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In typical Tony Lastoria here is way way too much text on a marginal prospect, although a potential for the breakout list I don't go in for short lefties.

2017 IBI Top 75 prospects: #34 Thomas Pannone

The 2017 countdown continues with a lefty who came into the organization a few years ago as a project and has since solidified himself as a good starting pitching prospect for the Indians and the versatility to potentially end up a starter or reliever in the big leagues...


34. Thomas Pannone – Left-handed Pitcher

Born: 04/28/1994 – Height: 6’0” – Weight: 195 – Bats: Left – Throws: Left

Facts & Info: Pannone was selected in the 9th round of the 2013 Draft out of the College of Southern Nevada. He was originally drafted in the 33rd round of the 2012 Draft by the Cubs out of high school, but did not sign and played baseball at the University of Miami, FL. He later changed his mind about attending Miami after concerns came about with his playing time as a freshman, so he transferred to junior college at Southern Nevada. Last season, he finished 1st in the organization in ERA (2.57) and 3rd in strikeouts (122).

Stuff: Pannone is a smaller sized pitcher who brings a ton of athleticism to the mound with a solid three pitch mix from the left side. He features a solid average fastball that sits at 88-91 MPH and will flash up to 94 MPH when he reaches back for extra. He’s not someone who is going to blow hitters away, but he has shown improved velocity where he maintains it around 90 MPH and gets it higher than that more often, and more importantly, maintains his velocity and stamina through each outing and over the course of the season. He commands his fastball well and gets some good movement with it and shows some late life through the zone that generates some swing and miss. His best secondary offering is a power curveball that is average but has the potential to be above average as he gains more consistency in commanding it around the zone and shows a little more depth to it. He also throws a straight changeup that is a work in progress because it lacks consistently, but is a pitch he is starting to show more confidence throwing not just to right-handers but left-handers as well.

Delivery & Intangibles: Pannone has a clean delivery that is free and easy and that he repeats well. He has a ton of athleticism which has really helped him make quick adjustments and incorporate some delivery changes to this point in his pro career, and it is that athleticism along with a high aptitude that has the Indians excited about his potential as they believe there is still more in the tank as far as his stuff and pitchability goes. While the stuff may not be great, he shows the ability to get a lot of quick outs and get hitters to swing at his pitches early in the count and generate weak contact. That is a unique trait and shows he has some deception where hitters don’t see the ball well and that he does a nice job of sequencing and locating his pitches – especially with how well he runs his fastball in on right-handers. He is developing a good feel for pitching and shows the ability to move the ball around and change speeds. He has an aggressive approach and does not get frazzled when faced with adversity and does a good job of remaining poised and making a pitch to get out of a jam. He falls in line with the Indians focus on players who have a plus makeup and a strong work ethic.

Focus: The main focus with Pannone is developing his delivery, arsenal and strike throwing ability. He lacks much pitching experience since he did not pitch a lot in high school and pitched just one year in junior college before joining the Indians organization, so he is still learning to pitch and is still a little rough around the edges on the mound. The Indians had him repeat at Low-A Lake County to start last season because they wanted him to get more mound experience to gain a better feel for pitching, refine his command a little bit and learn how to throw with a little better intent. He made some strides in those areas, so when he moved up to High-A Lynchburg they began working on locating better to his glove side since he has a tendency to get across his body a little bit. Shortly after moving up to Lynchburg in July he threw a sensational outing where he threw seven shutout innings and allowed just one hit, but in the next start he had a blister issue crop up which impacted that start, shelved him for almost three weeks and it took him a few starts to get back into the swing of things. The Indians believe that some good came out of the blister issues as the time away from the mound at the end of July and the first half of August allowed him time to work on the side and get his mechanics back in line and take a step forward with his command. He’s really made some strides with his fastball command and the way he controls his secondary stuff and has turned into more of a complete pitcher the last two seasons. Going forward, the Indians want him to continue to work on refining his mechanics so that he can better repeat his delivery and work his fastball to both sides of the plate more consistently. Also, while his curveball and changeup are both promising offerings, neither has really come to the forefront, so they will continue to tweak both offerings and potentially even explore changing up his pitch mix to add a different offspeed pitch that works better with his fastball.

Future: Pannone probably should have opened last season in High-A, but the Indians are not a “normal” operation these days because of the plethora of pitching talent they have throughout their system. Even though he was forced to repeat at the same level he had some success at in 2015, he used it as an opportunity to hone in on some of his deficiencies and improve, and that’s exactly what happened as he made some strides both developmentally and statistically and had a great year. He came into the organization as a very raw, inexperienced arm that required a ton of work upfront on his delivery, command, stuff and just learning the nuances of pitching, but all of that work came together last season and he really stepped forward and solidified himself as a legit pitching prospect in the organization. He won’t break the radar gun, but low 90s lefties are nice to have and there is still some upside to his offspeed stuff. It is questionable as to whether he has the pitches to remain a starter, but there is no doubt he is at least a potential big league arm in the pen. The Indians themselves actually believe his future is in the pen, but will continue to start him in order to facilitate his growth with his pitches, command and feel for the mound and let his versatility and athleticism take him from there. He should open the season with a return to High-A Lynchburg and if he has a strong showing there he could finish the season with a late season promotion to Double-A Akron.

