Around the Farm: May 13, 2013

By Jim Pete

May 14, 2013

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Around the Farm takes a quick look at some of yesterday’s performances by Indians prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday’s game.

T.J. House: SP, Columbus Clippers: W (1-2), 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ER, 7K:

House opened the year off with a solid outing, but ever since then, he’s gotten absolutely torched. Coming into Monday Night’s game, he had given up 12 earned runs over ten innings, while walking six and striking out only three. For those that saw him pitch in Carolina over his first two seasons, it was very reminiscent of his early struggles in the system. The difference is that this really isn’t the same ballplayer, and Monday Night’s performance showcased the short memory that he’s acquired. When House finds his delivery and pelts the strike zone, he’s a very good starting pitcher, and that’s just what he did against Rochester. He made 99 pitches, with 63 strikes, and induced 12 groundouts against only two flyouts. When you add the seven K’s to that, you see just how effective he was.

Francisco Lindor: SS, Carolina Mudcats: 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, E (2):

The Indians top prospect has been struggling a bit with the stick of late. Heading into Monday Night’s game, he had gone 4-for-24 over his previous seven games. While he had supplemented some of that with five walks, it was still his first real mini-slump of the still-new 2013 season. With his two hits tonight, however, Lindor is still hitting .300 over his last ten games, and hitting .333 on the season overall. His .333 average is tied for second in the league, and he’s one of only seven players hitting over .300 in a league known for pitching. The key with Lindor is stamina this year. If he can maintain this into the summer, he’ll be back in Ohio before you know it. His two errors give him six on the season.

Jerrud Sabourin: 1B, Carolina Mudcats: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K:

Admit it.

Every day when you check the minor league box scores, or when you check ATF in your daily visits, you keep thinking, “There’s no way Sabourin is going to keep showing up with these multi-hit games.” I get that line of thinking. The problem with it is that after a year, you have to start thinking there’s more to this kid than meets the eye. He’s currently tied with Lindor with a .333 average, and is continuing his moniker as a “doubles machine,” with his tenth double of the year, and his sixth in his last ten ballgames. He has 19 walks on the year, against only 18 K’s, and you just have to believe that his advanced approach is carrying him in the lower levels. Let’s hope he can continue to progress, because there’s nothing like backing an underdog. Of course, if he keeps hitting like this, is he really an underdog?

•Cord Phelps: LF/1B, Columbus: 0-for-5, 4 K: Talk about dropping off the face of the prospect earth. Phelps is only hitting .175 this year in Columbus, and you have to wonder if his brief stints and subsequent struggles at the big league level haven’t affected his mental game at this point. The golden sombrero didn’t help things out tonight.

•Matt LaPorta: 1B, Columbus: 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 BB: LaPorta’s offense has tapered off a bit after his torrid start, but he’s still got six extra-base hits, seven runs and eight RBI in only eight games. Yeah, it’s too little, too late, but you do like to see guys that don’t quit, and it’s clear that LaPorta still has a lot to prove.

•Omir Santos: C, Columbus: 2-for-3, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K: Santos may be the hottest player on the team right now. He’s 14-34 over his last ten games, has hits in eight of his last ten, and has a .412/.487/.529 slash over that stretch.

•Preston Guilmet: Closer, Columbus: S (12): 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 2 K: Guilmet got the save, but there are a lot of crooked numbers in his line. Guilmet will have games like this, but the key to his success going forward will be separation. He has to avoid bunching games like this together. He’s now given up four earned runs over his last 3 1/3.

•Justin Toole: 2B, Akron: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K: You never know where Justin Toole is going to show up in the organization. The defensive utility whiz moves through the organization whenever there’s a need to fill a hole, and he generally plays solid baseball. He’s hitting .423 in his eight game stint with the Aeros, and has hits in every game except for when he game in as a defensive replacement on Sunday night.

•Carlos Moncrief: RF, Akron: 2-for-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K: Once again, Moncrief continues his hot streak while I cover his ATF’s with another multi-hit performance. He’s 8-for-16 over my last four games of coverage. Over his last ten overall, he’s hitting .289, with three runs, three doubles, a homer and five RBI.

