Zimmer is a double shy of the cycle in 6th inning tonight.

So who are the minor league players that the Indians could trade to shore up the outfield and corners? Would Plutko get anything worthwhile?

Games of May 25:

CLE AA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 5 1 1 0 .259 3B (2)
CLE AA Zimmer, Bradley CF 5 1 1 2 .247 2B (8)
CLE AAA Diaz, Yandy 3B 3 0 1 0 .262 3B (1)
CLE AAA Gonzalez, Erik SS 4 0 1 0 .301
CLE AAA Naquin, Tyler CF 4 0 1 0 .255
CLE HiA Allen, Greg CF 5 1 1 0 .274 2 SB (25)
CLE HiA Bradley, Bobby 1B 4 1 1 0 .228
CLE LoA Castro, Willi SS 4 2 2 2 .273 2 3B (6)
CLE LoA Krieger, Tyler 2B 4 1 1 0 .315 BB (20), SB (11)
CLE LoA Tom, Ka'ai LF 4 2 2 1 .333 BB (17), SB (3) [didn't play in April; the 17bb exceed his 11 k]

So who are the minor league players that the Indians could trade to shore up the outfield and corners? Would Plutko get anything worthwhile?

If that means you don't want to trade any of the minor league outfielders or corner guys, that eliminates most leading candidates. But we do seem to have a surplus of very promising middle infielders:

Erik Gonzalez, Yu-Chiang Chang and Willi Castro all have a lot to offer. Gonzalez lacks power, speed and walks but is solid defender, may only be a 4th IF. Chang has about 13 doubles and 6 homers and could be a Peralta bat at short. Castro's only 18 and holding his own in full season ball.
Mark Mathias and Krieger are decent 2Bs from last year's draft.

Plutko, Merritt and Morimando are probably most tradeable pitchers, although Clevinger would yield more. Plutko's a winner but not the hardest thrower, should make a decent 4th starter. Merritt is a successful small lefty, fwiw. Morimando is also a little lefty but has a better Fastball although erratic command. There are the 3 teenage pitchers from last year' draft, too , of course who could be popular as long term projects.

EDIT: I FORGOT JUSTUS SHEFFIELD. TEENAGER PITCHING WELL IN LYNCHBURG. High ceiling talent.

And assuming we don't offer Zimmer, Frazier or Bradley, other OFs and IBs include NRodriguez power only; Greg Allen, Ka'ai Tom and Nathan Lukes, speed and on base ability. Although any of these would only be add-ons in a package

AND IF WE ARE TRADING FOR A CORNER IF, we could afford to trade a 3B and Urshela and Diaz are pretty good ones.

OVERALL: WE have lots of depth in the minors to deal from.

On the rise: Shawn Morimando. Featured by BA today after an outstanding outing yesterday.

Shawn Morimando, lhp, Indians. Cleveland has been aggressive in pushing Morimando and a move to Triple-A is probably not far off. He didn’t get a decision Tuesday against Altoona (Pirates), but pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and walking none. The biggest hurdle to a promotion is his command, but in his past 12 innings, he’s walked just one. Morimando leads the Eastern League in wins (8), ERA (1.65) and ranks among leaders in WHIP and average against.

[Not so sure that the Indians have been "aggressive in pushing" him. He spent the end of 2014 and all of 2015 in Akron and he's back there this year. I'd be shocked if his Akron experience doesn't come to an end very soon, however.

CLE AAA Diaz, Yandy 3B 4 3 3 2 .304 2 2B (5), HR (2), BB (6)
CLE AAA Gonzalez, Erik SS 4 1 1 0 .300 2B (10), BB (9)
CLE AAA Naquin, Tyler CF 3 2 1 2 .260 HR (1), 2 BB (6)
CLE HiA Allen, Greg CF 5 1 1 2 .272 2B (9), SB (26)
CLE HiA Bradley, Bobby 1B 4 1 1 2 .228 HR (11) [still homering even not doing much else]
CLE HiA Chang, Yu-Cheng SS 4 1 2 1 .268 SB (4)
CLE LoA Castro, Willi SS 6 2 2 0 .275
CLE LoA Krieger, Tyler 2B 3 2 2 1 .321 BB (21), 2 SB (13)
CLE LoA Tom, Ka'ai LF 4 2 2 2 .342 HR (1), BB (18), CS (2) [474 on base pct]
CLE AA Morimando, Shawn 7 3 0 0 0 8 1.65
CLE AAA Armstrong, Shawn 1 2 2 1 0 0 2.81 [1.63 WHIP, 16 walks and 28 K in 16 innings]

