Cleveland Sports Forum

Todd Isaacs just homered again.

My breakout hitter Gabe Mejia has a double and a single tonight and I thought he was doing well. Todd Isaacs 2 homers beats it.

Speaking of breakout choices ... Pannone has pitched 5 scoreless, retired 14 in a row with 8 of them K's...

Cavs game starting so gotta leave him. Hope I didn't jinx him.

The Clip show went down tonight, 7-2. ... Gonzalez 1-4 with homer. ... Chisenhall a single in 4 at bats. ... Zimmer a double in 4 trips. ... Merritt got smacked around, allowing 4 earned on 9 hits in 5 innings.

Akron was postponed as I mentioned.

Myrtle Beach once again kicked sand in the faces of the Hillcats, 2-1. ... But the good news is my breakout pick Pannone continued his fine pitching. Gave up no hits or runs in 5 innings and had 8 K. He's one to keep an eye on... Not any offense to speak of. This team I thought had some sleeper hitters in Calica, Marabell, and Carter, but they managed 1 single in 9 at bats combined.

Well thank God for the Lake County Captains. Someone in the organization managed a win tonight. The Captains got 2 wins. How many times last year were they the only team in organization to not get a win?

Game 1 they clobbered Dayton 9-1. ... Gabe Mejia 2-5 with a double. ... Isaacs 2-4 with 2 homers. Civ's breakout pick doing him proud. He even had an OF assist this game. ... Ice 1-4 ... Miniard pitched 3 innings due to suspended game, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 K. ... The man the myth the legend, Ben Krauth started the 4 inning today, pitched 2 and 2/3. No hits and no runs, of course, 4 K.

Game 2 was the 7 inning shortened affair, and the Captains won 7-3. ... My man Gabe was 2-3 with a triple and 3 RBI. Made up a little ground on Isaacs who had a single in 4 at bats. ... Ice was 0-2 with 2 walks. He might be the next Mike Papi for me. Just keep expecting better things that don't come. Just walks. ... Civale allowed 4 hits and 3 runs in 4.2 IP. 6 K.

Saturday's starters ..

Columbus - Adam Plutko
Akron - Michael Peoples
Lynchburg - Triston McKenzie
Lake County - Brady Aiken

Bauer for the Tribe.

All eyes on the Class A starters.

Meanwhile, last night was quite a night for Tom and Todd.

Lynchburg Hillcats 1, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 2

Box Score · Hillcats fall to 0-2

Despite a total offensive power outage, the Lynchburg Hillcats were in line to win this game as late as the seventh inning. It wasn’t until the eighth that the Myrtle Beach Pelicans tied it up on a wild pitch and eventually pulled ahead in the ninth.

Collectively, the Hillcats offense was held to just three hits.

The real story of the game Hillcats starting pitcher Thomas Pannone flirting with perfection. The 22-year-old lefty threw a no-hitter through five innings, complete with eight strikeouts and a mere two walks. Being that no one cares about minor league no-hitters, Pannone was pulled and replaced with a series of pitchers who sort of ruined everything. But still, keeping a lineup without a hit even over five innings is impressive. Hats off to Pannone.

2017 IBI Top 75 Prospects: #4 Brady Aiken

TONY LASTORIA
4. BRADY AIKEN – LEFT-HANDED PITCHER
Born: 08/16/1996 – Height: 6’4” –
Weight: 205 – Bats: Left – Throws: Left

Facts & Info: Aiken was selected by the Indians in the 1st round of the 2015 Draft out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL and signed for $2,515,280. He was originally selected in the 1st round and number one overall by the Astros in the 2014 Draft out of Cathedral Catholic High School (CA) but did not sign and enrolled at the IMG Academy. He was a 2014 Perfect Game USA first Team All-American and led Team USA to the gold medal at the 18U World Cup in Taiwan in September 2013, including a win in the championship game vs. Japan (7.0 IP, 1 R, 10 K). He injured his left elbow just 13 pitches into his first appearance for the IMG Academy and underwent reconstructive left elbow surgery on March 26, 2015 in New York City.