•Kyle Bellows: DH, Akron: 2-for-4, 1 K: Bellows is 4-for-8 over his last two games, and is hitting the ball well in 2013 after an injury-plagued 2012 that saw him play in only 59 games.

•Matt Packer: SP, Akron: L (1-5), 5 2/3 IP, 11 H, 5 R/4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR: When you give up 11 hits in less than six innings of work, you really aren’t going to be successful. What’s moderately amazing is that he only gave up five runs. Packer’s pitched better than his record would suggest, but has really been up and down. He’s been so hittable though, giving up 58 hits in 42 innings. When you throw in the 17 walks against only 22 K’s, you can see the struggle.

•Austin Adams: RP, Akron: 2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 3 K: Great outing for Adams, who really is pitching extremely well in his return from injury. In his nine games back, he’s pitched in 12 2/3 innings, striking out 21, against only six walks and nine hits. Outstanding stuff, really, and you have to start including Adams in your top-end relief discussion at this point going forward.

•Jordan Smith: RF, Carolina: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K: There isn’t a hotter hitter for the Mudcats than Jordan Smith. Over his last six games, he’s had two hits in five of them, scored four runs, hit four doubles and driven in five runs. He’s 10-for-19 during that stretch, and those worried about his slow start can breathe a sigh of relief. He’s struggled in the extra-base hit department, but his two doubles tonight are a good sign.

•Nick Pasquale: SP, Carolina: L (0-1), 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R/ER, 2 BB, 1 K: Pasquale made his debut for Carolina after a solid start to the year with Lake County. He struggled in his opening volley for the Muddies, but it will be interesting to see what happens once he gets his legs under him.

•Enosil Tejeda and Michael Goodnight: 1 IP each, 3 K each: You have to love reliever lines when they go one inning with three K’s and nothing else. It’s not often you see it twice in one High A game, but it happened tonight. Unfortunately, the Mudcats still lost, but what can you do.

•Lake County Offense: 3-for-30, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K: Lake County has managed five hits in two games. I really should just leave it there, as they just aren’t putting the wood to the ball. But here’s the one positive. All three hits were extra-base hits…so there’s that.

•Josh Martin: RP, Lake County: 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER: Martin’s been pretty solid of late, giving up only two earned runs over his last four ballgames, totaling 10 2/3 innings. He’s struck out four during that stretch, giving up only one walk.

Fishing for Mudcats: Jordan Smith finds his groove

The Mudcats offense excels, while the pitching hits skid row

By Jim Pete

May 12, 2013

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From the Bait Shop:

Another week equaled another struggle for the Carolina Mudcats. They could only muster two wins on the week, and continued to lose ground in the Carolina League South standings. With five weeks and 35 games of baseball left in the first half, it may be time to start thinking about the second half of the season. There are sure to be some changes on the roster going forward, and that could have an effect on the second half, although I’m not quite sure if it will be a positive effect.

Carolina’s offense really is an enigma. They continue to lead the league in hitting with a .271 average, and they backed that up by hitting a more-than-solid .276 on the week. Ten of their 13 players who had an at bat this past week hit .250 or better, so this is a team that can really hit the baseball. They are tied for second in the league in doubles, with 64, and had 14 in their six games. They’re first in the league in OBP, and fourth in slugging and OPS, so everything points to a solid output from this offense.

Here’s the disconnect.

They are third-to-last in runs scored, and second to last in home runs and RBI. They just can’t manage the big hits when they need them.

When you combine that with a pitching staff that continues to implode, that isn’t a good combination for winning baseball.

How bad was the pitching? The overall ERA for the week was 5.86, and it’s really hard to blame the starters, or the relievers. The starters came in with a 5.86 ERA as well, and the relievers backed them up with a 5.87 ERA. Hey, at least they are consistent.

The Mudcats’ pitchers are last in wins, earned runs and home runs allowed, and in the bottom three with ERA, hit batters and strike outs. They just aren’t very good as a whole, and the mediocre-to-badness really overwhelms the one or two solid performances that the team gets from week-to-week.

