Other noteworthy work:

Lindor 2-1-1-1 double and 4 walks.
Cord Phelps 3 hits,
Ezeq Carrera 2 hits (last 7 games: 26-6-9-4 6 steals; 384/433/462
Naquin 1 ab and gone. Joe Sever 4 hits in a doubleheader, htting 386
Dorsyss Paulino 2 for 5.

Mike Rayl 7 runs in 5 innings. Cody Anderson 2 runs in 3 innings. RAffy Perez 1 inning, 1 hit. PReston Guilmet 1 inning, 1 hit, 3 K. Bryan Price at age 25 debuts in AAA with a perfect inning. Luis DeJesus 5 innings, 1 run, ERA 1.36 for MahValley. Mitch Brown 2nd rounder, pro debut, 1 run in 2 innings.

LInes of the day, most were noted above, not all:

CLE AA Weglarz, Nick DH 4 0 1 1 .251
CLE AAA Phelps, Cord 2B 4 1 3 0 .266
CLE LoA Lindor, Francisco SS 2 1 1 0 .266 2B (18), 4 BB (42)
CLE LoA Myles, Bryson DH 3 0 1 3 .271 2 BB (20)
CLE LoA Rodriguez, Luigi CF 5 2 3 3 .282 HR (8)
CLE LoA Smith, Jordan RF 4 2 1 0 .316 2 BB (22)
CLE HiA Rayl, Mike 5 10 7 7 3 2 4.54
CLE MAJ McAllister, Zach 6 3 1 1 4 5 3.17 W (4-1)
CLE SS Sisco, Jake 6 3 1 0 3 4 2.03

CLE AAA Phelps, Cord 2B 4 1 1 0 .265 BB (44)
CLE HiA Rodriguez, Ronny SS 4 1 2 1 .266 2B (15)
CLE HiA Wolters, Tony 2B 5 1 4 1 .262 [since a terrible April, Tony's 298/339/435 at age 20]
CLE SS Naquin, Tyler CF 2 2 1 1 .301 BB (11)
CLE R Haley, Trey 2 0 0 0 1 4 0.00 W (1-0) rehabbing
CLE R Howard, Dillon 3.1 4 4 4 4 1 6.75 3 starts out of 4 have been lousy

among those not on BA's radar:
Jorge Martinez 2-5 again, average drops. Also 2 K.
Ryan Merritt LHP with a real solid 7 innings for MHV, 7 4 1 1 1 5 3.56

BA's notable lines from Wednesday:

Cord Phelps CLE AAA 2B 2 1 1 1 .267 HR (10), 2 BB (46)
Ronnie Rodriguez CLE HiA SS 5 1 1 3 .265 HR (12)
Francisco Lindor CLE LoA SS 4 2 2 1 .269 2B (19), BB (43)
Bryson Myles CLE LoA RF 4 0 2 0 .275 2B (11)
Luigi Rodriguez CLE LoA CF 5 1 1 1 .281 SB (18)
Jordan Smith CLE LoA DH 4 0 3 2 .322 BB (23)
Tyler Naquin CLE SS CF 4 0 1 0 .299 BB (12)
Loek Van Mil CLE AA 2 1 0 0 0 1 2.10

BA lists the younger players in each league at midseason. We have no one young in AA but plenty in lower levels:

Akron, 21 year olds Soto and Armstrong are 9th and 16th youngest.
Carolina, 20 year olds are 6th Wolters, 7th Monsalve, 8th RonnieRod and 14th Urshela youngest
Lake C, 19 year olds are 2nd Lindor, 3rd Castillo, 8th Sterling, 13th Morimando, 14th LuigiRod and 18th Jose Ramirez youngest
Mah Valley, 19 year olds JoseRomero 4th, Garcia 8th and Morel 18th youngest.
Arizona 17 year olds Paulino 6th, Santander 9th and Lovergrove 16th youngest.

This nearly translates directly into the list of our top prospects.

Speaking of young talent, our youngest Dorsyss Paulino batting cleanup yesterday with his 3rd homer plus a single, is batting 325. OPS 977. He'll probably wind up at 3rd with Lindor at SS and maybe Tony Wolters or Ronnie Rodriguez at 2nd for the Indians of the 2020's.

D'Vone McClure debuted at Arizona with 2 singles and a walk in 4 trips. He's an old guy, age 18.

Another 18-year-old OF, VIctor Cabral walked twice and singled twice for our Dominican team. AVG 310, OPD 835.

Only notable items for Lake County were the debut at that level of Mark Bradley and 2 OF assists by Jordan Smith from RF.

Joe Colon made his Carolina league debut. Not so hot. 5-9-7-2-1-2 2 homers. Highlight of the game: after both Aguillar and RonnieRod were hit by pitches a fight ensued with both of them and the offending pitcher ejected. Wolters singled and walked. RRod had time enough to make his 27th error.

Another season debut: Matt Packer done with his rehabbing returns to Akron in fine style: 6-5-2-0-0-7. For the season he has thrown 17 innings with no earned runs.