Maybe I'll go with the always-injured Dylan Baker who is in his second year on the 40-man roster and gets hurt opening day most seasons. Although perhaps I should try someone without the strong work ethic all these guys feature according to Tony. That would be a real find. I wonder how he described the miserable 2nd round draft choice Dillon Howard who took nearly $2M and never go into shape and was good in two years?

The 2017 countdown continues with a power-armed righty who has been sidelined with numerous injuries over the past three seasons which have limited his time on the mound, but he looks to be ready to make a big comeback this season and potentially lay claim as the top pen prospect in the organization...


32. Dylan Baker – Right-handed Pitcher

Born: 04/06/1992 – Height: 6’2” – Weight: 205 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

Facts & Info: Baker was selected by the Indians in the 5th round of the 2012 Draft out of Western Nevada Community College and signed for $235,600. His freshman season in 2011 he pitched for Tacoma Community College before transferring to Western Nevada for his sophomore season in 2012. While at Western Nevada he was named the Scenic West Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year and helped Western Nevada advance to the Junior College World Series.

Stuff: Baker is a power pitcher who combines a very strong lower half and some very good arm strength to bring some big time velocity from the right side. When healthy, he features a plus-plus fastball that comfortably sits at 93-96 MPH and will occasionally flash 97-98 MPH, and has been recorded as high as 100 MPH when he was in college. The Indians feel that as gets healthy, adds a little more strength and makes a few tweaks to his mechanics that he will more consistently be able to reach his top end velocity readings and see an uptick of a MPH or two in his average velocity. His fastball shows some good late life through the zone and gets a good amount of swing and miss with it, although he only shows average command of it. He mixes in a solid average slurvy slider that has some good, late biting action to it, and has the potential to be a plus offering and legit Major League weapon for him because of the late movement through the zone and swing and miss he gets with it. He also shows a feel for a developing changeup that has a chance to be average, but it is still a work in progress and a pitch he only uses occasionally to give hitters a different look and to attack left-handed hitters.

Delivery & Intangibles: Baker has a big frame with a very thick lower half that helps create a lot of strength for him from the ground up and the endurance to log a lot of innings. He has a free and easy delivery that he is working to refine but does a good job of repeating and staying on line with it. He really does a nice job of keeping the ball on the ground (1.53 career GO/AO) and limiting damage by keeping it in the ballpark (8 HR in 225.0 IP). He displays some strong mental toughness where the game doesn’t speed up on him in high leverage situations and he really does a nice job of keeping composed to work out of jams. He has developed a good routine and is always well prepared when he takes the mound, and just has a very good makeup with a strong work ethic and ability to make adjustments quickly.

Focus: Health has been an ongoing issue for Baker over the last three seasons as he has been limited to just 13 total appearances over that time because of a few serious injuries. In 2014 he fractured his right ankle in the second start of the season and missed three months and also had what was then considered minor right arm soreness during spring training in 2014 which delayed the start of his season by a week. That arm issue cropped up again in 2015 as after one start he was sidelined because of arm soreness and later underwent Tommy John surgery on May 20, 2015 which shut him down for the rest of the season. Last season, he had a few setbacks along the way in his recovery which prevented him from getting on the mound the entire year. The focus in the early part of the season will be getting him healthy and ready to compete in a live game setting again. Once he is able to settle in and prove he is healthy, the focus will then shift on continuing his development which has mostly been on hold the last three years because of all the injuries. He’s still a little raw and experienced with just 225.0 career innings as a professional and only one college season, so the Indians really need to hone in on the development of his command, stuff, pitch sequencing and overall feel for pitching in order to smooth out all of the rough edges he still has on the mound. There is no question that his durability is a huge question mark moving forward as he has to show he can stay healthy and handle the innings workload of a starter or the appearances workload of a reliever, so the Indians will likely monitor his workload this season in order to better ensure he stays healthy and can stay on the field so that he can make some strides in his development. The Indians also want him to continue to work to refine the command of his fastball, be more aggressive with it in the zone, and locate it more consistently to the bottom of the zone. They also would like to see his slider get a little tighter and the command of it improve.

Future: Baker has a ton of talent but his numerous injuries over the last three years have really limited his time on the mound. With only one appearance over the last two years and just 13 appearances over the last three years, his once promising future has started to fade. While the Indians haven’t completely given up on him as a starter, the reality is his path for now may have to be as a reliever in order to keep him healthy and accelerate his development – plus he just isn’t built up to handle more than 70-80 innings in a season anyway. His lack of a true third offering and his fastball command issues could also be covered up some by working out of the pen where he can let loose with his fastball and really dominate in short spurts – a role many scouts viewed him in going back to the draft. He just has the kind of arm and mentality that can really impact in the backend of a bullpen, but even so, his overall grade is weighed considerably because of the concerns with his durability. If he continues to struggle with injuries this season he could eventually find his way off the 40-man roster, though the Indians still have some time to be patient with him considering he has two option years remaining and his arm is too valuable to give up on for now. He should open the season at Double-A Akron, though could find himself in extended spring training to start the season in order to manage his innings on the front end before eventually being assigned to Akron or even High-A Lynchburg in May or June.