Stuff: Brady is a legitimate front of the rotation pitching prospect who combines some very good stuff, size, athleticism, delivery and makeup to project very well from the left side of the mound. He features a deep four pitch mix with two well above average offerings and two more which have the potential to be good as well, and shows a good ability to command all of them. Prior to surgery, his plus four-seam fastball sat at 90-94 MPH and he could run it up to 98 MPH, but in his return to the mound last season it was only at 88-91 MPH and occasionally hit 92 MPH. When healthy, it is a very strong offering that shows very good late life through the zone and commands it well to both sides of the plate. He gets it on a good downhill plane and shows an ability to elevate it when needed to change the eye levels of hitters. The Indians believe that the velocity will begin to come back this season now that he is much further away from surgery and was able to re-establish himself on the mound last season, and they feel that as he matures and gets stronger that his pre-draft average velocity could tick up to where he averages more in the 93-95 MPH range. His low 80s plus curveball is his best pitch and a true weapon for him that has plus-plus potential. It is a hammer that he shows an advanced feel for, spins it well, has the confidence to throw in any count or situation and gets some great 12-6 action and depth to the bottom of the zone. The curveball was there for him the most last season as he had the feel for it and showed an incredible ability to add and subtract from it. He does a great job of working it on the hands of right-handers and gets a ton of chase and defensive swings with it on lefties. He mixes in an average changeup and is another offering that has a chance to be a plus offering for him because of the good late fade it has and the confidence he has in it. He really does a good job of repeating his arm slot and release point with it which creates some deception because of the way it looks like his fastball coming out of his hand. He also has a developing slider that he shows a feel for and is still a work in progress. It has some cutter-like action and is a pitch he is still gaining confidence in throwing and has a chance to be an average offering for him and give him a different looking breaking ball.

Delivery & Intangibles: Aiken has a mechanically sound delivery with lots of athleticism to it and the ability to repeat it well. There is not a lot of effort to his delivery as he is smooth with a big, high leg kick and really uses his lower half well to create some good balance and get him working downhill fast. He shows some nice, clean arm action with a high three-quarter slot where he creates some deception with the way he hides the ball well in his motion until release. He has a good, strong frame that gives him the potential to haul innings and be a workhorse on the mound. He is very mature for his age and shows some advanced pitchability where he knows how to effectively mix his pitches and work in and out of the zone and up and down. The Indians love his character and his excellent work ethic where he shows a relentless desire to improve and get better. He is a plus makeup player who is very coachable and is a very good teammate.

Focus: Last season the main focus for Aiken was to rehab from Tommy John surgery and get his work in without worrying about the results and how his stuff looked on the mound. His stuff was slow to return as he had problems with the consistency of his stuff and commanding all of his pitches which resulted in him getting banged around a little, walking some hitters and getting into too many fastball only counts. His curveball looked good but the lack of velocity on his fastball and lack of the late life and command he had of it pre-injury impacted his performance. But his performance was not the main focus as the Indians were happy that he made each scheduled start and did not have any setbacks in his recovery – though even with the lack of consistent good stuff he flashed his ability to miss bats as he put up an 11.1 K/9 on the season. They are confident that with a full offseason with no limitations to work on his mechanics, endurance and strength that he will be as strong as ever this season and that the command will begin to return. The Indians just want him to focus on pitching as they believe the velocity will come back and the stuff will return. They also want to start diving in and working on his mechanics a little more to fine tune them which will help bring more crispness to his stuff. The other big thing the Indians want him to work on is finding the feel of his changeup again as it came and went a lot last season. It was not there much at all early in the season, though it came on some near the end of the season as he made a few mental adjustments with it and really worked on it in his bullpen and daily throwing sessions. The Indians also want to see him work to get his fastball command back so that he is able to better work to both sides of the plate and not try to do too much with it.