Lots of offense by the non-prospect-filled Clipper roster. 3 hits by Tim Fedroff, including a double, he's hitting 330. Jared Goedart 3 hits, including a homer, he's up to 303. Ezeq Carrera and Russ Canzler each 2 hits. Even-more-non prospect Giovanni Petit with homer, 2 doubles, single, 5 rbi. Another soon to be discarded 1st round pick, David Huff, yielded 3 homers in 5 2/3 innings. Langwell, Sturdevant and Price all struggled in relief.

Friday and Saturday:

Columbus
McFarland 7-8-1-1-2-2 Ezequiel Carrera 3-2-2--0 2 walks
Ezequiel 4-1-3-0 2 doubles; last 10 games, 405/444/571
Fedroff 4-1-3-1 HR #4 347/420/554 in AAA this year

Akron
Diaz a homer each day, total is 10.
Neal 5-2-3-4 homer
Armstrong 1 2/3 0 0 0 1 3
Soto post no-hitter 5-6-3-2-3-1

Carolina
Wolters 4-1-3-0 doubles, next day 4-1-1-0
Aguillar 2-2-1-0 double, 2 walks
Bo G, Urshela, MOncreif 2 hits each on Saturday
Danny Salazar 4-2-0=0-2-5 great work on his pitch limit
Rayl 6-7-2-2-1-3

Lake County
Elvis 4-8-5-5-2-3
Cody Anderson 3-1-0-0-1-1
Danny Jiminez 3-6-4-3-1-0
Friday: Jose Romero 2 hits; Lindor 4-1-2-1 double
JSmith 3-1-1-0 double walk

MHV
Wendle 5-2-3-1 2 doubles
Sisco 6-7-4-4-1-5

Arizona
Tyler Booth CF 4-1-2-3 double
Boscan 3-4-3-3 OF/DH walk
Jorge Martinez 4-1-2-0 double, walk

Sunday:

Ezeq Carrera still on a hot streak, single and triple.
Jesus Aguillar 2 walks and a double.
Delvi Cid 2 singles and a double.
Jose Romero 2 hits and a steal.
Lavisky 3 hits, one his 7th homer.
Luigi Rod his 9th homer, and a walk.
Bryson Myles single and double
Naquin a double. 272/391/370
D'Von McClure 7-3-3-3 1st pro homer
Santander double and two walks.
Paulino 5-2-2-1 a double.

On the mound:

Kluber 6-5-2-2-1-7
J.C. Romero 1-0-0-0-0-1
House 6-1-0-0-1-6
Bryson 1-1-1-1-2-0
Guilmet 1/3-3-3-3 (2 homers)
Goodnight 4-4-3-3-6-3
Roberts 5-3-1-1-0-3
Sterling 5-4-2-2-0-1
DeJesus 5-4-1-1-2-1
Aviles 1-1-0-0-1-0
Mitch Brown 2nd round pick 3-1-0-0-1-4
Lovegrove 3rd round pick 1-4-2-2-1-1
Haley on rehab 2-5-4-4-1-3

2012 AZL Indians Notebook: 7/14-7/21
By Sean Mahon
July 22, 2012
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AZL Indians Week 4 Notebook
Record: 12-11, 2nd in AZL Central

This Week’s Transactions:

Arizona League Indians - RHP Nick Pasquale assigned to Mahoning Valley Scrappers
Arizona League Indians - RHP Benny Suarez assigned
Arizona League Indians - C Nelson Rodriguez assigned
Arizona League Indians - RHP Trey Haley received on Minor League Rehab Assignment
Arizona League Indians - LHP Danny Jimenez received on Minor League Rehab Assignment
Arizona League Indians - OF Andrew Campbell assigned to Mahoning Valley Scrappers
Arizona League Indians - OF D'vone MCClure assigned
Debuts for the week of 7/14-7/21:

Mitch Brown
Kieran Lovegrove
D’vone McClure
Kieran Lovegrove
Nelson Rodriguez
Benny Suarez
Danny Jimenez
Trey Haley
Matt Packer
AZL Rehab Players:

Danny Jimenez
Trey Haley
Matt Packer
The Headliner…

It was a busy week in the AZL with a series of pro debuts and a season-high four game win streak that would put the AZL Indians over .500 for the first time this season. The AZL Indians went 5-1 for the week dating back to 7/14 that included two postponed games due to a rare Arizona rain and the summer monsoon season. Let’s go through the rundown, reports and happenings of the desert valley Tribe:

Player of the Week: Joshua McAdams.

McAdams had a fantastic week starting last Saturday, July 14th, when he came in to pinch run late in a ball game that would go extras against the AZL Reds. McAdams’ mother had just driven down all the way from Georgia and she truly got her money’s worth as her son plated in the game winning RBI hit in the 11th off of the Reds’ Robert Lewis-Walker. McAdams was the Indians 7th round pick selected in this year’s draft. A few scouts I’ve spoken with were surprised he’s only a HS kid as he both looks and plays like a college kid; at 6’4, 210 lbs, you can see why he mirrors a college bat physically. McAdams plays baseball the right way and has a high baseball IQ. He has also shown a plus arm in rightfield and he’s shown it off on numerous occasions this season—he gunned a runner down at third, gunned down a runner at home (though the umpire clearly missed the call) and locked up runners on third base contemplating running home several times this week alone. McAdams has put up quality AB’s this entire season as evidenced by his .389 OBP despite just a .246 batting average thus far. He went 8-19 this past week with four walks and four RBIs in five games.

