Cleveland Sports Forum

Indians seem to have turned around hard throwing RH Fabio Martinez. Brought his BB/IP down from 1.4 to 1.2 and his ERA crashed from 10.72 to 8.53 since joining the Mudcats. Ronny Rodriguez finishes up with his 33rd error. Gio Ursehla hitless to fall below 280.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.js ... a_frdafa_1

Captains head to the playoffs with a 15-6 win, not due to anything Felix Sterling did. The highly disappointing RH went 3 innings, tagged for 11 hits and the 3 runs. Final ERA for the Captains 6.58. 3 hits each by Jose Ramirez (.354) incluidng a triple and 15th steal in 2 months; Jordan Smith (316, OPS 815); Byrson Myles (290, OPS only 726) and 5 rbi

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.js ... x_lanafx_1

At least I know the Scrappers aren't quite finished. Lost today in the 9th. Paulino 0-4 drops to 260. Much older flop-in-the-making Naquin 0-2 drops to 270. Joe Wendle 2 hits, avg 327, OPS 844, little reason to expect him to get far, he's 2 years older than all the regular IFs on both the 2 full season A teams.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.js ... x_jamasx_1

BA announces Minor League Player of the Year, Will Myers, a Royal.

And answers early questions about MLPOY of 2013:

As of right now, am I in your top 5 candidates to win MiLB POY next year?


J.J. Cooper: I'd say Sano is a definite candidate. Other guys to watch would include Jose Fernandez (may make it to the big leagues too soon to really contend for this next year), Jurickson Profar (if the Rangers don't swing a trade that gets him to the big leagues), Francisco Lindor is a nice sleeper candidate to me.

Akron Aeros (82-59, Western Division champion) vs.
Bowie Baysox (78-64, Western Division runner-up)

Akron won the season series, 14-6

Game 1 at Bowie, Sept. 5 at 7:05 p.m. ET
Game 2 at Bowie, Sept. 6 at 7:05 p.m. ET
Game 3 at Akron, Sept. 7 at 7:05 p.m. ET
Game 4 at Akron (if necessary), Sept. 8 at 7:05 p.m. ET
Game 5 at Akron (if necessary), Sept. 9 at 7:05 p.m. ET

After an 8-5 loss to Portland on June 6, Baysox manager Gary Kendall convened a meeting with his team, which had fallen to 23-34, 12 games out of first place.

"It was not really a chew-out [type of meeting]," Bowie All-Star infielder Buck Britton said. "He felt people were comfortable where they were. The goal is not to be a good Double-A player. The goal is to make the Major Leagues."

"I thought we had a better club than our record showed," Kendall added. "If we are going to do this, let's do it right."

And they did. The Baysox won the next game in Portland, swept a three-game series at New Hampshire and then won three in a row at home against Portland and another at home against the Fisher Cats before the eight-game winning streak came to an end.

Bowie used that stretch to fuel a second-half run that culminated with a second-place finish in the Western Division. The Baysox will face an Akron team that has been steady for most of the year.

"Our starting pitching and relief pitching has been very consistent," Akron manager Chris Tremie said. "We have also played very good defense."

"I have been lucky with this group. They have been good all year getting ready to play," he added. "We have not run off big streaks of wins or losses. We have just been consistent."

Neal said the Aeros hit a rough patch before the All-Star break as their lead slipped.

"Then with two wins against Bowie near the All-Star break, that helped us," said Neal, who was promoted to Cleveland last weekend. "We were able to refocus."

The teams have not met since July 29 and the Aeros won all six series this year against Bowie.

"We have matched up better with them [in the second half], which gives us a little confidence," Kendall said.

Akron finished near the bottom of the league in homers with 83, but posted a team ERA of 3.03, the best in the league. The Baysox won seven of their final 10 games.

Bowie fans and front-office personnel still have a bitter taste in their mouths from when Akron used Travis Hafner on a Major League rehab assignment in the EL playoffs against the Baysox in a series win in 2008. That was the last time Bowie reached the playoffs.

Ohio.com reported that Carlos Carrasco will make a rehab start for Akron on Wednesday and that Bundy (2-0, 3.24) will start for the Baysox in Game 1.