At the end of the day, this team is really backwards with regards to the Carolina League. This has been a pitcher’s league over the past several years, and generally you see solid pitching staffs, and weak offenses. This Mudcats team has a strong offense, and a weak group of pitchers. When you add the fact that the offense, as good as it is, struggles to score runs, you have a recipe for Carolina League disaster…

This Week’s Transactions:

5/7/2013 Joe Sever assigned to Carolina Mudcats from Lake County Captains.
5/6/2013 2B Justin Toole assigned to Akron Aeros from Carolina Mudcats.

Offensive Player of the Week: Jordan Smith:

Jordan Smith has found his offensive game. On April 22nd, Smith found himself struggling at the plate in the Carolina League, hitting only .150. In sixteen games up to that point, he only had one multi-hit game, and only had nine hits overall. It just wasn’t a pretty start to a guy that was a break-out star in 2012. Thank goodness we don’t base a year on a few weeks.

Since then, the Mudcats right fielder has been on a tear. He’s second in the league with a .377 average over that stretch, and has a league leading 26 hits. Over the past week, he’s picked up his game with a .391 average, including four runs, which was second on the team. He also added a team leading two stolen bases. His slash for the week was an impressive .391/.440/.478, giving him a .918 OPS.

There has been one complaint over the years with regards to Smith, and that’s his power potential. He has always had gap power, but the question has always been whether or not the 6’4” outfielder would ever acquire the home run potential that would justify him being a solid outfielder in the major leagues. He seemed to allay those fears last year, when he hit 23 doubles, seven triples and nine homers. He also drove in 74 RBI, all in 116 games.

While he’s hitting .377 since June 23, and while he’s scored 10 runs during that stretch, he’s only hit four doubles and a home run, and only driven in five. He’s also only walked our times, while striking out 12 times.

I suppose I’m nitpicking a bit at the numbers, but corner outfielders have to hit for power. Of course, Drew Stubbs and Michael Brantley are the Indians’ outfielders of record, so perhaps Smith fits right in the wheelhouse.

There are only eight players in the Carolina League hitting over .300, just to put any of these numbers in perspective. Two of those players are Carolina Mudcats, but only one of them will make it on the positive side of the coin this week.

Luigi Rodriguez continued to excel with the Mudcats, going 6-for-21 on the week. He hit three doubles, drove in three, and scored two runs, while stealing a base. Where you always want to watch Rodriguez is that approach, and he struck out six times, against only two walks. His OBP was a solid .348 though, so you can temper the strikeouts with that thought.

The guy that just keeps hitting the baseball is Jerrud Sabourin. He matched Luigi with a 6-for-21 week, and matched Rodriguez with three doubles. He upped the ante though by scoring four runs, blasting a home run, driving in a team-leading four runs, had a team leading four walks, and did it all while striking out only three times. He’s third in the league in hitting as we speak, and needs to continue to add power to the equation. His .971 OPS led the team, and you really could have made a case that he was the OPotW.

Infielder Joe Sever joined the club this past week, and has hit in four of his five baseball games. Three of those four games were uneventful, one-hit games, but he added his first multi-hit game on Saturday night, and drove in two runs. He’s yet to hit an extra-base hit in the Carolina League, but he’s managed to strike out only once, against only one walk. He hit .333 on the week, which is a solid performance anywhere.

In the Mud:

Charlie Valerio only hit .188 for the week, but still did the peripherals. He had four RBI, three runs and two doubles, while walking three times against only two K’s. Francisco Lindor saw his average drop to .182 on the week, but like Valerio, his peripherals were still good. He scored a team leading five runs, drove in two, while walking twice against only one K. He also stole another base. He’s still third in the league in hitting, and continues to be one of the best players in the system. It will be interesting to see if he can continue his hot play through a hot Carolina summer.

Pitcher of the Week: Cody Anderson

Cody Anderson really is the one guy on this pitching staff that has the ability to be special. There are other intriguing players to be sure, but Anderson has remained consistent from the start, and fairly special, more often than not.

