri said. “I never did that with the Phillies but in my second outing here I started to throw it, and it was feeling good, in the bullpen it’s moving so it’s something I can add to my arsenal.”

“In bullpens all that work is keeping my body more centered to the mound and not trying to do too much,” Klassen said. “It’s seeing how simple I can make my pitching mechanics and my mindset when I go out there.”