Pitcher of the Week Honors: AZL Bullpen

The ‘pen was the team’s biggest asset this past week, a major change from weeks past. As I wrote on Wednesday about rehabbing Trey Haley: Haley, making his second appearance in the AZL as he gets closer to returning to Carolina, was throwing his typical gas and reached 99 MPH on the radar gun; however, Haley was overthrowing at the near-triple digits velocity. He was getting big time swings and misses against the young league with a very good moving fastball that sat at 94-95 MPH. Haley got the win on Wednesday going two shutout-hitless innings allowing one walk and piling up four strikeouts. The Texas native and Indians 2nd round pick in 2008 was more effective sitting in the low to mid-90’s than he actually was at 98-99 MPH since his pitches really had more sinking action in the 93-95 range. I was told Haley will pitch two to three more outings before being promoted sometime next week. He’s surely one of the best arms in the Cleveland system.

Joshua Nervis, the Indians 38th rounder from this year’s draft, has not given up a run in the month of July. The righty out of Sonoma State University went 5 IP this week and put on just a single base runner. Nervis threw his fastball between 87-89 MPH and it topped out at 90 MPH this week, though I had seen him clocked at 90-92 MPH in his late June innings. He went two or more innings in both his games this week, so naturally he’s throwing a little harder in games where he’s going just an inning or so. He has somewhat a long arm and shows signs of a plus fastball, though the breaking stuff is inconsistent at this point. He possesses a slider around 76 MPH and curveball around 71 MPH, as well as a changeup. I thought his curveball was really pretty flat and he typically threw it as just a show-me pitch in the outings this week. Though he was a starter at Sonomoa State, he’s pitched in a long relief/bullpen role thus far in the AZL. His go to pitch is consistently the fastball as it’s much further along than his other stuff. He has shown a really solid changeup right around 79 MPH, a pretty solid differential to his fastball, and been primarily getting guys out with that fastball-changeup combination.

Alexis Paredes, Benny Suarez and Breily Puerta all contributed incredibly well out of the bullpen this week, too, throwing a combined 10.2 IP, giving up 2 ER and whiffing 11.

It was a tough week for… The 2011 2nd rounder, Dillon Howard, who struggled on the mound again this week, as I wrote about his outing on Wednesday: After a less than stellar 3.1 innings where he allowed four runs on four hits and four walks he was pulled from the game. Howard was throwing his heater right between 88-90 MPH, but really had no feel for the pitch all night. In fact, this season he has struggled commanding his fastball despite throwing at the lower than advertised velocities from his high school days. One scout went as far to say he almost looks more advanced with his offspeed and secondary stuff than his fastball. Howard was getting his curveball over better than anything else he threw on Wednesday, though he flipped a few changeups in the mix. All in all, Howard was unable to command his fastball at any point on Wednesday night.

Howard led off the game by walking the first batter he faced on six pitches, then walked the next two batters on eight straight balls. Another issue in Howard’s line was his excrutiating pace; he’s very slow from pitch to pitch, to the point where you can visibly see his defense getting sticky in the field as Howard labored. Howard was not only issuing the free passes, but he was also giving up hard hits and just not missing any bats. His night concluded on his 70th pitch that beaned the Dodgers’ no. 8 hitter. Of Howard’s 70 pitches, 31 went for strikes and 39 for balls. Howard has a 6.75 ERA and the young league is hitting .292 off of him in his *first full season with the organization.

Howard will look to rebound later this week and I think he will. He’s been loose and uptempo in games he’s not pitching in and so I think, sooner than later, he’ll put the pieces together, though it’s obviously been a rough AZL season for him thus far.

Debuts for the Week:

Mitch Brown made his pro debut on July 16th , going two innings and giving up three runs (one earned) and struck out one. From Tuesday:

Brown showed sharp stuff on his debut night displaying his entire four pitch repertoire; a fastball that sat around 91 MPH topping out at 93, a changeup at 83, a breaking ball between 74-77 and a slider. Brown threw 24 pitches (16 strikes, 8 balls) and gave up three runs, just one earned, in his two inning pro debut. His secondary stuff was really impressive. In fact, Brown is really impressive—he’s a very mature kid and has poise on the mound. Brown is a strong kid. He looks more like a centerfielder or even a catcher than he does a pitcher at 6’1, 195 lbs—at just 18 years old. He has smooth, consistent mechanics, smoother than both his fellow Class of ’12 draftees Kieran Lovegrove and Dylan Baker and, in my opinion, looks like a real keeper, perhaps even more so than the highly touted Dillon Howard—though it’s incredibly early in their careers. While he lacks the prototypical pitcher’s frame, he sure does have a great variety and confidence on the mound.

