Cleveland Sports Forum

this is for a former indian but he was a minor leaguer and still sort of is. so I'll post him here

Q and A at BA regarding AAA prospect ratings:

Thanks for taking the time to answer all of these questions, Kyle. Did Willi Castro get any love from the IL folks? If so, was he close to cracking the top 20?
Kyle Glaser:I did not do the IL Top 20 so I can't speak to that process specifically, what I can say in general is Castro is a nice player but the bat is just really, really light, and as a result he is seen as being below the caliber of the players who are on the list.

today it's the Carolina League top 20 prospects. So who do we have in the running there? Of course Nolan Jones was in Lynchburg for first half so he can be on this list, too. Anyone else? Tyler Freeman spent the second half here; stats not all that great there. I don't see anyone else; JC Mejia was OK first couple months; Juan Hillman was pretty good.

So Jones was ranked No. 2 here. He's obviously a very well regarded prospect.


2. Nolan Jones, 3B, Lynchburg (Indians)
Age: 21. B-T: L-R. Ht.: 6-4. Wt.: 185. Drafted: HS—Bensalem, Pa., 2016 (2nd round).

After slugging just .353 without any home runs in April, Jones went on a tear that continued at Double-A Akron. He finished the season with 16 home runs, including nine in 179 at-bats in the Eastern League. That binge was no surprise to Carolina League managers.

"He’s a big, tall, lefthanded power bat,” Winston-Salem manager Justin Jirschele said. "He drives the ball to all fields.”

Scouts said Jones’ defense improved considerably at third base this season, but that he’s still below-average there. His arm could play in right field, though, and he also could ably move to first base or left field.

"He puts good at-bats together,” Down East manager Corey Ragsdale said. "The walks and strikeouts are good. I think he has untapped power potential as well. As he moves up ladder and the strike zone gets smaller, he’s going to be fine.”

AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG
259 50 73 12 1 7 41 68 88 5 3 .282 .436 .417

Freeman is No. 10

10. Tyler Freeman, SS, Lynchburg (Indians)
Age: 20. B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-0. Wt.: 170. Drafted: HS—Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 2017 (2nd round).

Freeman continued to show excellent bat-to-ball skills while keeping his career minor league batting average at .318 through 900 at-bats. The short-season New York-Penn League batting champion a year ago, Freeman hit .289/.378/.419 in 239 at-bats at low Class A Lake County before adding a dimension to Lynchburg’s offense.

Questions continue about whether Freeman has the arm to stay at shortstop, and opinions were mixed among scouts and the league’s managers. He could wind up at second base but hitting for average will be his carrying tool. He hit .526 as a high school senior in Southern California, and that ability has translated to pro ball.

Freeman was the 71st pick in the 2017 draft and was one of the youngest players in the Carolina League this season. He hasn’t shown home run power, but he does have 71 doubles and nine triples in 234 minor league games.

AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG
263 39 84 17 2 0 21 9 26 8 1 .319 .356 .399

Carolina League is a pitcher's league; so his almost 800 is better than it looks. 11 players over 800 this season.

Tuesday in Arizona:

CLE AFL Clement, Ernie 2B 3 0 1 0 .200 2 BB (2)
CLE AFL Jones, Nolan DH 4 1 1 3 .214 HR (1), BB (4) here he goes...

CLE AFL Clement, Ernie DH 4 0 1 0 .211 BB (3)
CLE AFL Jones, Nolan 3B 4 1 2 1 .250 HR (2), BB (5) when he gets rolling, he can be a pretty darned good hitter
CLE AFL Alvarez, Manuel 1 1 1 1 2 1 27.00
CLE AFL Angulo, Argenis 1 0 0 0 1 1 0.00

I don't think BA had a chat on the Carolina League; there's a link to it but it takes me to the Sally league. It's a small league so fewer people ask questions; I'd be interested if the new improved Juan Hillman impressed the scouts. Overall his stats were good though hardly great; 3.85 ERA 1.34 WHIP 99 K in 140 IP. He had one disasterous start, 10 runs in 2 1/3 innings. Minus that one game his numbers look much better: 3.21 ERA 1.30 WHIP.

Can ask a little more about Freeman or Jones but we have already seen their impressive writeouts among the league's top 10.
Hillman's the only pitcher who was with the Hillcats all year long. Adam Scott looked pretty good for the first half; Robert Broom was nearly untouchable in the pen before he too went to Akron; Kyle Nelson was out in less than 10 games so doesn't ever qualify for consideration. Juan Carlos Mejia was projected to do good things and was looking decent until he was shut down after 44 innings.

Oscar Gonzalez hit well there 319/342/455 before moving to Akron and going silent the rest of the way

Midwest League Top 20 list is the next one due up.
Benson was the slugging star here before he went flat in Lynchburg. 974 OPS.
Cardenas was over 800 before we traded him.
Freeman had a top notch first half.
Naylor was solid and improved at bat over the course of the year.
Hankins' 21 innings with 28 K probably don't qualify for rating.