Future: Aiken has been on the long road back from surgery. Last season, he finally reached the point where he could return to the mound and while the numbers were not spectacular in his return, he accomplished all of the goals the organization set out for him and had a healthy return to the mound. It was the first time he pitched in a competitive environment in over two years, so the Indians were very conservative with him and just wanted him to develop that competitive feel again to get used to having an opposing hitter in the batter's box. Without his best stuff he was not able go out there and dominate hitters like he used to in high school, but the Indians believe it helped him learn more about himself and his character and what it takes to have success than any other time in his life. Even though they knew he was injured coming out of the draft, the Indians felt comfortable with the medical information they were able to evaluate prior to selecting him and their own medical evaluations they had him undergo. They were aware of the concerns the Astros had with his medicals where an examination showed an abnormally small UCL ligament in his left elbow, which is what prevented the Astros from signing him as they bumped their signing bonus offer from $6.5 million to $5 million, which Aiken turned down and signed on to play with a post-graduate team at the IMG Academy in Florida to go back into the draft the next year. The Indians scouts spent a lot of time evaluating him throughout 2014 and were there for his first start with the IMG Academy in 2015 before he got hurt, so they had a very good idea of the player they were drafting. With their doctors okaying things on the medical side they believe he can get back to being a top prospect for them. The ceiling is high and the floor is low right now because he is such a boom or bust guy because of the uncertainty if the stuff and feel will ever come all the way back, but if it does come back he has the potential to be a frontline Major League starter thanks to his potential for three plus pitches, his good size, his plus makeup, his pitchability, his command and his delivery. He will open the season at Low-A Lake County and get a chance to accrue some innings there this season and should have an opportunity to finish the season at High-A Lynchburg if he shows progress in his development and pitches well.

Ranking History: #3 (2016)

Clippers finally got a win in Louisville last night, 9-8. ... Chisenhall 4-4 with a double. ... Zimmer 2-5 with a double and a triple. ... Plutko allowed 4 hits and 3 earned in 2.2 innings. Yuck.

Akron lost 4-1. ... Allen was 2-3 with a double. ... Frankie 1-4. ... Bradley 0-4 with 2 K. ... Chang 1-2 with his 2nd homer. ... Papi 1-2 with 2 walks. ... Peoples gave up 7 hits and 2 earned in 5 innings. 4 K 0 BB

Lynchburg finally got the best of Myrtle Beach, 6-1, behind the good pitching of one Triston McKenzie. 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. ... Calica 0-2 with 3 BB. ... Marabell 2-4. ... Carter 1-4.

Captains tasted defeat, 7-3. ... Gabe Mejia 0-4. ... Isaacs 1-4. ... Ice 1-3 with a walk. Brady Aiken 4 IP 6 H 2 ER 3 BB 5 K

Akron is playing a double header today, and Jason Kipnis is on rehab assignment there. One of those days I wish I was back. I'd love to take in that double header today. Some of our better prospects in Akron plus Kipnis. Sounds like a fun Sunday. Instead I'm watching it snow in Montana this morning...

Todays starters ...

Columbus - Shawn Morimando
Akron - Game 1) Pasquale 2) Banwart
Lynchburg - Jared Robinson
Lake County - Shane Beiber

Here is a neat video. Gabe Mejia scoring from 2nd on an infield hit. Showing off that 80 Grade speed...

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp? ... 1262434883

2017 IBI Top 75 Prospects: #3 Triston McKenzie

TONY LASTORIA
3. TRISTON MCKENZIE – RIGHT-HANDED PITCHER
Born: 08/02/1997 – Height: 6’5” –
Weight: 165 – Bats: Right – Throws: Right

Facts & Info: McKenzie was selected by the Indians in the 1st round (competitive balance pick) of the 2015 Draft out of Royal Palm Beach High School (FL). He had a commitment to attend and play baseball at Vanderbilt University but the Indians wooed him away with a $2.3 million signing bonus. As a senior in high school he compiled a 9-5 record with a 0.79 ERA in 15 games, and in 91.0 innings racked up 157 strikeouts to just 16 walks. He was a 2015 Perfect Game USA first-team Preseason All-American and led Royal Palm Beach to the Class 7A state tournament for the first time since 2000. He threw five complete games in the tournament and allowed just four runs, three of which came in the team’s state semifinal loss.