His slider was around 84-85 MPH and it looks to be one of his best pitches. Brown will make his second pro start on Tuesday against the AZL Angels.

Kieran Lovegrove, this year’s 3rd round draftee, began his professional career last Saturday throwing two innings and surrendering three runs on five hits and a walk. From his start last week:

Lovegrove offered a fastball sitting between 89-91, and reached 92 MPH. He also provided a changeup that sat at 82 MPH that he used nearly as much as the fastball (threw quite a few first pitch changeups). The SoCal native has somewhat of a compact windup and delivery, though he was pretty slow to home plate; the Reds stole three bases in Lovegrove’s two innings of work. The Reds’ hitters were all over his first pitch, so it was tough to get ahead of hitters so to speak because they were making contact with his fastball. Lovegrove didn’t throw any breaking balls on Saturday night. The South African born pitcher threw 28 pitches, 17 of those for strikes. The knock on him—as is the case with a great amount of HS arms drafted coming into the pros—was his poor command. Purely from a mechanical standpoint, Lovegrove did not look as sharpened a starter as fellow ’12 draftee Mitch Brown did, from my perspective. However, at 6’4, 180, and still just 17 years old, there’s a lot to like about the starter.

Lovegrove is far from maxed out in size and as he begins to put on some weight, and grow into his size, you’d imagine that his fastball may even hit a few ticks faster. He’ll start tonight against the AZL Cubs.

D’vone McClure was selected in the 4th round of the 2012 draft. He was picked by the IPI’s Jeff Ellis as the best athlete in the Indians’ 2012 draft class in his Best Tools of the’12 Draft article and I don’t think anyone would question that. Here’s a look at his lone game this week and of the season on Thursday night:

D’Vone McClure led off the game and his pro career with a single lined up the middle. McClure ran well and looked fine in centerfield. The recent high school graduate really showed patience at the plate in his at-bats and a great two strike approach tonight; his first AB was a 2-2 count and McClure shortened up his swing—which is compact and quick enough—and also drew a full count walk after an eight pitch AB. One scout praised his good bat speed and advanced hitting approach for a high school draftee to go along with a real live body with good size, indicators for a bright future.

McClure looks to have a good arm especially for a centerfielder and incredible bat speed. I’m not sure he projects to stay in centerfield, but Tyler Booth is the only other centerfielder on the squad so he’ll remain in center for the AZL and potentially going forward. As mentioned, his bat speed is really there: the first hit of his career almost looked like he had taken the ball out of the catcher’s mitt because he was that quick to the zone. Speed wise, his times out of the box were really just average (4.3), but once he’s on bases and mowing, he’s speedy—just accelerating out of the box you don’t quite see the speed.

Nelson Rodriguez was drafted in the 15th round this year out of the same high school that produced Manny Ramirez. He played catcher in high school, though he’s played first baseman in his first four games for the youthful Tribe. The New York native looks like a football star at 6’3, 230 lbs, but he actually moves surprisingly well for a player of his size. He has a high maintenance type body so he will have to be sure to keep in fit form, but Rodriguez has played exclusively first base in the four games he’s played thus far and he looks like the most natural first baseman on the club that I’ve seen. He made several tough picks, saving third baseman Jorge Martinez’s fielding percentage, on Saturday night’s game and looks like he could legitimately play first base, though it has been a very petite sample size. With that said, Rodriguez possesses massive raw power and he showed some of that on Thursday night popping a 400+ foot man home run out of the Goodyear complex. His first week looked a lot like an Adam Dunn type week: a homer, 2 XBH, 4 BB’s, 7 K’s. It’ll be interesting to see more of Rodriguez since the system is thin on power hitting first baseman.

Benny Suarez, a 20 year old JUCO product selected in the 36th round of the ’12 draft, had two scoreless relief appearances this week. Suarez has somewhat pitching machine mechanics where it seems you can almost time him well on the mound if you’re a hitter. His fastball is a quality pitch coming in around 91-92 MPH and he was really able to get hitters to roll over the pitch in his first few appearances. The curveball looked a little flat out of his hand, sat between 75-78 MPH, though it may have been a byproduct of not pitching to live batters in over a month.

Scouting Report: Luis Lugo

Luis Lugo is one of the better young lefthanders in Cleveland’s organization. Lugo, a Venezuelan native, was taught English in a bilingual program in VZ so he communicates very well with catcher Eric Haase and Martin Cervenka. Here’s a brief recap and scouting report from his start this week:

Lugo, the big bodied lefty started for the Tribe and turned in a good performance on Thursday. Lugo went 4.1 IP, gave up 3 R (2 ER), struck out four and walked two. Lugo is 6’5 at age 18, so his weight has not quite caught up with his size. When it’s all said and done, Lugo is likely going to be an ideal sized left hander with several quality pitches. Lugo had some swing and miss stuff on Thursday night, though he did not have the best command we’ve seen this season. Lugo was missing high in the zone, throwing his fastball between 87-89 MPH. Lugo’s fastball is really pretty straight, but at 6’5, he throws on a true downhill plane which can compensate for his fastball being real straight. However, he’ll have to keep the ball down in the zone going forward if he’s going to continue to be effective. Lugo also offered a big “Mickey Mouse” lefty-type curveball that came in around 73 MPH. He fooled Diamondbacks hitters with it, but you could tell he’d have to be more consistent with it, avoiding the hangers that would be hit hard in the upper minors. Talking with one scout, he believed Lugo will have to throw more changeups going forward to really offset his fastball—he sparingly threw the change on Thursday evening. With that said, there’s a lot to like about Lugo going forward.