His 2.93 ERA is ninth in the league overall, and tops for the Mudcats on the season. They are a bit skewed after his last start, and he had given up eight runs over the past two starts, and 10 runs in three of his past four, but when he’s been on, he’s show signs of being a really good starter.

He’s really starting to locate his pitches quite well. He has 14 K’s over his past three starts, against only one walk, reversing an earlier trend of a weak K/BB ratio of 14:8. He’s now tied for the Carolina League lead with wins at 4, is second with 40 innings pitched, and tenth with a 1.15 WHIP.

He was the only Mudcat starter to get a win this week.

There really aren’t many guys worth mentioning here. J.D. Reichenbach pitched in two games for a total of only one inning, but he did manage to get the team’s only save of the week. Grant Sides made a two inning appearance, and gave up only two hits and a walk, while striking out three. He got a win for that showing, and Sides is one of those guys that has some upside as a reliever.

In the Mud:

You really could go on-and-on-and-on here…again. Last week’s pitcher of the week, Owen Dew, just got jack-hammered. In two appearances, he went 0-2. In his four innings, he gave up nine hits and six runs, while walking two against two K’s. Jacob Lee gave up six runs in his only start, going five total innings. Elvis Araujo gave up nine hits and five runs in only five innings. He did strike out five against only one walk, but clearly he was hittable…so why walk. Francisco Jimenez, Michael Goodnight and Joseph Colon all had ERA’s over 6 as well. It just wasn’t pretty on the bump this week.

The View Astern:

Tyler Naquin’s an interesting player, to say the least. He’s leading the team with 10 doubles, which is tied for third in the league, and he’s hitting a solid .292 with a slash of .292/.345/.438, but his strikeouts are starting to become a bit of a concern. His 32 K’s leads the team by a large margin, and he only has nine walks. His OBP is good enough to not be too worried, but you have to imagine that with a 32:9 ratio of K’s to BB’s, that the only direction this is going to go in the future is down. He struck out 26 times last year, against 17 walks, so perhaps this is a Carolina League thing.

The outfield in Carolina will be an interesting one to watch as the year continues. The current outfield of Tyler Naquin, Luigi Rodriguez and Jordan Smith is loaded with potential prospects. Bryson Myles is currently on the DL, and LeVon Washington is knocking on the door. I fully expect a June shakeup for these guys. I’m not sure if that means that Myles is demoted because of his injury issues, or if Naquin is bumped up because of his advanced skill-set, but look for Wash-Time to return to Carolina sometime between now and the all-star break.

I don’t know where this team is going to get a pick-up with regards to their pitching staff. On the starting side, some interesting players in Lake County are Ryan Merritt, Jake Sisco and Dylan Baker. I don’t see Baker moving up any time soon, but could see Sisco move up, since he’s older than the rest. I’m not sure if that’s developmentally where the Indians are with him though.

On the relief side of things, Louis Head, Francisco Valera, Michael Peoples and Nick Pasquale are all having phenomenal starts in Lake County. If things don’t step up soon in Carolina, you could see quick call-ups for one, or all of these guys as the Mahoning Seasons grows closer.

This could be a make-or-break week for the Mudcats. They have first place Lynchburg Sunday and Monday, as well as next weekend, sandwiching a home series against the Salem Red Sox. If they could manage to have a big week, they could get into the mix again…but that’s a stretch to say the least. Minor League playoffs are secondary entities next to developing players, but there always has to be that goal. It’ll be interesting to see if Dave Wallace can get this team going as the summer heats up.

Have a good week...everybody...

Offensive Player of the Week: Tyler Naquin:

It really does say it all that there have been six different names on this list in the first six weeks of the season. Part of that may be based on injury, as Bryson Myles and Joseph Wendle are both on the DL, and have been for an extended period of time.

It is interesting that there really has been a different guy or two to lead this team in one way or another, every week of the season. There’s been some consistent guys as the backbone to the lineup, with Francisco Lindor leading the way, but Tyler Naquin hasn’t really been all that far behind.

