Hot Prospect Sheet:
1. Triston McKenzie, RHP, Indians (20)
High Class A Lynchburg

Known mostly for his slight build, McKenzie now will be known as the minor leagues' strikeout king for 2017. He had two starts this week that put him over the top, with 21 whiffs in just 13 innings. The pair of double-digit strikeout outings gave him six such efforts for the season, and pushed his strikeouts per nine ratio to 11.7. He's also shown excellent durability with his slender 6-foot-5, 165-pound frame, making all 25 starts and pitching seven innings in five of his past 10 starts.

and:

15. Shane Bieber, RHP, Indians (22)
Double-A Akron

Are you a Bieber believer yet? No one in the minor leagues has thrown more quality strikes this season than the former UC Santa Barbara ace, a 2016 fourth-round pick who's finishing his first full season in Double-A. He issued two walks in two starts this week, a sure sign of fatigue, as he has just 10 in 167.1 innings all year. He's the classic strike-throwing college righthander in the Thomas Eshelman mold; both former Big West aces have had strong seasons and profile as back-of-the-rotation starters.

[Eshelman, on further research, is a Phillies AAA pitcher, who doesn't walk anyone but also strikes out fewer than Bieber does]

BA q & a:

surprising reference to a traded Tribe minor leaguer:

Ryan (New York): Out of all the arms the Mets have received in their trades this year, do any of them or Bashlor/Uceta have the potential to be a set up man or closer for them in the future?
John Manuel: To put it mildly, I'm not super enthused with the haul. Jacob Rhame is interesting and close to MLB ready, and Jamie Callahan and Stephen Nogosek have had their moments, but Ryder Ryan probably has the highest upside. It's a fairly fresh arm that's been up to 98, and he's got a good body. [Ryan's a hard throwing reliever included in Jay Bruce deal]

Elliot (Youngstown OH): Does McKenzie's strong finish calm the concerns about his durability a bit and boost even higher into the Top 10?

John Manuel: Every pitcher has durability concerns by being pitchers, but the fact he's taken the ball so consistently and finished well, those are great signs. He entered the year No. 3 in the Indians top 10 if that's what you're asking, and Francisco Mejia remains eligible. I just want to see those guys as a battery with Mejia around 5-9 and thick in the lower half while McKenzie is of a slightly different body type. Good debate on No. 1 there, but I still favor the hitter with Double-A (or higher) success. [no my question was among Top 10 among all prospects, not just the Indians]

Knew this one would be addressed today:

Tim (Cincy): Interesting that Cleveland wants to get Mejia some reps at third during the AFL. Does this mean they are seriously considering giving him a chance to break camp with the team next year?

John Manuel: They're just being smart. He has the arm for third, I'm sure he's worked there before. He's a switch-hitter who can hit who could help their team in Cleveland either at C or 3B in the near future. I don't think they write him off catcher at all, but yeah, if 3B is open . . . why not give your best hitter in the minors, who has Double-A experience, a chance to compete for that job?

[is third base open?]

Elliot (Youngstown OH): Actually I was asking if McKenzie may reach the Top 10 of the BA Top 100?

John Manuel: Ah, probably not quite that high.

Thanks for sharing Civ!

And by the way, I'm sure you were not wrong. The regular schedule probably has ended like you thought. Those two games against Rangers tonight and tomorrow are probably make up games.

your man Mitch Longo is now up to .833 with Lynchburg. One hit a double. Throw it a walk. His OPS is 1.857. He'll help Hillcats in the playoffs.

Wow, Indians bring up a lot of their young talent and teams respond by kicking ass.

Clip Show beat Louisville 10-1 tonight. ... Naquin 2-5. ... Papi 2-4 with a walk and 3 RBI. ... Eric Haase hits a 2 run homer in his first AAA game. An impressive shot too, opposite field over the tall RF wall and into the Wendy's balcony.

Akron beats Erie 7-5. ... Chiang gave up 4 earned in 5 innings. Send him back to Tennessee. ... Bradley 2-5 with a triple.

Lynchburg beats Wilmington 13-4. ... Collins 1-4 with a double, 2 walks and a stolen base. ... Longo 4-4 with 2 doubles and a walk. These two guys are not making me look bad. ... Cervenka 2-3 with a triple, 2 walks, and 3 RBI. Hitting .282 now. Another catcher that can hit.

Lake County beats Lansing 3-2. And I still don't give a damn about the whole state of michigan. ... Aiken starting to get his head out of his ass, but still wild. 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 6 K. And hit one of the ladies working in a concession stand. ... Siri pitched a perfect inning, 1 K, for his 13th save. ... Chu 2-4 with a homer. ... GabeM 1-3.