Begging for a promotion…

...would be third baseman Jorge Martinez and shortstop Dorssys Paulino. These guys have separated themselves from the pack on a weekly basis. Martinez is still getting adjusted to third base, though he’s made improvements with his footwork since the mid-June games. Paulino looks like he will rise through the system as a shortstop, though I’d eventually expect him to move to second base or third based on the way he fills out. His arm can play anywhere. Martinez is hitting a robust .400/.422/.632 and though he hasn’t been walking at the rates some savor for, who needs to draw walks when you’re hitting .400? Paulino his hitting to the soothing tune of .337/.406/.596. I’ve been praising the play of Paulino and Martinez, hitting no. 3and 4 in the lineup, since the start of the season. Get this kids up…and now.

Useless Knowledge:

John McDonald played for the AZL Diamondbacks on Thursday night in a rehab assignment. McDonald, 37, made his major league debut for the Indians in 1999. I asked him if the AZL made him feel old, to which he grinned and snickered, “age… it’s only a number.”
Orel Hershiser, former Cleveland Indians pitcher and member of the ’95 World Series team, has a 23 year old son, Jordan, who pitched for the AZL Dodgers on Tuesday. At 6’8, he’s a more physical pitcher than his dad and had an excellent delivery and arm action, though Tommy John surgeries and an inconsistent curveball may keep him as a reliever. Former White Sox shortstop Jose Valentine’s son Jesmuel also stars for the AZL Dodgers.
The Indians personnel were in Arizona this week which included VP of Player Development Ross Atkins and Assistant Director of Player Development Carter Hawkins. Seeing them and an entire Indians staff hierarchy definitely looked like a scene from Moneyball.
Speaking of movies--Kieran Lovegrove’s favorite film is 21 Jump Street, Luis Lugo’s is The Avengers, Walker White’s is Bull Durham, while Dillon Howard’s is For the Love of the Game. To get to know the AZL Indians a little better, be sure to check out “20 Questions with Rookie League Indians” later this week.

BA notes these lines, some were noted above some not:

CLE AA Weglarz, Nick LF 4 1 1 1 .245 HR (13)
CLE HiA Aguilar, Jesus 1B 3 1 1 0 .293 2B (23), 2 BB (42)
CLE LoA Myles, Bryson DH 5 1 2 1 .274 2B (12)
CLE LoA Rodriguez, Luigi CF 4 1 1 1 .277 HR (9), BB (39)
CLE LoA Smith, Jordan RF 5 0 1 2 .316 3B (6)
CLE SS Naquin, Tyler CF 4 1 1 0 .272 2B (5)
CLE AAA Barnes, Scott 0.1 3 1 1 1 0 3.74
CLE LoA Sterling, Felix 5 4 4 2 0 1 6.07 W (4-8)
CLE R Haley, Trey 2 5 4 4 1 3 7.20

Paulino could be a real deal. But at age 17 there's nothing wrong with him spending the rest of the summer in Arizona.

I assume the Indians expected to promote Naquin to one of the full season teams soon after his debut, as they've done with other college 1st round position players (who've gone to great thinks thereafter, e.g. Beau Mills and Trevor Crowe). Naquin has not overwhelmed. 272/391/370. All those walks are a good sign for a young hitter. Interesting stat not too crucial based on limited sample size; he's hitting 231 with bases empty, 320 with runners on base, 444 with RISP.

#22: 3B: Jorge Martinez, AZL Indians:

I’ve got to be honest…this guy wasn’t on my radar at all this year, but he has come out swinging with a whole bunch of raw talent and ability that he hadn’t show yet in his first two seasons in rookie ball. Of course, we’re talking about a 19-year-old kid here, so it’s not surprising. Let’s get one thing straight, Martinez is RAW right now, and while he is lighting up the Arizona Rookie League, he’s got a long, LONG way to go to the majors. With that said, he has the type of potential tools that make a prospect guy all giddy inside.

He’s on an interesting trajectory. In 2010, Martinez, then playing second base and shortstop, hit only .216, with two homers and 21 RBI. He struck out 41 times in 46 games, and was all over the place. In other words, he was every bit of his 17-years. In 2011, things improved. In 45 games, his average improved to .256. His doubles output improved from five to ten. He hit the first two triples of his career. His homers improved to four, from two. His OBP improved, his slugging improved, and his OPS took a major jump.