Lastoria forgot to mention Pannone is a Rhode Island kid

do you happen to know anyone else from the smallest state?

How does a Rhode Island kid end up at College of Southern Nevada?

Maybe he likes blackjack as much as I do?

I like Pannone. If memory serves he actually got better after he was promoted last year.

Indians Prospective‏ @indiansPro 6 hours ago
Injury update: #Indians INF prospect Mark Mathias suffered a slight labrum tear in his left shoulder. No surgery for now. Plan 4 weeks rehab

#Indians Roster moves:
(C) Francisco Mejia optioned to (AA) Akron
1B Nellie Rodriguez assigned to minor league camp

Diamondback's catcher Chris Iannetta is also a RI kid.

Highlights from minor league games yesterday.

Low-A ... McKenzie gave up 3 hits and 2 runs in 2 innings, but had 4 K. ... Nolan Jones 1-3 ... Benson 0-3 w/ K.

High-A ... Gabe was 2-4 with a SB. ... Bieber pitched 1.1 IP and struck out all 4 outs. But he also gave up 4 hits and 2 ER.

AA .. Pannone pitched 2 innings of all zero's, 1 K. ... Krauth and Mitch B. both pitched a scoreless inning apiece with 1 K.

AAA ... Frankie M was sent down to AA camp but for some reason he played in AAA game. He went 1-2 with a double, run, and walk. ... Bradley played in AAA game too, and was 2-2, both singles. ... Chang 1-4 with a homer and 2 RBI. ... Kaminsky pitched 2 scoreless with 2 K.

Brantley played in AAA game yesterday, went 1-3 with a double. If you watch the video of the hit on Twitter you can hear someone boo'ing him in the background. It was Jason Kipnis. LOL

BA game notes:

Bradley Zimmer, rf, Indians. Cleveland’s No. 2 prospect has impressed manager Terry Francona this spring. Zimmer is 12-for-34 with two homers following Wednesday’s 2-for-5 performance. Zimmer has speed and power and is a plus defender. Judging by Francona’s comments, it sounds like Zimmer won’t break camp with the big club, but he could be a factor sometime in 2017.

CLE MAJ Allen, Greg CF 5 2 1 1 .237 2B (3)
CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik SS 3 0 0 0 .303

Everybody is high on Eric Gonzalez but pretty much everytime I see him bat he strikes out.

His defense is his strong suit. Rated as great arm and great defender. 13 Ks in 33 AB this spring means your viewing has not been overly selective.
His minor league stats show reasonable strikeout totals [109,88,103,88] over the last 4 years. Worse: he doesn't walk much at all, about as unselective a hitter as Urshela [11,21,18,12 are his walk totals over those same 4 years] Minor league career totals are 274/316/395

THanks for that breakdown Civ. in his defense he is tall, has a big strike zone.

But maybe Gonzalez is opening day 2nd baseman, with Martinez in utility role. Or vice versa. Or JRam slides over and Urshela gets another [temporary] shot at 3rd? Not much of a future for Gio in Cleveland with Ramirez at the corner, and some up-and-comers behind him: 21 year old Chang at Akron [still playing SS but won't stay there], 18 year old Nolan Jones should debut at Lake County.

Orioles fans want to keep Santander:


This guy is 22 years old, completely filled out already, totally confident at the plate, and has an incredibly beautiful power swing. The Orioles MUST find a way to keep this guy in the fold because I believe he is 100% a legitimate Major League hitter at a younger age than we could have said that about Manny Machado.

Whether or not that's utilizing the DL for his shoulder or playing some roster games with guys with options, they have to find a way. I just think we are looking at a left-handed Victor Martinez on our hands, I honestly do. We have no idea if he can play the outfield, but I'd wager to bet he can play it better than Kim.

I'm imagining basically another Luke Scott out there in LF next year, but younger and with potentially less holes in his swing. Anyone else feel the same way? I realize it's ST and it's way early, but I'm just calling it like I see it. Good chance I'm wrong, but he's absolutely passing the eye test to me.

I am strongly in favor of keeping him. I'm not ready to pronounce him a great player but considering his age (22), the season he put up last year in High A at age 21, and how he looks, I like him a lot.

Is he ready for a meaningful role. Right now, you'd have to say no. He has struck out half the time and hasn't even played the field yet. I want to keep him regardless but if he can play a passable LF/RF and cut down on his K's he might even be able to contribute this year.

If his two homers suggest that he's getting his timing down, he might be able to make the decision a no brainer by the end of Spring Training.