Carrasco pitched to 3 batters, retired all, one on srikes. And he's out of there. Chisenhall rehabbing here, too. Aeros trailing 3-1 in the 4th behind Espino.

owling Green Hot Rods, 80-60 (Eastern Division second-half champions) vs.
Lake County Captains, 71-68 (Eastern Division second-half Wild Card)

Bowling Green won season series, 8-6

Game 1 at Lake County, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. ET
Game 2 at Bowling Green, Sept. 6 at 8:05 ET
Game 3 at Bowling Green (if necessary), Sept. 7 at 8:05 ET

In the past two weeks, Bowling Green has had four players suspended for violations of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Outfielder Josh Sale, who was a first-round pick by the Rays in 2010, second baseman Ryan Brett and pitchers Charlie Cononie and Justin Woodall have each been suspended 50 games after testing positive for methamphetamine and an amphetamine, according to Minor League Baseball.

Sale was hitting .265 with 10 homers and 44 RBIs. Brett was Bowling Green's leadoff hitter and was hitting .285 with 48 stolen bases. Cononie was 2-4 with a 4.20 ERA, and Woodall, a former Alabama football player, was 3-4 with a 4.76 ERA.

Bowling Green still fields a strong contender for the Midwest League title.

"We have talent on this team, and it's youthful talent, which is good," Hot Rods manager Brady Williams said. "These guys are going out there with the right mind-set of trying to get better every day, and that's what they're doing."

Lake County manager David Wallace saw his club start hitting on all cylinders in the second half.

"For us to be successful, it will be a matter of everybody contributing," Wallace said. "Our pitching is going to have to keep us in games. We have to come up with the big hit in the right spot. We have a lot of speed, so we can put pressure on defenses and maybe force them into some mistakes and take advantage of the mistakes. We've done that well all year."

[but author does not see any reason to describe who any of the Captains players are]

2 doubles, 2 rbi for one of those talented players, Francisco Lindor. Tyler Naquin promoted for the series with a double and a walk and two runs scored. 5-1 Lake County after 4. Cody Anderson with his normal 3 innings; allowed 1 run. Nick Pasquale on in relief.

TJ House and the Aeros trail 2-1 in the 3rd Chisenhall plates Jordan Henry who had doubled with a 1st inning sac fly. Now mid-3rd. This could well be the last week in organized ball for Nick Weglarz, super flop, who did not strike out, while batting 8th for Akron in his first shot at it. Aeros lose the opener in this best of 5.

Sort of surprisingly reasonably good Mason Radeke going for the Captains as they try to win their best of 3 series in 2 games. Late start in the Central Time zone.

Captains pulled it out in the 10th. They move on to the next round, unless I'm wrong and there's one more game to win in Round 1.

Yesterday's noted lines, AVG listed is just for the playoffs.

CLE LoA Lindor, Francisco SS 5 1 1 0 .333 3B (1)
CLE LoA Myles, Bryson LF 5 2 4 0 .833 2B (1), SB (1)
CLE LoA Naquin, Tyler CF 2 1 1 0 .600 BB (2)
CLE LoA Smith, Jordan RF 5 0 2 2 .300
CLE AA Haley, Trey 1 1 1 0 1 2 0.00
CLE AA Rondon, Hector 1 2 0 0 0 0 0.00

Rondon will have to back on the 40 man roster this winter. I think Haley may need protecting, although the new Rule 5 rules may give us another year for him.