Enter 2012, and yes, play Enter Sandman if you want. This kid has entered an entirely different plane of development. He’s currently hitting .394 on the season in his first 22 games, with nine doubles, two triples, three homers and 19 RBI. That’s right, he’s nearly met his career highs in every category in half the time. Sure, this could be attributed to a hot streak or poor pitching, but according to those in the know, there appears to be something more to this kid than meets the eye. He’s a switch-hitter, who is hitting .400 against lefties, and .392 against righties. The Indians have also moved him to third, where, as you can imagine, he’s going through a bit of a learning stretch. Of course, the fact that his offense has improved while learning a new position may say it all.

Welcome to the equation Jorge…

#21: 2B: Joe Wendle: Mahoning Valley Scrappers:

Wendle was an underslot pick for the Indians in the first round this season out of a small D-2 School in Pennsylvania. I’m not sure I’ll have him this high to start the 2012 season off, but am going to throw him up here this high, and hope that he sticks. Wendle was considered a glove-first player when they drafted him, but clearly the scouting department knew a bit more than everyone else, as it’s turned out that his offense is better than average.

Wendle was a first team all-american for West Chester U, and his team won the D2 national championship. How good was Wendle? He won the PSAC triple crown, having hit .399, with 12 homers and 59 RBI. He was also an academic all-american, so we’re dealing with a guy with a high baseball IQ. He’s transferred all of that to his first big league season in Mahoning Valley, and is clearly a much more advanced bat than many other in that league.

He’s currently hitting .323 on the young season, with 10 doubles, three triples and a homer. He’s driven in 16, with ten walks and ten strikeouts. His early OPS is at .908, and he’s standing out against higher profile guys like first rounder, Tyler Naquin. The funny thing is that both are extremely similar, as above average, up-the-middle defenders, who know how to hit. Right now, the advantage on the early stages of the career go to Wendle, and while Naquin may project higher, Wendle certainly is one of those kids that may prove to be more than the sum of his parts going forward.

#20: RHP, Reliever: Chen-Chang Lee, Columbus Clippers:

With all due respect to Nick Hagadone, Lee was arguably the system’s top reliever prospect heading into this season. He absolutely dominated in Akron and Columbus in 2011, and seemed to be a lock to make it to the Indians early in the 2012 season. Lee made 44 total appearances in Akron and Columbus, and they were almost split right down the middle. On the season, he went an impressive 6-1 with a 2.40 ERA over 71 1/3 innings. He gave up only 53 hits and 19 earned runs, while walking a miniscule 23 batters, but striking out a whopping 99.

He started off the 2012 season looking just as dominant, and caught the eye of Manny Acta in spring training. The Indians were using him in several save situations, and while he gave up three runs in seven total innings, it was clear that he had major league stuff. He was sent down to Columbus before the season started, and continued where he left off in 2011. He had one bad outing out of five total, but didn’t give up a run in the other four. Overall, Lee went 2-0 in seven total innings, giving up five hits and two earned runs (both on a homer), while walking only one, and striking out eight.

In his last appearance, Lee began complaining of soreness in his right forearm. The Clippers immediately put him on the 7-day DL, and the Indians shut him down for six weeks. Unfortunately, Lee would have Tommy John surgery during the first week of June, ending his momentum and his 2012 season. Manny Acta was optimistic after the surgery. “We were expecting to see him up here at some point this year. Tommy John surgery has become so routine, that we now expect to see him here next season. We took a long look at him in the spring…he’ll be up here.” Look for this to be a minor blip in the road, and if he’s healthy, look for Lee to re-enter my top ten, heading into 2012.

#19: LHP, Starter/Reliever: Scott Barnes, Columbus Clippers:

I was on the fence about including Scott Barnes in this ranking, but at the end of the day, he needs to be here. The Indians moved the lefty to the bullpen halfway through the season in response to two other developments in the system:

LHP reliever Rafael Perez went on the DL, and the prognosis for his return was murky at best.
LHP reliever Tony Sipp was busy getting rocked with regularity for the Indians.
With the Tribe in dire need for left-handed relief pitching, the powers that be decided to bump Barnes into the bullpen for the time being, as a quick way to get their top-ranked lefty to the big leagues. Barnes had missed half of 2011 after tearing his ACL in July, and while he clearly is a guy they want starting, this would fill a big need.

With that said, Barnes has been a mixed bag out of the pen this season in Cleveland. Overall, he’s pitched in seven games in three stints with the Tribe, and after starting off with three solid performances, he gave up at least a run in his last four. Overall, his ERA is 8.10, but that’s a bit misleading, as he had one game in which he gave up five runs total.

He was a bit better in Columbus, but to talk about Barnes as a reliever at this point would be to undervalue him. First off, Barnes had made five relief appearances in his entire career prior to this season, and that’s out of 82 total games. Second off, the Indians have made every indication that their lefty will return to his role as a starter next season, and be a player in the battle for a rotation slot. As a starter, Barnes remains extremely viable, and as a reliever as well. Of course, having some time to develop into a role will be key, as the Indians threw him into it in the middle of the season. Barnes took to the new possibility very well, knowing it was a quick way to get to the majors. Again, seeing his pliability is a big reason why the Indians are so high on him. Of course, his mid-90s fastball doesn’t hurt either.