Stuff: McKenzie is very polished with some advanced stuff for his age and just relentlessly pounds the zone with his entire arsenal. He features a solid average fastball that comes in at 88-91 MPH and will flash 92-93 MPH at times, and shows some excellent late life with some great tailing action. The effectiveness of his fastball plays up because of the outstanding movement he gets with it, how well he commands it to both sides of the plate, his ability to locate it and move it in an out of the zone, how well he consistently locates it to the bottom of the zone and how well he avoids mistakes on the heart of the plate. He really showed a big velocity spike between his junior and senior year of high school where he gained 10 MPH on his fastball, and though he didn’t see much of a bump at all in velocity last season the Indians believe that his average and top end velocity will improve by a MPH or two as he matures and fills out his frame, which could push it to plus territory. His best offering may be his outstanding plus changeup which complements his fastball well and gives him a very nice one-two punch to keep hitters off balance to use both pitches interchangeably to setup and finish them off. His changeup is a weapon for him as he shows a great feel for it with some good late fading action, and shows very good separation in velocity from his fastball and does a nice job of creating some deception by repeating the same arm slot, speed and release of his fastball. His developing curveball is coming along and has a chance to be a solid average offering because of his feel to spin it and some good 11/5 shape and depth it shows. He displays an ability to command it and consistently gets some good, hard biting action to it and stays on top of it well.

Delivery & Intangibles: McKenzie has a very tall, wiry frame with wide shoulders and long limbs. He is very slender and doesn’t have a lot of muscle, but he is loaded with athleticism and is very coordinated. He has a good, clean delivery that is mechanically sound which he repeats well for his age, and has some quick, loose arm action from a three-quarter slot. He shows phenomenal pitch efficiency with an exceptional strike rate for his age and is very advanced between the ears – especially with in-game situations. He has a very good feel for setting up hitters as he can use all three pitches in hitter’s counts and can cross-count guys. He shows no fear of contact, trusts his stuff, shows a lot of toughness when he gets in jams and just has a good understanding of who he is as a pitcher. It is his demeanor, intelligence and work ethic which truly separate him mentally from top pitching prospects who have good stuff just like him. He shows an uncanny ability to not be fazed by any situation he is put in and to remain confident, calm and collected to keep himself grounded when things are going great and to keep focused when things are maybe not going so great. He is the dream pitching prospect as he has the mental makeup and drive that the Indians know will work tirelessly to improve, is coachable and willing to make adjustments and has the intelligence and high aptitude to process information and know what he needs to do to get to where everyone believes he can get to down the road.

Focus: McKenzie has really blossomed quickly and is already very advanced with his strike throwing ability and his stuff that the focus right now is mostly on fine tuning things on the mound and also getting him more durable. His very slender frame brings some concern as to whether he can hold up over the course of a long season and throw 200+ innings on a yearly basis. Few pitchers with that kind of build have done it, so the Indians want him to work to add some good weight and get bigger – but in a way where it does not have an impact on what he is doing on the mound. There has to be a balance as they don’t want him to bulk up too much – and there is uncertainty whether he even has the frame to add weight anyway. It is a unique frame and body that is sneaky strong already, so while the Indians will work to get him stronger with a controlled strength and conditioning program, they believe that natural maturation will handle most of his weight and strength gains. His curveball continues to be a work-in-progress for him as it is there at times, but he’s not yet at a point where he has total comfort in using it and he needs to add a little more power to it. The Indians believe that once he gets comfortable with his curveball that he will start to mix it in even more and it will level up his entire arsenal. As he develops the curveball, the Indians want him to get a better feel for mixing in his secondary offerings, how to sequence them against hitters and get a feel for what they are doing in a given at bat so he can do a better job of keeping them unbalanced and not lock in on any one pitch or location. They have also challenged him to command his fastball a little better to the opposite arm side and to be a little quicker to home out of the stretch so he can do a better job of control the running game.

