Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Indians with some minor league starters today to keep an eye on.
Columbus Clippers RHP Adam Plutko 1st start after no-hit performance
Akron RubberDucks RHP Triston McKenzie making 2018 debut

Lake County Captains OF Will Benson with a big night tonight vs Dayton going 2-4 2R 2HR 5RBI and now leads the #Indians organization with 11 HR's on the season.

Columbus Clippers (3B) Yandy Diaz over his last 15 games: 23-60 7R 5(2B) 6RBI 10BB .383 AVG .471 OBP

Columbus Clippers (C) Francisco Mejia is currently on a 9 game hitting streak: 12-33 3R 2(2B) 1(3B) 1HR 9RBI 4BB .364 AVG .421 OBP

Akron RubberDucks RHP Shao-Ching Chiang over his last 4 starts: - 25,2(IP) 21H 8R 7ER 2BB 18SO 2.46 ERA

Indians are favorites to sign 15yr old 5'8 140lbs switch hitting INF Dayan Frias . Frias is one of the top prospects out of Colombia and turns 16yrs old June 25th making him eligible for the July 2nd International signing day.

Diaz over his last 15 games: 23-60 7R 5(2B) Yes fine average, but he has less power than he did last year and the year before when he didn't have much power

Benson runs lead in BA prospect report today:

• Will Benson, OF, Indians. Benson was always going to be a slower-moving hitter. Coming out of high school he had already tweaked his swing significantly, but he had more work to do. Almost exactly two years after he was drafted, that's still true. Benson is hitting a dismal .204, but the rest of his stats are actually semi-encouraging. He has a .361 on-base percentage because he draws plenty of walks and he is slugging .413 (for a healthy .209 isolated power number) after hitting a pair of home runs last night. Benson still has a long way to go, but the underlying skills are there to be a power-hitting corner outfielder.

You keep bashing Yandy then turn around and tout a guy batting .200. You and I will never see eye to eye on this.

Give me 9 Yandy’s and you take 9 Benson’s and I will sweep you in a series.

Columbus playing early. I am watching but not much to see yet. Scoreless and only 1 hit through 3.

Zimmer and Yandy are only two of the name guys in lineup today for Columbus.

Things you don't see in boxscore ... Tides just scored a run in 4th. The throw beat the runner at the plate easily. Haase was waiting on runner to apply the tag. But the guy did a nifty pop up slide and avoided the tag and stepped on plate. He was never tagged. Embarrassing. Down 1-0 btm 4

Whoa, Zimmer with an opposite field home run!

CLE AA Bradley, Bobby 1B 4 0 1 2 .195 2B (9), BB (28)
CLE AA Castro, Willi SS 5 1 1 0 .252
CLE AA Krieger, Tyler CF 3 0 0 0 .198 BB (17), SB (6)
CLE AA Mathias, Mark 2B 4 1 2 1 .252 HR (2), BB (23)
CLE AAA Chang, Yu SS 5 0 1 0 .277
CLE AAA Mejia, Francisco C 5 0 1 2 .211
CLE HiA Capel, Conner CF 2 0 1 0 .277 BB (24)
CLE HiA Ice, Logan C 3 0 1 1 .176
CLE LoA Benson, Will RF 4 2 2 5 .204 2 HR (10)[errata: that's 11]
CLE LoA Clement, Ernie SS 4 2 1 1 .271 HR (1)
CLE LoA Gonzalez, Oscar LF 4 1 1 1 .266
CLE AAA Bieber, Shane 4.0 5 2 2 2 6 1.41
CLE HiA Hentges, Sam 5.1 6 4 3 4 4 3.81 L (2-5) [not making much progress]

Plutko out after 6.

6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER (which shouldn't have happened) 0 BB, 5 K

2-1 good guys, btm 7

After missing the first two months with an injury [still strangely not exactly identified but we'll call it a stiff forearm] , Indians No. 2 prospect Triston McKenzie is slated to make his Double-A debut on Thursday night. McKenzie also ranks No. 35 in BA's most recent Top 100 prospects list [down about 15 spots]t. We asked a former scout to take a look at video of McKenzie and give his opinion on the Cleveland prospect's future. Here's what he said.