Scrappers beat State College 2-1 to hold onto division lead. ... Hentges was great, nice to have him back! 4.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. ... Tati was pretty damn good himself. 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. ... Wade 2-4. After a horrible start he has actually been coming on. BA up to .254 now. ... Jones 0-2 with 2 walks. ... Benson continues to impress. 1-3 with a homer and a walk.

AZL Tribe beat Rangers 6-2 to complete the organizational sweep. ... Holmes 1-4 with a double and a walk. ... Cooper and Rodriguez both 0-4.

A little of this and that from @indiansPro ...

Over last 38 years in #Indians @MiLB history only RHP Juan Berenguer's 220 strikeouts in 1979 had more than Triston McKenzie's 186 in 2017

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#Indians RHP prospect Triston McKenzie's 186 strikeouts in 2017 are the most by (ANY) @MiLB player since the A's Dan Straily's 190 in 2012

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AZL #Indians all-time team (Strikeout) leaders in a single season:

2017 Luis Oviedo 70
2017 Juan Mota 69
2014 Thomas Pannone 62

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#Indians OF prospect Mitch Longo first 2 games since being promoted to Lynchburg:

7-8 6R 2(2B) 2RBI 1BB .875 AVG

(Season 80-210 .381)

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Mahoning Valley #Scrappers OF Will Benson w/ his 8th HR tonight vs State College is now tied for 2nd in the NYPL in HR's #Indians

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#Indians LHP Sam Hentges in his 5 rehab starts w/ the Mahoning Valley #Scrappers

- 17.2(IP) 5H 7R 4ER 12BB 23SO 2.05 ERA

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Lake County #Captains LHP Brady Aiken over his last 5 starts:

- 27(IP) 18H 13R 11ER 20BB 22SO 3.67 ERA #Indians

Lake County #Captains LHP Brady Aiken over his last 2 starts:

- 11(IP) 5H 2R 2ER 9BB 12SO 1.64 ERA #Indians

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Only 11 Shortstops in @MiLB have 10+ HR's on the season the #Indians have 3 of them:

Yu-Cheng Chang 23
Willi Castro 11
Luke Wakamatsu 11

Akron #RubberDucks Yu-Cheng Chang leads all @MiLB Shortstops in HR's in 2017 w/ 23 on the season. #Indians

civ ollilavad wrote:Knew this one would be addressed today:

Tim (Cincy): Interesting that Cleveland wants to get Mejia some reps at third during the AFL.

[is third base open?]

civ - seems to me (please correct me if wrong) that Jose Ramirez is a natural at 2B. He and Lindor are perfect. With Kipnis always seeming to be a question mark and Jose over him defensively the team would have to be thinking ahead to the possibilities there.

Not saying the want Kipnis out. But simply aware of the situation. And that includes Yandy and the possibility that he RAKES this September.

Sorry but better late than never ...

Clippers were rained out Saturday. Double header today with Merryweather and Narveson pitching.

Akron beat Erie 6-4. ... Lugo 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. ... Bradley 1-3 with a walk. ... Whitehouse starting today.

Lynchburg was rained out too. They are playing a double header today as well. DeMasi is starting one game.

Lake County lost to Great Lakes 7-4. ... Hillman was terrible again. 4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. ... Chu 1-5. ... Ice 2-4 and a walk.

Scrappers were rained out yesterday too.

There are over 500 million of acres of ground on fire in Montana. Can we please get some of that rain????

And the AZL Tribe wrapped up their season Saturday by losing to Rangers 8-3. ... Reeves 2-3 with a home run and a walk.

Indians Prospective‏ @indiansPro

Least amount of (Walks) allowed in all @MiLB by a pitcher w/ 150+ Innings Pitched 1) @ShaneBieber19 10 (2 IBB) 2) @AaronCivale 14 #Indians

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Akron #RubberDucks LHP Luis Lugo over his last 9 starts: - 46.1(IP) 42H 17R 12ER 21BB 37SO 2.33 ERA #Indians

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With his 28th HR tonight vs Great Lakes #Captains (1B) Emmanuel Tapia has tied Ryan Goleski's Lake County team record set in 2004. #Indians

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Lake County #Captains all-time team single season (HR) records

2017 Emmanuel Tapia 28
2004 Ryan Goleski 28
2015 Bobby Bradley 27

Tapia might just have the same career success as Goleski, but probably not, since Ryan could play the OF pretty well and Tapia plays first base pretty badly. Ryan also hit in the upper 200's and Tapia is south of 220. But he's having a season he can tell his grandkids about.