Future: McKenzie opened last season in extended spring training to continue to work on his craft but also to limit his workload as his arm and body were not yet ready for a full season that would require 120-130 innings out of him. Once he made his season debut when Short-A Mahoning Valley got underway in June, he pitched every bit like a top prospect is supposed to pitch. The Indians rewarded his strong showing with a bump to Low-A Lake County in August where he finished the season making six very good starts for them. While quiet, polite and soft spoken off the mound, he pitched like a bully on it holding opposing hitters to just a .195 batting average for the season and had a near 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio as well. Perhaps the most impressive stat was his ability to command the zone (67.0% strikes) and be efficient with his pitches (14.3 pitches per inning) considering the amount of strikeouts he racked up. Even more impressive was how his strike percentage increased going from one level to the next as he threw 65.8% of his pitches for strikes at Mahoning Valley and then threw 68.6% of his pitches for strikes at Lake County. He was a model of consistency never allowing more than three runs in any outing and only allowed more than one run four times – and also racked up as many or more strikeouts as innings pitched in all of his starts but two. The ERA may have been better at Mahoning Valley, but the numbers actually show he pitched better at Lake County as he had a 1.97 FIP there versus a 2.67 FIP at Mahoning Valley. A lot of that was fueled by his walk rate (2.9 BB/9 at Mahoning Valley, 1.6 BB/9 at Lake County), his strikeout rate (10.0 K/9 at Mahoning Valley, 13.0 K/9 at Lake County) and strikeout to walk ratio (3.44 K/BB at Mahoning Valley, 8.17 K/BB at Lake County). It is that consistency from start to start along with the dominance in most of them which really raised his stock. He was a high round draft pick and high profile guy coming into last season, but as an 18-year rail thin righty there were not many people who expected him to have the year he ended up having at such an early age. The feeling was there would be some development needed and he would need to get stronger first, but he hit the ground running and has imprinted himself as one of the elite starting pitching prospects in baseball. With his polish, feel for pitching and deep arsenal he has a chance to be a good number two starter at the big league level and could maybe even be an ace in the making if the fastball velocity jumps some and the curveball comes along. He will open the season with a jump all the way to High-A Lynchburg which will be a good challenge for him and a chance to really solidify status as not just one of the Indians best prospects, but one of the best in all of baseball as well.

Ranking History: #9 (2016)

Kipnis hasn't done anything yet, but Chang homered, again.

He also had a very nice diving play to get a force at 2nd on defense.

Clipper got their ass handed to them 10-4. ... Zimmer was 1-4. ... Morimando gave up 8 hits and 7 earned in 3.1 IP. 4 walks too. Ewww.

Akron played two 7 inning games. ... They won the first game 7-6. ... Kipnis was 1-3. ... Allen 0-3. ... Frankie 1-3 with a walk. ... Bradley 0-2 with a walk. ... Chang 2-3 with his 3rd homer. ... Krieger 2-2 with a double. ... Papi 0-1 with a walk and sac fly. ... Pasquale 5 ip, 5 h, 2 ER, 4 K.

Ducks got smeared game two 9-1. ... Allen 1-3 ... Papi 0-1 with 2 walks. ... Bradley 2-3. ... Chang 0-3 with 3 K, what a difference an hour makes.

Pelicans beat Lynchburg 4-3. ... Calica 2-5. ... Marabell 0-4 with a walk.

Dragons of Dayton smacked around the Captains 6-0. ... Gabe 0-4. ... Isaacs 1-3. ... Bieber gave up 6 hits and 2 runs in 4.2 innings. Did have 7 K.

Just an all around crappy day for the organization. But tomorrow a new day. The starters ...

Columbus - Chris Narveson
Akron - Luis Lugo
Lynchburg - Shao-Ching Chiang
Lake County - Juan Hillman

Isaacs with his 2nd steal, to go with his 3 homers. No walks yet.

Mike Papi now has 5 walks and no strikeouts and an on base pct of 571. What he lacks is power, no extra base base hits, of course the sample size is tiny.

Totally agree. I've always held out hope for Papi, as you know, cause I love his patience and eye. But he has little speed so he has to show some power.