Naquin is one of three Muddies with averages over .300, and one of only three out of eight total in the Carolina League. Naquin has hit in ten straight games, and in 24 out of his last 27 games overall. He hasn’t had hitless back-to-back games since April 18th and April 20th.

This week, Naquin hit almost .400, but over his last four games, is 8-for-16, with four runs, two doubles and a triple. Going back to April 21st, the Muddies centerfielder is hitting .311, with 18 runs, nine doubles, two triples and two homers in 27 ballgames. In other words, he’s been doing exactly what the Indians thought he would do when they started him off here in Carolina.

The big question remains whether or not they bump him up to Akron at any point soon, as there are many in and out of the organization that think his ceiling is reachable soon. That’s by no means a knock, but the reality is that this isn’t a kid that has franchise written all over him. He’s going to be a good, solid player going forward.

If he can continue this sorta play, consistent would be an understatement. You have to wonder if Naquin or Lindor will get called up first if they continue to play well.

Hitter of the Week 1: Bryson Myles
Hitter of the Week 2: Joseph Wendle
Hitter of the Week 3: Charlie Valerio
Hitter of the Week4: Francisco Lindor
Hitter of the Week5: Jordan Smith

Has anyone read why Danny Salazar left after 4 no hit innings for Columbus a couple days ago? I know he's on a pitch count but seems unlikely he reached it that evening.

HR Number 2 for Anthony Santander at Lake County. He's hitting 290 and looking good as an 18 year old RF. Unlike fellow 18-year-old Dorsyss Paulino who's dropped back below 200.

Noted by BA:
CLE AA Aguilar, Jesus 1B 4 1 2 2 .256
CLE AA Rodriguez, Ronny SS 5 1 1 2 .239 HR (3)
CLE AA Urshela, Giovanny 3B 5 2 2 1 .268 HR (3)
CLE AAA Diaz, Juan SS 6 0 2 0 .219
CLE HiA Rodriguez, Luigi LF 4 2 1 2 .277 2B (9)
CLE LoA Santander, Anthony RF 4 1 1 2 .290 HR (2)
CLE LoA Baker, Dylan 5.1 8 5 4 2 3 4.15 L (1-4)

There has to be a better option for a relief pitcher than Hagadone in our minor league system!

Danny Salazar (SP, Columbus Clippers): 4 IP, 1 BB, 4 K.

Salazar has clearly been on a tight pitch count as he needed only 45 pitches to make it through four shutout innings while allowing no hits. However, the results so far cannot be denied as he left the game with a no-hitter after four innings. He was simply removed for precautionary reasons as he is battling a sore shoulder.

Lots of not bad relievers in our minors, but not sure who is ready for the majors. Highest rated is Chen Lee but he's been shut down for more than 12 months. Austin Adams is back from the DL but still rusty. Rob Bryson and Bryce Stowell seem stuck in Akron. Preston Guilmet sucessfully saves games at all levels, but has never been rated a big league prospect.

We are carrying Blake Wood on our 40-man roster but he's only tallied 3 1/3 rehab innings and don't know if he's currently with the Aeros or back in Arizona for more R&R.

Jose Flores is a 6-3 250 pounder at Akron who routinely fans well over 1 per inning. Some team took a Rule 5 flyer on him in 2012 with only Low A experience and sent him back. Need to see him at AAA before he comes to Cleveland.

The best option probably would be Danny Salazar who thrown hard and throws effectively and although he's deemed a starter is on a really limited pitch count anyway.

General rule about our farm system is that nearly everyone down there, outside of Lindor and Bauer and Salazar and perhaps Naquin is quite a stretch to make a difference in the big leagues.

A few notable performances on Wednesday.

Dorsyss Paulino with 3 doubles in two games, nearly doubles his season total to 7. Also 7th steal.
Anthony Santander 2-4 in the nightcap, hitting 286.
Slugger(or at least he looks like a slugger) Nellie ROdriguez with his 1st homer.
These kids are all 18 years old.

