Cleveland Sports Forum

Skimmed through the long list of minor league free agents for familiar names.
Lots of former Cleveland draft picks but one caught my eye particularly:

If they are OK with Hedges as their first string catcher Tony Wolters is available. He's 29; had a regression in 2021 but he's rated another good defender; you'll remember we drafted him as a middle infielder [3rd round 2010 for $1.3M] and converted him but lost him in Rule 5.

Other names you may recall:
Dylan Baker, 5th round, 2012: we kept on the 40 man roster despite missing almost all of several season running.
Kieran Lovegrove 3rd round 2012; Australian pitcher
Mitch Longo, Mayfield High, Ohio U, 14th round 2016
Tom Pannone, 9th round 2013, LH, big breakout year in the minors, traded for Joe Smith perhaps; he's had some big league experience in 2018 and 19; career mark 7-7
Henry Martinez, Akron closer of the past
Nathan Lukes 7th round 2015, traded; good hitter but no power 303 in AAA last summer, 352/452/804. 3 homers, 31 doubles.
Martin Cervenka, Czech catcher
Jared Robison 11th round 2014 hard throwing righty
Argenis Angulo 19th round 2014
Vidal Nuno 48th round 2009; had more major league success than anyone on this list besides Wolters; career 8-21 4.07 ERA in 377 IP

And guys we didn't draft but you may remember:
Jake Bauers, heard of him?
Jefry Rodriguez, seemed like a solid candidate to be a starting pitcher
and some non-Cleveland veterans: Tim Beckham, Greg Bird, Homer Bailey

average dipping: CLE AFL Richard Palacios, 2B 4 0 0 0 .275 E (1),

CLE AFL Damon Casetta-Stubbs, RHP 1 1 0 0 2 1 0.00

Arizona on Wednesday

CLE AFL Jose Tena, SS 5 1 1 0 .415
CLE AFL Mike Amditis, C 3 0 1 0 .154 BB (5)

Joe knows where to find winter ball stats from Dominican, Puerto Rico, etc. I don't

features players in Arizona Fall League all star type game

CLEVELAND

Jose Tena, 2B/SS (No. 12): Tena has one of the best left-handed swings and some of the best bat-to-ball skills in the Cleveland system, and he's showing those off by leading the AFL in hitting (.415) despite being one of the younger players (age 20) in the developmental circuit. Signed for $400,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2017, he also possesses solid speed and arm strength and batted .281/.331/.467 with 16 homers and 10 steals in 107 games while making his full-season debut in High-A.

Richie Palacios, OF (No. 14): Part of a family that already includes two big leaguers in his uncle Rey and brother Josh, Palacios has the tools (hitting ability, plus speed, baserunning instincts) to join them in the near future. Drafted in the third round out of Towson in 2018, he hit .297/.404/.471 with seven homers and 20 steals in 103 games between Double-A and Triple-A.

Not just is Jose Tena among the top hitters in the Arizona League [about 390] and one of the youngest players in the league, he has also won the Gold Glove as best defensive shortstop in all of minor league baseball

High-A Lake County Captains (Indians) shortstop Jose Tena handled 256 total chances, had a hand in 34 double plays and finished with 157 assists in 81 games at shortstop. Tena, 20, was signed by the Indians as an international free agent out of San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, on July 2, 2017.

They would be nuts not to add him to the 40 man roster. P

The article headline looked worth reading,
Toughest top prospect 40-man decisions
but it turns out the "tough decision" for the Indians is no-brainer, although a disappointment

Cleveland: Aaron Bracho, INF (No. 15 pre-season rankings that is)
Cleveland seemed enthused by Bracho -- a $1.5 million signing out of Venezuela in 2017 -- and his progress at last year’s alternate training site, but he took a serious step back offensively in 2021. The switch-hitting infielder hit just .174/.269/.299 in 70 games with High-A Lake County and was especially bad against right-handers (.523 OPS in 203 plate appearances). Bracho still has a decent ceiling as an infielder with good power, speed and an ability to play multiple spots on the dirt. A 40-man spot would be based much more on projection than recent performance.

Speed not so much, basically he's a hitter who didn't hit. And an infielder who doesn't have SS skills
BA reported that his bat was slow this year and they could see no reason he'd make the 40 man roster with so many other infielders greatly exceeding his performance.

Certainly we don't give up on Bracho but no one will Rule V-claim an infielder who didn't hit.

I doubt it! especially in Class A. He really stunk this year;

His prospect preseason were:
Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 50 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 50
Which is pretty good, suggesting a decent chance to be a big leaguer.

And then he went out and hit 174/269/299

Wednesday in Arizona

CLE AFL Jose Tena, SS 3 1 0 0 .387 BB (10), [drew only 27 walks in the full season; sharpening his eye this fall]
CLE AFL Mike Amditis, C 2 0 0 0 .136 BB (6),

civ - not that I remember this but Buck Showalter was on MLB Network today and briefly talked about the Rule V and Santander.

He said it was about the medicals. He thought Cleveland didn't protect him because he'd had knee issues and was in A ball.

His point was that sometimes teams don't protect guys because they think no one will take them if they have medical risks. So Showalter said the onus is on the picking team's medicals to assure the picking team he will be healthy.

that would make total sense on Anthony; he kept getting hurt before we lost him and to be honest he has had health issues off and on since the O's got him. But I like to complain about him anyway!

found the DSL stats sort of; could not find the full roster of our two teams and it looks like only Ciminero played enough to qualify for league leaders. ??

