Ingraham prepares the post season report naming our top performers. Top pitcher and position player were obvious:


Best Player: C Francisco Mejia

Mejia continued to solidify his status as one of the top catching prospects in the game, and he was rewarded with a September callup to the big leagues. In 92 games at Double-A Akron, he hit .297/.346/.490 with 14 home runs had 52 RBIs.

While Mejia didn’t match his performance from a record-breaking 2016 season, when he authored a 50-game hitting streak at two Class A levels, he is a switch-hitting catcher with a strong arm who reached Double-A at age 21. He is not a finished product defensively, but the Indians can afford to be be patient as they develop Mejia.


Best Pitcher: RHP Triston McKenzie

When the Indians selected McKenzie in the supplemental first round of the 2015 draft, he was considered an advanced high school pitcher, albeit with a less-than-stout (6-foot-5, 165 pounds) frame.

People don’t mention McKenzie's frame quite as much anymore. In 25 starts at high Class A Lynchburg, he went 12-6, 3.46 and was named the Carolina League pitcher of the year. In addition to his 1.05 WHIP, he in 143 innings struck out 186 [interesting backward construction there], 40 more than anyone else in the league.

Using his plus fastball and curve, McKenzie held opponents to a .203 average. Righthanded batters hit just .175 against him. He'll start next year at Double-A as a 20-year-old.

I guess this is the equivalent of a "breakout player" award:


Keep An Eye On: OF Conner Capel

Capel flashed an intriguing power-speed mix at low Class A Lake County, where in addition to belting 22 home runs, he stole 15 bases and banged out seven triples. The son of Mike Capel, who appeared in 49 big league games for the Cubs, Brewers and Astros from 1988-91, Conner was a fifth-round pick last year out of high school in Katy, Texas. He struggled in the Rookie-level Arizona League last year, but at age 20 started to blossom in the Midwest League this year.

"Conner improved daily because of his hard work, determination and willingness to make adjustments," assistant general manager Carter Hawkins said. "Although he struggled early in the year, his production overall was extremely impressive. Despite being one of the younger players on the team, he was a leader through example, and has built a solid foundation for the rest of his career."

The final line for Capel: 246/316/478. 22 doubles along with the noted triples and homer. Did steal 15 but caught 10 times.
Second half was indeed much better: 271/323/504. 13 doubles 3 steals 12 homers. A little better on bases 9/14 in the 2nd half. Walked less though. HIs K/BB was 2/1 in the first half, 3+/1 in the second.

International League Top 20 list and chat yesterday. None of ours included. Didn't expect any. Diaz and Merritt were solid but not that high on prospect ratings. The chat was very brief and none of our guys' names came up. I didn't know it was happening so obviously didn't post any questions.

Eastern League will be on the agenda probably Friday. Mejia will be well positioned. Allen missed so much of the season he probably won't be. Not sure if Bieber was in Akron long enough to qualify.

Interesting writeup on Mejia. He winds up the season No. 5 prospect in the EL with a significant second half swoon and most importantly some concern about stamina and "seemed disengaged"


5. Francisco Mejia, C, Akron (Indians) |

Age: 21 B-T: B-R Ht.: 5-10 Wt.: 180 Signed: Dominican Republic, 2012

Mejia showed standout abilities on both sides of the ball during the first half of the season, but he hit just .220 in the second while his OPS dropped nearly 250 points.

At the plate, Mejia shows smooth, quick, balanced line-drive swings from both sides of the plate. He doesn't have standout power, but he has the potential for double-digit home runs when he finishes maturing physically. The Indians had him work on not expanding the strike zone but also wanted to retain his aggressiveness.

Scouts viewed Mejia as one of the better defensive catchers in the EL initially, though managers who saw him late said he seemed disengaged and fatigued on defense. He even started one game at third base and will play more there in the Arizona Fall League.

Mejia has a well above-average arm that he shows off on pickoff attempts, but he must polish his receiving and blocking technique. Most importantly, he needs to increase his stamina.

No one else from the Ducks made the League Top 20. Not Bradley or Chang or Bieber One question asked:


Richard (Holly Springs, NC): Any love for Akron's Bobby Bradley?

Josh Norris: There was a little bit of love for him, but nothing overwhelming. The power is there, but managers saw him as more of a mistake-type hitter than someone who belonged in the Top 20 in the league. There are holes in his swing, and he has work to do defensively as well

In a question asking for projections on next year's top 20, he put McKenzie as his [obvious] choice for Akron 2018.