Shawm Morimando went 6 2-hit shutout innings for Carolina, fanning 8.
Lindor backed him with a single, double, walk, sac fly, involved in 3 DPs.
Tony Wolters, now catching, caught one of two base stealers.
Single and double for Luigi Rodriguez

Jose Ramirez singled and homered, his 2nd, forAkron.
The 3rd Rodriguez, SS Ronnie, with 3 hit including his 4th triple.
Gio Urshela single and double.
These kids are young at their level, too.
Shutuout innings of relief from Austin Adams and Jose Flores.

LonnieChis 4 hits inlcuding a triple.
Cord Phleps 3 including 7th homer.
But Bauer was terrible: 7 runs on 7 hits including 4 homers! in 4 2/3

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.js ... x&sid=milb





http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20130529

BA's daily prospect report, but this look like Tuesday games.

CLE AA Ramirez, Jose SS 4 0 2 0 .257 BB (18)
CLE HiA Naquin, Tyler CF 4 0 2 0 .305
CLE HiA Wolters, Tony C 3 0 1 0 .227 2B (4), BB (8), CS (2)

CLE AA Whitenack, Robert 4 4 7 7 8 4 24.75 L (0-1)
CLE MAJ Allen, Cody 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 2.25
CLE MAJ Barnes, Scott 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 2.35

Wednesday's highlights noted by BA:

CLE AA Aguilar, Jesus 1B 4 1 1 0 .255 2B (7)
CLE AA Ramirez, Jose SS 5 1 2 1 .261 HR (2), CS (9)
CLE AA Rodriguez, Ronny 2B 4 2 3 2 .250 3B (4)
CLE AA Urshela, Giovanny 3B 4 0 2 1 .275 CS (1)
CLE AAA Fedroff, Tim CF 3 2 0 0 .279 3 BB (29)
CLE HiA Lindor, Francisco SS 2 0 2 1 .317 2B (13), BB (23), CS (4)
CLE HiA Rodriguez, Luigi DH 4 0 2 1 .278 2B (10)
CLE LoA Paulino, Dorssys SS 4 2 1 0 .208 2B (7), SB (7)
CLE LoA Santander, Anthony RF 4 1 2 1 .289 2B (5), SB (3)
CLE AA Adams, Austin 1 0 0 0 1 2 3.93
CLE AAA Bauer, Trevor 4.2 7 7 7 4 3 5.05 L (2-2)
CLE LoA Lee, Chen 1 0 0 0 0 3 0.00 He's Back!
CLE MAJ Allen, Cody 1 0 0 0 0 2 2.16

None of ours make the BA Prospect weekly Hot Sheet, but ....

NOT SO HOT

Trevor Bauer, rhp, Indians: Having surrendered four home runs in his Wednesday start at Louisville, and one each in his two turns before that, Bauer has run up an 8.82 ERA over his last 16 1/3 innings for Triple-A Columbus. Little has been working lately. The 22-year-old has allowed 17 hits, 14 walks and 18 runs in that time while striking out 10, which isn’t exactly the formula that equals a big league callup.

Not yet Hot Sheet candidate but Dorsyss Paulino is heating up with the weather. No XB hits in April. 2 doubles in 55 AB to start May. 6 doubles and a triple in his most recent 36 AB. I assume this is not uncommon for an 18-year-old Dominican debuting in Northeast Ohio.

Remarkably, someone asked precisely my question at the Hot Prospects Chat today:

Elliot (Youngstown OH): Not yet Hot Sheet candidate but Dorsyss Paulino is heating up with the weather. No XB hits in April. 2 doubles in 55 AB to start May. 6 doubles and a triple in his most recent 36 AB. I assume this is not uncommon for an 18-year-old Dominican debuting in Northeast Ohio.

Ben Badler: Of all the 2011 international signings that teams sent to Low-A this year, I'm most surprised that Paulino hasn't been hitting much. Mondesi, Tocci, Mazara, I get it, all for different reasons, but Paulino has too good of a swing and a hitting approach to be struggling the way he has early in the year. I think he'll start to make adjustments and get settled in the second half of the season.