3 teams remain in 1st place:

Akron 33-13 behind Frazier, Morimando, Zimmer, NellieRodriguez, Plutko
Lynchburg 31-16 led by Bradley, Chang, Allen, Sheffield
Lake County 27-20 in 2nd place; paced by Mejia, Castro, Krieger
Columbus 26-20 now without top pitchers Clevinger and Merritt

Yandy Diaz replaces Frazier on the Hot Prospect List this week:


13. Yandy Diaz, 3b, Indians

Team: Triple-A Columbus (International)
Age: 24
Why He’s Here: .400/.444/.880 (10-for-25), 6 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 4 RBIs, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1-for-1 SB

The Scoop: The Indians signed Diaz out of Cuba for a reasonable $300,000 in 2013, but his ability to control the strike zone has helped him succeed through the upper levels. He has an excellent eye at the plate, so after hitting .286 with 24 walks and 16 strikeouts in 26 games at Double-A Akron this season, the Indians promoted him to Triple-A two weeks ago. Diaz’s lack of power is a product of his swing plane, which doesn’t produce much loft, and his overall approach is geared toward using the opposite field. If the righthanded-hitting Diaz can add more lift to his swing, his profile would be much more intriguing to go with his on-base skills.

Already saw this assessment of Morimando but it's copied here as he also made the Hot List:


16. Shawn Morimando, lhp, Indians

Team: Double-A Akron (Eastern)
Age: 23
Why He’s Here: 1-0, 1.50, 2 GS, 12 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 12 SO, 1 BB

The Scoop: Cleveland has been aggressive in pushing Morimando, and a move to Triple-A is probably not far off. He didn’t get a decision Thursday against Altoona but pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and walking none. The biggest hurdle to Morimando’s promotion is his control, but in his past 12 innings, he has walked only one. He leads the Eastern League in wins (eight) and ERA (1.65), while ranking among the leaders in WHIP and opponent average.

Zimmer hits another homer tonight.

There is also a no hitter alert thru 6 innings in the minors, but don't wanna say who or where as to not jinx him. Not sure how this internet jinx stuff works.

People's lost his no hitter and shutout for Akron minutes after my post.

Starting to get a better feel for this jinx thing.

Potter Gavin @Gavin_Potter
Carlos Carrasco's first pitch on the night a 96 mph strike. Think he's ready to be back?
#Indians #RubberDucks

kaminsky returns from DL to start for Akron Monday. He hasn't been very good. 4.75 ERA 1.61 WHIP. More BB than K.

BA announced over the weekend that Brady Aiken had started pitching in extended spring training in Goodyear. Not sure if that means he'll be assigned to the Arizona summer league team. I have to assume we will McKenzie and Hillman there when the short season leagues debut later this month. Although placement in lake County would not be shocking.

Some very bad lines in Sunday games:

Zimmer 4 at bats: K, K, K, K.
Nellie Rodriguez 3k.
Bobby Bradley 2k. Hitting .219
Sam Hentges 3 1/3 10-9-8-2-3 2 homers. ERA 6.40. 3 starts now with 7+ runs allowed.

A few good ones:

Plutko 7-2-1-1-1-1-4. in 5 of his last 6 starts he's allowed 0 or 1 earned run
T.J. House 6-1=6-1-1-3-3
Ben Heller 1st AAA save, after 7 for Akron
Yandy Diaz single, double. 302. OPS for Columbus: 927; far exceeds his 826 with Akron.
Greg Allen single and walk.

Troubling splits for Zimmer:

VS RH: 127-29-38-30 299/403/646 BB/K: 20/42
VS LH: 36-2-3-5 083/313/139 at least he walks a lot: 10 times, K's a lot 17 times