described him as a fierce competitor,<\/a> while his mother said during his recovery from injury that the family never doubted he would return stronger.<\/p>\nAfter being drafted, Shores reported to the Angels\u2019 complex in Tempe, where he began his professional career. He was later invited back as a non-roster player to the club\u2019s major league spring training camp \u2013 another step in his development toward the big leagues.<\/p>\n
While most of his work took place on the back fields of the Angels\u2019 complex, Shores was facing professional hitters for the first time and building toward a defined role in the Angels\u2019 system.<\/p>\n
Garcia believes Shores\u2019 competitiveness and perseverance will continue to carry him forward as he develops into a professional pitcher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce he finds his role, whether they end up using him as a starter, as a closer, I think they’re going to get a guy that has potential to play in the league for quite a while,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cI don’t doubt him for one minute in anything that he sets his mind to.\u201d<\/p>\n
From a towering high school pitcher in Midland, Texas to a national champion at LSU and now a developing prospect in the minor leagues, Shores\u2019 journey has been shaped as much by adversity and determination as by velocity \u2013 a combination the Angels believe could carry him to big things in his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/04\/06\/chase-shores-los-angeles-angels\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org”>Cronkite News<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrom Midland to Anaheim: Angels prospect Chase Shores\u2019 journey shaped by size, setbacks, competitiveness<\/p>\n
Riley Reisner, Cronkite News
\nApril 6, 2026<\/p>\n
PHOENIX \u2013 On the field of the Los Angeles Angels\u2019 complex in Tempe, towering right-hander Chase Shores was hard to miss during spring training, where he was a non-roster invitee.<\/p>\n
At 6-feet-8, Shores has long stood out on a baseball field, but those who have coached him say what separates him is not just his size or his 100 mph fastball \u2013 it is his competitiveness.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s probably one of the most competitive kids I’ve ever been around,\u201d said Eric Garcia, Shores\u2019 coach at Legacy High School in Midland, Texas. \u201cSometimes, you know, to a fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
That competitiveness is one reason the Angels selected Shores in the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft, and it will be on display Tuesday when Shores is scheduled to make his first start of the season for the Angels\u2019 High-A affiliate Tri-City Dust Devils against the Everett AquaSox, marking the next step in his progression.<\/p>\n
Garcia, who first coached Shores as an assistant during the big right-hander\u2019s junior season before taking over as head coach the next season, said Shores\u2019 obvious physical tools were hard to miss even then.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the first thing was probably before I got here, his sophomore year, his size just was not like any other,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cHe just continued to build on that as he got bigger and stronger, into his senior year.\u201d<\/p>\n
By his junior year, Shores was already throwing in the low 90s, Garcia said, making him a major league prospect. But Garcia said Shores\u2019 competitiveness showed up just as much at the plate as it did on the mound.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn high school, he was one of the better hitters we had as well,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cHe was ultra-competitive at the plate. He was ultra-competitive on the mound, and you couldn’t ask for a better kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
That competitive streak carried Shores to LSU, where he was part of a national championship team and later worked his way back from Tommy John surgery \u2013 a recovery that tested him mentally more than physically. Shores pitched the final 2\u2154 innings of the second and deciding game of the College World Series final series, yielding just one hit and no runs to earn the save in a 5-3 victory over Coastal Carolina<\/p>\n
\u201cFor him to have to sit an entire year at LSU and watch from the dugout, that was probably the most mentally taxing thing,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cI think that’s why you saw that show when he finally got to pitch in the College World Series and helped LSU close out that national championship. I think that was kind of a culmination of what he went through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shores has spoken about his focus on reaching the major leagues as quickly as possible, regardless of role. After being drafted by the Angels, Shores said his goal was simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe faster I get to the big leagues is really all I care about. Whatever role that fits \u2026 that\u2019s the role I will take,\u201d Shores told the Midland Reporter-Telegram after signing with the Angels.<\/p>\n
The Angels saw both the physical tools and the mentality when they drafted Shores. General manager Perry Minasian said the organization was drawn not just to Shores\u2019 size and velocity, but to his character \u2013 including the competitiveness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat drew us to him was the makeup, and what kind of person he is, and how important he takes this, and how much he loves it, and how good he wants to be at it,\u201d Minasian said. \u201cAnybody can see the talent. It was the intangibles that really made him stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n
That pro-like mentality, Garcia said, has been there since high school \u2013 not just in games, but in the way Shores interacted with others.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was stopping and signing autographs for little kids,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cAlways willing to work with the youth at our camps and stuff like that. He just had the whole package when it comes to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shores\u2019 parents, Bryan and Nicole Shores, both former college athletes, also played a major role in shaping that mindset. His father once described him as a fierce competitor, while his mother said during his recovery from injury that the family never doubted he would return stronger.<\/p>\n
After being drafted, Shores reported to the Angels\u2019 complex in Tempe, where he began his professional career. He was later invited back as a non-roster player to the club\u2019s major league spring training camp \u2013 another step in his development toward the big leagues.<\/p>\n
While most of his work took place on the back fields of the Angels\u2019 complex, Shores was facing professional hitters for the first time and building toward a defined role in the Angels\u2019 system.<\/p>\n
Garcia believes Shores\u2019 competitiveness and perseverance will continue to carry him forward as he develops into a professional pitcher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce he finds his role, whether they end up using him as a starter, as a closer, I think they’re going to get a guy that has potential to play in the league for quite a while,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cI don’t doubt him for one minute in anything that he sets his mind to.\u201d<\/p>\n
From a towering high school pitcher in Midland, Texas to a national champion at LSU and now a developing prospect in the minor leagues, Shores\u2019 journey has been shaped as much by adversity and determination as by velocity \u2013 a combination the Angels believe could carry him to big things in his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.<\/p>\n
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