#18: LHP, Starter: T.J. House, Akron Aeros:

If you would have told me that I’d have T.J. House in my top 20 this year, I’d have laughed you off the planet. It’s not because the kid isn’t talented. He was ranked #19 in Tony’s 2010 rankings, and moved up to the #11 slot in 2011. Unfortunately, House couldn’t turn his explosive arm into a consistent weapon, and his career stalled in Kinston. He was rutted there for two seasons, with only pockets of solid pitching in the midst of a whole bunch of struggling. In 2010, he went 6-10 with a 3.90 ERA, walking 61 batters and striking out 106 in 135 2/3 innings. They weren’t spectacular numbers, but for a 20-year-old, the promise was clear, and so was the velocity. The Indians kept him in Kinston, hoping he would develop and move up to Akron. He didn’t. He ended up staying the entire season with the K-Tribe, going 6-12 in 130 innings, with 66 walks and 89 K’s. Having your numbers stay essentially the same or worse, and losing velocity won’t do you any favors. House’s luster was tarnished.

Tony dropped him in the rankings to #41.

House went to work.

The Indians chose to keep him in the Carolina league, and started him off in Carolina. Here’s the problem. T.J. House didn’t show up. Some other guy did. This guy looked nothing like the House of before. He seemed to have lost a bit of weight, and was throwing the ball in the mid-90s. After watching House for two seasons, I didn’t even recognize him on opening day. Tony just chuckled when I asked him about House, and in a conversation during that opening series, he said, “He worked his butt off over the offseason, came in as fit as he’s ever been, and did all the work the Indians wanted him to do, and more.”

It paid off.

House blazed through the Carolina league, making four starts and going 25 total innings. He was routinely popping the gun in the mid-90’s, and gave up only 17 hits and four earned runs, while striking out 26 batters and walking only six. I seriously thought that someone else was pitching in House’s jersey. I say that sarcastically, as clearly this kid worked his can off. The Indians were pleased, and bumped him up to Akron after over two seasons.

While I was worried that he’d stall out, that was put to rest quickly. From May 1st through June 9th, House made eight starts, going 4-1. He went 46 1/3 innings, giving up 33 hits and 13 earned runs, while walking 18 and striking out 31. He only had one bad start during that stretch, and while he wasn’t mowing guys down, he was certainly dominating, throwing strikes, and becoming every bit the pitcher the Indians thought. The only question was stamina. Could he maintain it over the span of a season?

Just as I asked that question, House to a turn for the worse. Over his next five starts, he gave up 21 earned runs over 25 2/3 innings. With that said, he was still throwing strikes, only walking eight during that stretch, with 14 K’s. Still, there was concern on my part that he was going to start middling.

Then a funny thing happened after the Eastern League All-Star break: House returned in full form. In his last three starts, House is 1-0 in 20 2/3, with four walks and 18 K’s. It seems as though House is not only regained his stature, but pitching his best baseball of the season. Stamina question answered…and so are my questions about House going forward. He’s a big-time lefty prospect going forward.

#17: RHP, Starter: Dillon Howard, AZL Indians:

Howard was one of the biggest question marks heading into this season, and well…through much of this season, as he didn’t show up anywhere until Rookie League. Many expected him a lot higher than that, perhaps in Lake County or even Carolina, and certainly no lower than Mahoning Valley. That’s exactly what happened to the 2011 second round pick.

Howard had injury issues in spring training, and while none of those issues were major, they were of the nagging variety, and kept him from getting the kind of work in that he needed. The Indians decided to keep him in extended spring, rather than start the year off in Lake County. With that said, there was speculation that he would show up there all year, or start the year off in Mahoning.

Again, that didn’t happen. There are several reports that Howard came into camp out of shape, and that because of that, injuries were an issue. Of bigger concern has been that his velocity is down from the mid-90’s to the upper-80’s. The fact that his velocity has remained in the upper 80’s has to be a concern going forward for Indians management.

I pondered not including Howard in my rankings, as he’s done nothing to show that he was worthy of a second round pick, but at the end of the day, his upside is immense. Could the injury issues have led to his shape issues? It’s possible. Either way, Howard’s value has taken a major hit. The bonus? He’s all of 20 years old…so there’s plenty of time going forward to get everything right.

As it stands now, he’s 0-3 on the season with a 6.75 ERA in 17 1/3 innings…so there’s a lot of UP over the next couple of seasons. Hopefully, he can regain that velocity. Tune into Sean Mahon’s AZL rookie league coverage to keep up with Howard as he progresses this season. No doubt Howard will be pitching plenty in the winter leagues, and hopefully this season has been a lesson learned.