Major League Baseball.com has issued a new Top 20 Prospects List. Have not read theirs, to give me a bit of time to create my own first. It should be headed by middle IF's with Lindor probably still on top since he's really impressing everyone with his defense and his overall game. Paulino has been a sensation and would be my No. 2. I would put Ronny Rodriguez right up there. Gio Urshela near the top, although not sure if others will agree, but he's another stellar defender whose offense really took off. And Luigi Rodriguez showed surprising power for a pint sized CF who can also run and defend. My second tier would include IFs Tony Wolters and Jose Ramirez and perhaps Jorge Martinez; OFs Anthony Santander and Tyler Naquin who seems to be not as multi-dimensional (little powr or speed) and another likely stinko 1st round pick. Aguillar still is not a sure thing and his 2nd half was quite a bit off from his start. Chen hit for average and belongs in the upper second 10. The pitchers are as usual mostly relievers. I don't know if any really excite. Lugo and Mitch Brown were impressive way down in the Rookie League. Dillon Howard, No. 2 prospect coming in to the year, was awful. Jake Sisco was fair. Relievers who will be high on the list will include: Troy Haley, Scott Armstong, Jose Flores, Tyler Sturdevant, maybe Bryson or Stowell who sort of stalled. Young starters who fit somewhere are Shawn Morimando and Cody Anderson. But a top 10 with no pitchers would not be unfair.

OK I'll take a look at the published list now.

MLB.com has re-ranked its Top 100 Prospects and each club's Top 20 Prospects.


The Indians are testing the old adage that says there is strength in numbers. Cleveland is strong up the middle in the big leagues, and the organization has an impressive crop of middle infielders developing in the farm system.

That was evident in the latest MLB.com prospect rankings.

Shortstop Francisco Lindor tops the list of the Tribe's Top 20 prospects and is the club's lone representative in the revised Top 100 list for all of baseball. Lindor is only where things begin for the Indians, though. He is one of four middle infielders ranked within Cleveland's first five prospects.

"The younger group is really impressive," said Ross Atkins, the Indians' vice president of player development. "There's a lot of upside in all of them. You can already identify Major League tools with a couple of them. You can project on tons of tools with all of them."

The group in question includes Lindor, who was the Tribe's top pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, along with shortstop Dorssys Paulino (ranked second), infielders Tony Wolters (third) and Ronny Rodriguez (fifth), and second baseman Jose Ramirez (18th). All five players spent time with Class A affiliates this season.

Lindor went from being ranked 32nd in the preseason Top 100 list to 14th this time around. He was the only Indians farmhand listed in both rankings.

In his first full professional season, Lindor -- named to the All-Star Futures Game World roster this summer -- hit .257 with six home runs, 24 doubles, three triples and 42 RBIs in 122 games for Class A Lake County. Along the way, he stole 27 bases and scored 83 runs for the Captains.

Lindor's offensive showing decreased as the season wore on, but Atkins said there is an explanation.

"A young Midwest League initially just came right after him," Atkins said. "He became the key guy and the most offensive player in that lineup at the start of the year. Then they pitched around him and he struggled with that, but he made the adjustments.

"He learned to take his walks and learned to not try to do more than what they were giving him. But that was a process for him to learn that, because of his competitiveness and him wanting to be that guy."

Perhaps the most promising prospect this season was Paulino.

The 17-year-old shortstop -- signed as an international free agent last summer -- hit .333 with seven home runs, 19 doubles, six triples and 38 RBIs in 56 Minor League games this season. Paulino began the year in the Arizona Rookie League, but his swift progress warranted a promotion to short-season Mahoning Valley.

Paulino jumped 11 spots from his preseason ranking (13th) for the latest list.

"More than anything on Dorssys are the subjective comments about how he does it," Atkins said. "Every single evaluator, every single coach, every single staff member that sees him says this guy has what it takes to be a Major League hitter.

"The comparisons are such unique comparisons, the kind that you don't hear that often, or in that way with that much conviction."

Wolters and Rodriguez bounced between shortstop and second base for Class A Carolina this season, providing a dynamic double-play duo. Wolters hit .260 with eight homers, 30 doubles, eight triples and 58 RBIs, while Rodriguez hit .264 with 19 homers and 66 RBIs for the Mudcats.

Between Mahoning Valley and Lake County, Ramirez hit .354 over 70 games.

indians' top prospects
No. Prospect Pos.
1 Francisco Lindor SS
2 Dorssys Paulino SS
3 Tony Wolters SS
4 Scott Barnes LHP Really?
5 Ronny Rodriguez SS

Atkins said Cleveland will wait to see how this middle-infield logjam shakes out.