The two teams we fielded were not much offensively, combined line of 234/356/327. A total of 35 homer of which Ciminero had 9. overall record was 55-58 so perhaps they had some good pitching, but I don't find it

two pitchers from the 2 teams worked enough innings to qualify for leader boards, a pair of 5-11 RH

Diego Navarro 1.69 ERA 0.79 WHIP 48 IP 8 BB 44 K
Yorman Gomez 3.58 ERA 1.15 WHIP 50 IP 16 BB 49 K

BA article on ten pitching prospects "with intriguing analytical profiles" starts with

Peyton Battenfield, RHP, Cleveland | Rule 5 Eligibility: 2022 [got him on deadline day from Tampa for -- I forget, not Rosario; not Maton; not Hernandez; it must have been Jordan Luplow]

Why He Stands Out: Supreme four-seam fastball spin efficiency from an overhand slot generates plus induced vertical break without fail. Battenfield is one of the leaders among prospects, per sources, with an average IVB greater than 19 inches, which helps explain why batters produced a wOBA of just .232 against his fastball in 2021.

Battenfield also grades strongly when it comes to VAA, which isn’t surprising due to his height and more vertical arm action. He uses this to his advantage by creating riding action high in the zone for whiffs and downhill plane when located in the lower quadrants.

The following is a primer provided for these and other analytical terms:

Induced Vertical Break (IVB): The distance between where a pitch traveled in relation to the height of the plate versus a pitch that traveled in a straight distance over the plate with active gravity. All pitches have an IVB, but it’s most prominent in its usage surrounding four-seam fastball shape. It’s a somewhat encompassing metric for fastball “ride” or “carry”. For example, the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole generates greater than 19.5 inches on average of induced vertical break. Others like Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman and Michael Kopech are among the leaders in the major leagues. IVB can also tell us which sinkerballers are “killing” the most lift or creating the most sink. Sinkers are also synonymous with horizontal armside break or “run”.

Horizontal Break (HB): Simply put it’s the distance a pitch travels to one side of another versus a perfectly straight pitch. All pitches have an HB but it’s most commonly associated with discussion around sliders, changeups, and two-seam fastballs.

Active Spin (True Spin/Spin Efficiency): The percentage of spin which contributes to movement. The spin on a baseball is active, meaning it contributes to movement. By spinning a four-seam fastball efficiently, a pitcher can achieve the desired ride typical of the modern fastball, which is designed to miss over the top of steep bat paths and induce whiffs in the upper quadrants of the strike zone.

Spin Axis (Tilt): The axis tilt of the ball in relation to the clock. Righthanders move clockwise while lefties move counter clockwise. While there’s a variety of good fastballs within the full for lefties. Fastballs thrown on those axes produce the highest spin efficiency or active spin.

Vertical Approach Angle (VAA): This is a concept that’s gained serious traction in the public space over the last 12-18 months. Essentially it’s the downhill plane of the pitch measured in degrees. Here’s an excellent Twitter thread to consult. Typically, when chasing a fastball that generates whiffs when elevated you want a VAA below 5 degrees. The closer you move to 4 degrees, the better the quality of the fastball. For reference, Gerrit Cole, Jacob DeGrom and Jack Leiter’s VAA’s are all sub-4.25 degrees, which is considered an optimal range for four-seam fastball. There are a few components which go into creating an optimal approach angle. Release height, active spin, and location all factor into VAA. Breaking balls will have a steeper VAA.

With that primer in mind, let’s take a look at a few pitching prospects whose pitch characteristics should jump out to the analytically inclined.

And another: the X Man

Xzavion Curry, RHP, Cleveland | Rule 5 Eligible: 2022

Why He Stands Out: After a breakout season in the Cleveland system for the former Georgia Tech star, Curry’s combination of fastball spin efficiency, release height, and flatter vertical approach angle allow his four-seamer to generate whiffs at an above-average rate while inducing very little productive contact. Cleveland and Curry have worked on cleaning up his spin axis to find a more efficient shape than what he possessed as an amateur. The improvement from a command standpoint should not go unnoticed either. Curry landed his four-seam in the zone at a near-70% rate, a plus command marker.

Curry also mixes a pair of breaking balls in a small, sweepy slider and a two-plane breaking curveball. Each pitch misses bats at an average rate and he commands the entirety of his arsenal.

Takeaway: Curry gets away with an attack plan that incorporates more than 60% fastballs because he possesses good shape and unique release characteristics coupled with supreme fastball command. This provides Curry a relatively high release floor with an outside shot of blossoming into a mid-rotation starter.

more proof that the Guardians are the experts at pitcher development; we have a 3rd name on the list

Logan T. Allen, LHP, Cleveland | Rule 5 Eligible: 2023

Why He Stands Out: Allen’s release height is a freakish 5-foot-2, which, when paired with incredibly efficient fastball shape, allows Allen to generate both plus induced vertical break numbers of greater than 18.5 inches on average and an elite vertical approach angle of 4.1 degrees despite below-average raw spin in the 2,100-2,200 rpm range. This is why, despite a heavy usage rate, below-average velocity and spin, Allen still generates results associated with plus fastballs. He’s a shining example of the ways pitchers can use different methods to succeed with their fastball.

Allen pairs a high-70s slider with sweepy horizontal break and a split-changeup which each generate whiffs at a plus rate. Both miss bats and hold contact to a minimum, with the slider being the better of the two offerings. There’s little doubt that his release height and strong four-seam shape from the left side help the pedestrian break on his secondaries play up.

Takeaway: Allen falls in line with a trend we’ve seen developing in recent years: data-driven teams targeting arms 6-foot-1 and shorter due to their unique release characteristics. Allen has excellent shape of his four-seam fastball, commands it well and creates elite deception when elevated due to his flat vertical approach angle. With two truly average or better secondaries Allen could be next in line for a Cleveland pitching factory that continues to chug along.