#16: 2B/SS, Jose Ramirez, Lake County Captains:

Here’s my surprise addition to the rankings. Jose Ramirez doesn’t show up in Tony’s top 50 from last season, but I’m going to throw him up into the top 20, and see if he sticks. Ramirez is another one of the many middle infielders that the Indians have in the system, and he’s really starting to turn some heads. He’s not a big name like the duo in Carolina, but he’s slowly starting to produce major numbers.

Ramirez had already showed off a bit of a stick last season in rookie ball. He led the AZL Indians (and actually, had the high average in the entire system) in hitting last season, with a .325 average, 63 hits, was second in runs, doubles, triples, fourth in walks, sixth in RBI, and only had 17 K’s in 48 ballgames. He even stole 12 bases. The Indians had signed him as a free agent in 2009, and he was starting to pay off.

This season, Martinez started off in Mahoning Valley, and after three games, going 4-for-11, with two runs, two doubles and two stolen bases, they swapped him with Lake County’s much more heralded infielder, Robel Garcia. What has he done in Lake County? Well, it all started in game three, four and five. After starting off 0-for-8, Ramirez pounded out three straight two-hit ballgames. After two more oh-fers, he would alternate a five-hit and two three-hit performances with oh-fer performances as well. He was either really, really hot, or really, really cold. Don’t worry, the numbers have evened out since then, as Ramirez is currently hitting .310 and second on a very loaded team in batting average, behind Jordan Smith. In 28 ballgames, he has 21 runs, six doubles, a triple, a homer, nine RBI, 12 walks and nine strikeouts. He’s stolen five bases.

Ramirez is simply a guy that makes contact when he swings, walks more than he strikes out, gets on base, scores a lot of runs, and steals a few bases. In other words, he’s a guy that could prove to be very valuable. You take into account the fact that he can play several positions, and you have a very valuable, potential top of the order bad moving forward. The only obstacle? There are three or four guys ahead of him playing the same positions. Don’t count him out though, as he’s already passed Garcia. Who’s next?

Tomorrow we'll take a look at 8-14...

BA's lines for Monday games:

CLE AAA Phelps, Cord 2B 5 1 1 1 .263 SB (7)
CLE HiA Wolters, Tony SS 3 0 1 0 .264 BB (29), CS (7)
CLE LoA Lindor, Francisco SS 4 0 1 1 .266
CLE LoA Myles, Bryson DH 4 0 1 0 .273
CLE LoA Rodriguez, Luigi CF 4 0 1 0 .276 SB (19)
CLE LoA Smith, Jordan RF 4 0 2 0 .318
CLE SS Naquin, Tyler CF 4 1 2 0 .281 2B (6), BB (14)
CLE AAA Sturdevant, Tyler 2 2 0 0 0 3 9.00

Nice 5 innings by unimposing 6-0 160 pound lefty Ryan Merritt at Mahoning Valley. 5-6-1-1-1-1.

5-10 lefty Shawn Morimando has better prospect ratings; not as good success yesterday at Lake County: 6-1-2-2-5-4. Captains outhit the enemy 10-2 and lost 2-1. 3 hits by Jose Ramirez, 2 by Jordan Smith, 1 from Myles, Lindor and LuigiRod (who stole his 19th).

RonnieRod has been out since he was hit by a pitch starting a brawl last week. Wolters now everyday at SS. Tony with a single and a walk yesterday. Carlos Moncrief with his 14th homer and a walk. That's near the system's high in homers. Ahead of Aguillar with 11 on the same team. Carlos is a plus defender (or at least he has a plus arm in RF). He fans a ton but does lots of other things right.

Knuckleballer Steven Wright with 6 1-run innings for Aeros. Good relief work by 2 quality lefties: Raffy Perez 2 innings, 1 hit, no other marks. Shawn Armstrong 1 inning, 1 hit, 2 K. He should follow Perez to Cleveland in September. 11 Aero runs featue Thomas Neal's single, double, 9th homer, 4 rbi. Abraham homer 12. 2 hits for Juan Diaz. Nick Weglarz 0-4 with 3 K. Htitting 241, with 13 homers.

Lots of offense for the Clippers, most by old guys like Pagnozzi and Rottino. Younger generation contributors: Tim Fedroff 2hits, remains in mid 300s; Jason Donald 2 doubles and a walk playing CF; Russ Canzler 2 hits. Canzler has 14 homers, 11 in his last 172 AB. Meanwhile Matt LaPorta is perhaps getting bored in AAA; stuck at 17 homers, with 3 in his last 120 AB. Gomez started good, then got hit later.

Top home run hitters:

Columbus: LaPorta 17; Canzler 14; Phelps 10
Akron: Weglarz 13, Abraham 12, Diaz 10
Carolina: Moncrief 14, RonnieRod 12, Tice 12 (+1 for Akron), Aguillar 11
Lake County: LuigiRod 9

That would create a "all power" lineup of:

Catcher: no one
First Base: Aguillar
DH/LF/1b: LaPorta, Canzler, Abraham, Tice
2nd Base: Phelps
Shortstop: Ronnie Rodriguez or Juan Diaz
3b: Abraham
LF: Weglarz
CF: Luigi Rodriguez
RF: Moncrief