Cleveland Sports Forum

PROJECTED 2020 LINEUP

Catcher Yan Gomes
First Base Bobby Bradley
Second Base Jason Kipnis
Third Base Jose Ramirez
Shortstop Francisco Lindor
Left Field Tyler Naquin
Center Field Greg Allen
Right Field Bradley Zimmer
Designated Hitter Francisco Mejia
No. 1 Starter Corey Kluber
No. 2 Starter Danny Salazar
No. 3 Starter Trevor Bauer
No. 4 Starter Carlos Carrasco
No. 5 Starter Triston McKenzie
Closer Cody Allen

Mike (Lynchburg, VA): Thanks for the chat! Where do you feel Zimmer's future position is and where does he best profile with the Indians? Do the strikeouts now post a major concern?

Teddy Cahill: Bradley Zimmer is a solid defender in center field, but he fits well anywhere in the outfield. The Indians have a fair amount of uncertainty in the outfield with Brantley working back from injury and Davis going into free agency. So Zimmer should be able to work himself into a role sometime next year.

Surprised that Carrasco is listed as No. 4 starter. If he really is, that means Bauer becomes quite a talent.

Elliot (Youngstown OH): More than his strikeouts, what concerns me about Zimmer is his splits against left handed pitching. His slash line vs lefties was a woeful 179/343/250. Can he project as any more than a platoon player?

Teddy Cahill: While his increased strikeout rate this year is some cause for concern, it's also notable that his walk rate increased and his on-base percentage was still in pretty good shape. The splits, however, may present a larger concern. A .593 OPS against lefties just isn't good. But he does have some things going for him in that regard - especially that, as a lefthanded hitter, he has the platoon advantage most of the time. He also faced more lefites than ever before this year and Triple-A has more crafty lefty types. He'll have to learn how to hit them better, yes, but there's reason to believe he can make an adjustment and improve. How well he does so is something to watch.

George (Columbus): Any concerns about the high K% for Nolan Jones in his debut?

Teddy Cahill: While we're talking about disconcerting K rates, we might as well hit on Nolan Jones, Cleveland's second round pick this year. Yes, he whiffed in 36.5 percent of his plate appearances this year. But you're talking about a northeastern prep product in his professional debut. He's going to need to develop more consistency in his approach, but, for now, I wouldn't worry too much. He's 18 and has plenty of time to make necessary adjustments.

McKenzie takes the floor:

DR (MD): T Mack at 3 feels low. Is it a velo/stuff concern? He looks like a future ace with plus makeup. My read on his reviews this year was that he'd be a top 25 guy.

Teddy Cahill: Triston McKenzie is one of my favorite prospects, and I think there's a case for him over either Zimmer or Mejia. But the biggest reason he ranks behind them is that he's a teenager who has pitched 34 innings in low A and still needs to prove he can handle the workload of a full season, while Mejia will start next year in Akron and Zimmer has already reached Triple-A. McKenzie's upside is massive, but he's much further away from making an impact in the major leagues.

Bob (OH): Is McKensie mostly a good pitchability type who is taking advantage of low minors hitters who can't handle command/sequencing or does he have the kind of stuff that could make him a #2 type starter?

Teddy Cahill: While we're on the subject...McKenzie has really good pitchability and that is part of the reason he has dominated hitters in the low minors. He's advanced for his age and his initial performance isn't a surprise to many scouts in South Florida, who watched him carve good high school competition during his prep career. But "good pitchability type" is usually used as back-handed compliment, so that's not how you'll see McKenzie described. His stuff is really good. He can get swings and misses with his fastball, which he throws from a good downhill plane. His curveball is the best in the system and his changeup shows promise. If he's able to get stronger sees his velo tick up, or even if he's just able to more consistently reach his peak velocity, you're looking at a really, really good pitcher.

That sounds really, really good

and more on TMc

Keith (Farmington, CT): Thanks Teddy. I realize Triston McKenzie only tossed 34 innings in Low A but he was amazing. Is he ready to start 2017 in Hi A ?

Teddy Cahill: McKenzie is probably advanced enough to handle an assignment to Lynchburg. But the Indians are typically more conservative with their pitchers than that. He'll be 19 almost all of next season and only got 34 innings at Lake County this year. I think you'll see him back in Eastlake to start 2017.

Noel (Portland): One of the keys for Mejia seems to be if he can stick at catcher or not. Do you think that he's a catcher when he gets to the big leagues?

Teddy Cahill: That is definitely the biggest question facing Mejia. I think he will be a catcher when he gets to the big leagues. Catching is really hard and it takes time to develop defensively. Mejia has some very specific things he has to get better at. But he'll play all of next year as a 21-year-old. He's got time to work on his defense. And having a top-of-the-scale arm doesn't hurt. Will he ever be Roberto Perez behind the plate? Probably not. But I think he can make the improvements necessary to be a catcher when he gets to Cleveland.

This year they've been cutting off after an hour or so; in past years these chats went on long enough to cover dozens of players. We'll see what happens as we near the one hour mark and have discussed only Mejia, Zimmer, McKenzie, and Jones.

More unlikely that we're going to be chatting about Diaz or Krieger or Allen

Jim (Annapolis): Does F. Media project as a big league catcher or will he need to change positions? Think Carlos Santana. Thank you

Teddy Cahill: Santana wasn't even catching full-time until he turned 21. So Mejia has a pretty significant head start on Santana in terms of catching. And Santana was primarily a catcher until his age 28 season, when the Indians decided they wanted him in the lineup more often than catching was allowing. So, sure, Mejia could end up following that kind of path, but that's hardly atypical for good hitting catchers

Here's a name I didn't expect to read about, because I guess we've been underestimating him:

Ken (Sandusky, OH): After Mejia, does Logan Ice get your vote as next-best catcher in their org right now? What can you tell us about him?

Teddy Cahill: Yes, that's fair. Ice, the Indians' second-round pick this year, is a strong defender behind the plate and handles pitchers well. He's glove over bat, but his defense is good enough that he won't have to be a big-time hitter to be a big league regular.

[Roberto Perez of the 2022 World Series, perhaps]

Brian (Ohio): What lead to Juan Hillman's struggles during the 2nd half of the year? He started strong but then sort of collapsed the 2nd half of the year.

Teddy Cahill: Mostly, it was just that he was 19 and in his first full professional season. It's just a much longer season than what players do as amateurs. It's mostly just a matter of him getting stronger and increasing his stamina so that he's able to work a full season.

Here comes some more depth:

Gary (Queens, NY): Can Adam Plutko be anything more than a back-end pitchability type of arm? Will we see him in the next ten names when the Handbook comes out?

Teddy Cahill: Longtime followers may remember that I'm one of Plutko's biggest believers. But he's pitchability over stuff, which gives him a back-of-the-rotation starter profile. There's a lot of value to that kind of player, just look at what Josh Tomlin has done. And, yes, you will find Plutko somewhere in the 11-20 range in your handbook.

[good back of the rotation starting depth gets you to the World Series]

a.j. (las vegas): With McKenzie and Aiken so far away is it fair to say that there isn't much in the way of pitching reinforcements coming in the next couple of years?

Teddy Cahill: I would not say that. I might say that you've largely seen most of the pitching reinforcements already. Shawn Armstrong, Perci Garner, Ryan Merritt, Shawn Morimando and Adam Plutko have already pitched in the big leagues. There are a few guys in Akron that should be able to help soon - Julian Merryweather and Rob Kaminsky, especially. And Aaron Civale and Shane Bieber could move quickly, though even they probably won't get to Cleveland much ahead of McKenzie.