CLE AFL Clement, Ernie 2B 3 1 0 0 .240 BB (4), SB (1)
CLE AFL Jones, Nolan 3B 4 1 1 1 .225 HR (3) homers in 3 games in the past week
CLE AFL Alvarez, Manuel 1 0 0 0 1 0 15.43 W (1 - 0)
CLE AFL Angulo, Argenis 1 1 0 0 0 1 0.00 Sv (2)

BA skipped the

5. Brayan Rocchio, SS/2B, Mahoning Valley (Indians)
Age: 18. B-T: B-R. Ht.: 5-10. Wt.: 150. Signed: Venezuela, 2017.

At 18 years old, Rocchio was one of the youngest players in the league and showed the ability to play a quality shortstop. While young, he showed feel for the game and was one of the tougher hitters in the NYPL to strike out, fanning just under 14 percent of the time.

"It was the best defense at shortstop I’ve seen this season, no question”, a rival manager said.

Rocchio has both feel and average arm strength, which will help him stay up the middle. Offensively, he has a sound swing that is geared for contact over power. Over time, evaluators believe he will learn to drive pitches with more authority.

Rocchio has a long way to go, but his elite defense and contact-oriented bat make him one of Cleveland’s most exciting prospects.

AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG
268 33 67 12 3 5 27 20 40 14 8 .250 .310 .373
Midwest League to do NYPL Top 20; home of Valera Rocchio and Hankins

6. George Valera, OF, Mahoning Valley (Indians)
Age: 18. B-T: L-L. Ht.: 5-10. Wt.: 160. Signed: Dominican Republic, 2017.

Valera’s bat speed and feel to barrel the ball with consistency stand out. He ranked among NYPL leaders in home runs (eight) and showed advanced feel to hit as an 18-year old. He hit for more pop on the road, where he collected 10 of his 16 extra-base hits, while getting on base at a higher clip during home games (.389).

Valera has a whip-like lefthanded swing and makes the most of his lower half. His profile is hit-over-power, and he tends to be pull-heavy for a younger player. His power should continue to develop, which should help him to profile better in a corner, where his average arm and solid speed fit best.

As he learns to use the whole field with more authority, Valera’s bat should become more impactful. He received a promotion to low Class A Lake County, where he will return to start the 2020 season.

AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG
157 22 37 7 1 8 29 29 52 6 2 .236 .356 .446

9. Ethan Hankins, RHP, Mahoning Valley (Indians)
Age: 19. B-T: R-R. HT: 6-6. WT: 200. Drafted: HS—Cumming, Ga., 2018 (1st supp).

Hankins made just nine appearances with Mahoning Valley, but was so thoroughly dominant that he earned a promotion to low Class A Lake County. While he didn’t eclipse five innings in any one start, he was unscored upon in five of his nine outings.

Hankins’ fastball stuck out the most to managers around the league. He throws the pitch in the mid-90s with good life and is able to command it for strikes. He can spin a solid slider with some sweeping action to get swings and misses, while also featuring a curveball with sizable break. Hankins also throws a firm changeup but made strides as the season went along.

Hankins is still raw, but executives point to his sheer strength and plus arm speed as positives. His physicality and big arm should help him further develop his secondary offerings.

W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG
0 0 1.40 9 8 0 38.2 23 10 6 1 18 43 .178

surprising answer considering the offensive numbers Lavastida put up:

NYPL Guy (Between Vermont and West Virginia): What were the reviews on Bryan Lavastida? He seemed to play a respectable catcher, and put up some solid offensive numbers. Certainly he was a bit overshadowed by some teammates, but could he be a guy going forward?
Justin Coleman: He is interesting. A pretty sound defender as you mentioned, mixed reviews on the bat (albeit he had good numbers). I don't think he was overshadowed, but someone to keep an eye on.

other folks beat me to the punch this chat, but we're getting answers:

Alex (Inidians Fan): Hi Justin, what made you rank Brayan Rocchio above George Valera? Were scouts surprised by how good of a defensive SS Rocchio was this year? The advanced metrics on his hitting also indicate he's a far better hitter than his .250 average this year (.276 BABIP). Does Rocchio have a shot being a plus hitter eventually with average power? His highly lauded baseball IQ ("The Professor") should allow all his tools to play up. Do you agree?

Justin Coleman: Both are quite good, but I'm probably biased towards guys who have the whole package and show quality secondary skills. Rocchio has feel for the game, excellent defender, bat is coming around as well. In addition, Rocchio also plays a premium position up the middle. That is stuff you can dream on a bit. Valera has more juice in the bat, but isn't the defensive presence that Rocchio is. I think Valera needs to use the whole field a bit more for the bat to really blossom into something serious.