The report on Mejia reinforces my thought that McK should now be our No. 1 prospect.

BA list of top 10 starts of the season; including


7. Shao-Ching Chiang, RHP, Indians
High Class A Lynchburg (Carolina)

Signed out of Taiwan in September 2011, Chiang is an extreme groundball pitcher who rose meticulously through the Indians system until this season. The 23-year-old fired a no-hitter on July 29 and received a bump to Double-A Akron immediately afterward. (He ranked fifth in the Carolina League with a 3.67 ERA.) Of note in Chiang’s no-hitter: the first batter of the game reached on an infield error.

McKenzie had one I expected to see, struck out 14 or something and allowed one hit.

Carolina League Top 20 out today. McKenzie is ranked 6th, behind one other pitcher. Willy Castro is No. 12.
If McK can put on say 15-20 pounds over the winter scouts will like him a heck of lot more. Fastball ranges from 87 to 94 with the higher velocity early in his outings. Excellent curve, developing a changeup.

Castro they say added a lot of power, getting up to 11 homers, and improved his plate discipline notably. They like his defense but say his limited lateral movement may mean he moves to another position in the long run.

[cannot manage the copy and paste today. ]

No Bieber. No Civale. At this level, they're still all about velocity and projected "ceiling" rather than on consistency and likelihood to reach the ceiling.

this one question covers all there is to ask about the Hillcats

frank (erie pa.): hello! with an infield of Urshela/diaz, Lindor, Ramirez, and Santana/Bradley ( our best defensive and offensive infield), where do you see Castro playing? and where does Mckenzie slot? no.2 between Kluber and Carrasco? any other prospects we should be excited about?

Josh Norris: If he stays with Cleveland, his best spot will be at either second or shortstop. You're correct in your belief that the Indians' middle infield spots are locked up for the foreseeable future, but it's always good to have more talented guys in that area in the pipeline. As for McKenzie, he could be a No. 2 type starter in the long-term, especially if he adds weight to his frame.

[there goes the weight again. I am sure it is important. It is hard to imagine a 6-6 150 pounder making a career of it]
[could have taken the bait and said something about Bieber and Civale. I sent a separate question on them, perhaps he'll answer it?]

My main concern with build of a pitcher, and perhaps one of the reasons those guys always bring it up, is durability.

Your bigger bodied and framed starting pitchers tend to be more durable and get injured less.

I remember having a conversation about this many many moons ago at the original ABJ forum. And at the time I was talking about guys like Cone, Saberhagen, and Hershiser who were having surgeries, while guys like Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens seemingly pitched as much as they wanted for years with no injuries.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule. But I am always happy when we have a very talented guy with a frame like Colon or Sabathia come up through our system. Even those guys had surgeries though, I know. But Colon logged a lot of innings and didn't have any problems, till, I think '05, and he's come back and had an extremely long career. Sabathia had bone spurs removed from his elbow but I think the only major issue he's had in a long career was knee surgery. Which I guess you could say was a detriment of being an athlete on that large a frame?

Here they are:

Elliot: Not impressed with either Shane Biever or Aaron Civale? I assume it's all about the velocity. Is either's stuff good enough [both certainly are able to repeat it consistently] to be a middle or back of rotation starter? How do you differentiate them?

Josh Norris: Both those guys were in the next tier. Problem with both was that evaluators didn't really see a plus pitch from either of them, which is why they didn't make the final cut.

Sean (Cleveland): Was it a close call between the top pitchers in the league (Perez vs. McKenzie?)

Josh Norris: Not particularly. Franklin Perez was a darling of scouts and managers all season long. The stuff and command was exception for his age. Managers loved both pitchers, but when I asked about Perez or McKenzie they’d pick Perez. They’re both most like high-end rotation pieces if everything goes well, however.

Elliot (Youngstown OH): Sorry that Sicnarf Loopstock's name plus all-star hitting aren't enough for him to qualify. At least we get to see Loopy in Akron next summer.

Josh Norris: Look, we all love Sicnarf Loopstok’s name. It’s probably the best in the minor leagues. It would lead a Key and Peele sketch, but he’s also 24 years old in high Class A.

He actually bothered to answer that question. Must have been nothing else to discuss.