Angels 6-foot-11 prospect Peyton Olejnik enters Arizona Fall League with a plan to master repeatable pitching at the next level

Peyton Olejnik is bringing a simple idea into the Arizona Fall League: if his tall frame is going to be an advantage, he has to make his delivery repeatable. The 6-foot-11 Angels prospect grew into his height later than most, and the physical matchup has been matched by the way his development has climbed from innings to performance over the last few pro seasons.

Olejnik’s path to pitching started with delayed specialization. The Angels’ release notes he played basketball in middle school but was mostly a point and shooting guard early in his teens, then shifted to pitching seriously by the time he finished eighth grade. His growth followed a familiar family pattern, with his father, Tom Olejnik, listed as a former Michigan State hurler who missed time due to Tommy John surgery.

As his body expanded, Olejnik’s pitching workload expanded with it. He is described as about 6 feet as a high school sophomore, then 6-foot-4 as a junior, 6-foot-7 as a senior, and roughly 6-foot-10 when he took a college mound, reaching 6-foot-11 by the time he became a professional. The Angels also link his height gains to strides as a pitcher, including a more substantial surge once he had more innings.

The organization points to production as the reason Olejnik is being promoted through development steps. After beginning his career at Triton College in Illinois for one year, he moved to Miami (Ohio) and recorded 84 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings. He later built momentum in the MLB Draft League with five starts for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, finishing with a 2.08 ERA and a 13.3 K/9 rate before the Angels selected him in the sixth round of the 2024 Draft.

In the minors, the Angels say Olejnik’s development has warranted a full-year push toward higher-level competition. After time at Single-A Inland Empire and High-A Tri-City, they sent him to the Arizona Fall League to springboard him toward the upper minors. The release also frames the AFL as a place to work on his pitch arsenal, including a “new-look cutter” as part of his mix.

Olejnik’s stated emphasis is mechanics he can control, especially given the difficulty some pitchers face in repeating deliveries with long levers. Mesa pitching coach Bo Martino, described as the Angels’ coordinator of pitcher performance and analysis, said Olejnik’s height gives him “presence” and supports an aggressive approach, while Olejnik said he is working to repeat his delivery even when some days are “not synced up.”