"We'll continue to develop [guys like Wolters and Rodriguez] at both positions," Atkins said. "Once one of those guys demands more at-bats at one position because they're closer to making a Major League impact, then we'll adjust."

The rest of the Top 20 includes: pitchers Scott Barnes (fourth), Dillon Howard (seventh); Mitch Brown (eighth), Jake Sisco (15th), Kieran Lovegrove (16th), Corey Kluber (19th) and Felix Sterling (20th); outfielders Tyler Naquin (sixth), LeVon Washington (10th), Luigi Rodriguez (12th) and D'vone McClure (17th); first baseman Jesus Aguilar (11th) and Chun Chen (14th); catcher Alex Monsalve (ninth); and third baseman Jorge Martinez (13th).

The newcomers to the list include Naquin (Cleveland's top pick in the 2012 Draft), Aguilar (named to the Futures Game this summer), Brown, Lovegrove, McClure, Ramirez and Kluber.

Sixteen of Cleveland's Top 20 played at some level of A ball this year.

Reliever Nick Hagadone and starter Zach McAllister -- both of whom spent time with the Indians this year -- graduated from the preseason Top 20 list. Pitching prospects Chen-Chang Lee and Austin Adams were removed after arm injuries ended their seasons, while catcher Alex Lavisky, pitcher Elvis Araujo and infielder Robel Garcia were removed following subpar seasons.

One of the biggest disappointments of this season was Howard, who came into Cleveland's system as a highly-touted pitching prospect after being selected in the second round of the 2011 Draft. Howard dropped five spots in the rankings after going 1-7 with a 7.90 ERA in 12 outings in the Arizona Rookie League this year.

The Indians are hoping Howard can learn from what went wrong this season.

"He came into Spring Training and wasn't prepared, and it just snowballed on him," Atkins said. "I think we lost a year of development with him. We tried to clean the slate as each month went and we just weren't able to get through to him. We've got a challenge on our hands there.

"I think it did hit home and I think we'll see a different player next year. It's just unfortunate that we lost a year."

Cleveland believes the upside of its pitching prospects as a group -- especially now with arms such as Brown and Lovegrove added through the Draft -- is on the upswing. Relief pitching remains a strength at the upper levels, but starting pitching is something the Tribe is trying to develop.

McAllister and Kluber have helped along those lines in Triple-A and, now, the Majors.

"We feel very good of the progress of the guys in Triple-A this year," Atkins said. "Now, with the Draft, and the acquisition of Lovegrove, Brown and [Dylan] Baker, we're starting to feel like we have the makings of some starting pitching prospects."

Pitching and outfield prospects remain Cleveland's biggest areas of need.

The middle infield crop is a clear strength.

"All of those guys made progress and took steps forward this year," Atkins said. "And they were at a starting point that we felt very good about. We just feel more confident that we have a very, very strong group of middle infield prospects at the lower levels."

Well I meant to include Washington but 10th is a little high for a kid who hasn't done much yet. They haven't jumped on the Santander bandwagon yet, but Baseball America has noticed him. Howard at No. 7 is reflective the weakness of our pitching. As is typical with these lists, this year's draft class which hasn't yet proven anything is overrepresented. It would be nice if McClure and Lovegrove turn out to be good, but there's no reason to think so yet. Sterling was worse than Araujo but Felix kept a spot. Relievers don't usually rate high but Armstrong and Haley should be listed about the unproved Rookie League pitchers IMO.

And Urshela who is age 20, like Ronny Rod and Wolters, and is as good a defender as either one, and who hit 278 and 14 homers doesn't rate the Top 20?


Ursehla 278/309/446 30 doubles 1 triple 14 homers 1/2 in steals 10 errors
RonRod 264/300/452 20 doubles 4 triples 19 homers 7/14 steals 33 errors
Wolters 260/320/404 30 doubles 8 triples 8 homers 5/19 steals 24 errors

At age 20 all did well in High A. Only Wolters draws walks. Wolters ought to stop trying to steal. RRod and Wolters need to be more steady on defense. U is the slowest and walks the least.

Where's the beef??

Popcorn middle infielders won't win anything.