Delivery: McKenzie’s long, thin frame doesn’t scream durability, but he’s a very easy operator with a lightning quick arm. He has a simple delivery that he repeats, which enables him to get the ball to both sides of the plate. The ball jumps out of his hand, his and his high three-quarters release point leverages his height and creates downhill plane. He shows a free and easy arm action. His energy toward the plate is good, and on some offerings his hips and core really fire.

Fastball: McKenzie's fastball velocity has gradually improved during his pro career. It doesn’t show a lot of traditional life, but the plane is excellent and it has plus carry through the zone. I see him pitching comfortably around 94-95 as a mature athlete.

Curveball: His slot and release point create the foundation for a breaking ball of vertical shape and good depth. The rotation is solid and he has feel for spinning it. He throws it hard, and he might find further success as he develops some touch for the pitch. Baseline of a future average major league curveball.

Changeup: Deception over consistency, but that’s typical for McKenzie’s age. He’s got the arm speed, mechanics, and athleticism to develop the CH into an average offering and a good third ML pitch.

Command/Control: He shows an advanced ability to move the fastball to both sides of the plate against any hitter. He has the feel and command to move the ball around vertically and pitch both at the top and bottom of the zone effectively. His fastball command will be a true weapon. He’s a natural strike-thrower who isn’t afraid to challenge hitters.

Pitchability: McKenzie attacks hitters with a fastball that plays up due to plane and spin rate. Stuff to change eye level regularly both in and out of the zone.

Summation: Future No. 2 starter with two swing-and-miss pitches, plus command and control, and solid mechanics. Tremendously impressive stuff and track record for his age.

Pitch Grades
FB: 55/65
CB: 45/60
CH: 40/50
CTRL: 50/65
CMD: 50/65

Plesac did nothing to deserve a demotion but I guess Civale is back with Akron, too, so their rotation is now McKenzie, Civale, Brady, Chiang and Paulsen. But why not bump out Paulsen? On the other hand, Plesac only has 46 Lynchburg innings in his account, so the additional training at that level won't hurt.

I totally agree, Civ. Same thought went through my head when I read the news of Plesac.

Akron has started. McKenzie has pitched 2 scoreless. Only 1 walk allowed, that's it. 3 K.

McKenzie done after 5. 1 hit 0 runs and 2 walks. 4 k

Norfolk scored 6 in the 8th to lead them to a 7-4 come back win over Clippers.

Zimmer 1-5 HR 3 K
Yandy 1-4
Mejia DNP
Plutko 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Eubank 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

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Ducks 7 Fisher Cats 4

McKenzie 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K
Brown 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Calica 2-3 2B, HR, 1 BB, 1 R, 2 RBI Hitting .321 now.
Castro 0-5
Bradley DNP

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Blue Rocks 7 Hillcats 4

Krauth 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Karinchak 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Longo 1-4 2B, R
Capel 1-3 2B (left game early with something)

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Captains 5 Dragons 2 (finally a score that wasn't 7-4 tonight. This is first series sweep by Captains since very early in season)

J.Mejia 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
F.Perez 5 IP, 3 H. 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Friis went 0-4 to end a 14 game hit streak
Oscar G 2-4 HR (9th) R 2 RBI
Jones 2-3 BB

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DSL #Indians 8 Red Sox 3

Oca 4(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 0BB 6SO
Rodriguez 1-3 R 3B 2RBI 2BB
Planez 2-5 R 2B RBI
Idrogo 2-3 R 3B RBI

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DSL Dodgers Guerrero 14 #Indians/Brewers 4

Morillo 4(IP) 3H 1R 0ER 3BB 7SO
Peralta 2-4 2R 3B RBI
De La Cruz 2-4 R 3B RBI
Maestre 1-4 R

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Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Lake County Captains OF Oscar Gonzalez over his last 20 games:
30-79 13R 6(2B) 6HR 13RBI 2BB .380 AVG .395 OBP

Lake County Captains LHP Francisco Perez over his last 7 outings:
- 39.2(IP) 26H 9R 9ER 15BB 28SO 2.05 ERA