Cleveland Sports Forum

But! Kluber can tell his grandchildren that he played major league baseball with the Cleveland Indians. That makes it all the worth while.

I goofed again. The Triple A championship was yesterday. Clippers won! Beau Mills maybe is a prospect again. He is one canddiate among few to add to the 40 man roster.

ALBUQUERQUE—The Omaha Storm Chasers and Columbus Clippers began the 2011 season as two of the more prospect-laden squads in the minor leagues.

By the end of the year, though, most of those prospects were up with their big league affiliates. Omaha lost first baseman Eric Hosmer, second baseman Johnny Giavotella, third baseman Mike Moustakas, catcher Salvador Perez and lefthander Danny Duffy, who all ranked among the Royals’ top 20 prospects.

Columbus lost second baseman Jason Kipnis, third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall, lefthander Nick Hagadone and righthanders Alex White (via the Ubaldo Jimenez trade) and Zach Putnam, who all ranked in the Indians’ top 20 prospects

Through all those transactions, however, both Omaha and Columbus kept right on winning, eventually claiming the Pacific Coast League and International League titles, respectively. That pitted the two teams against each other in Tuesday night’s Triple-A National Championship Game in front of 9,569 fans at Isotopes Park, who saw the Clippers roll out to an 8-3 victory and their second straight title.“I think that we’ve kept the nucleus together from the standpoint of Luke Carlin, Paul Phillips, some of our veterans,” Columbus manager Mike Sarbaugh said. “Nick Johnson was huge in the clubhouse. They were a big influence on our younger players.

“The players did a great job. It’s a credit to our player development and our scouting department. They came in and we didn’t miss a beat.”

Omaha manager Mike Jirschele echoed those words in regards to his club.

“You look at the amount of guys (11) we sent to the big leagues and ended up staying there, it just goes to show the depth we have in the organization,” Jirschele said. “The guys who came in did a great job. We’ve been in first place since about mid-April. We held on right to the end.”

The Storm Chasers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first as former Brewers prospect Lorenzo Cain hit a two-run triple and later scored on John Whittleman’s RBI single.

Righthander Joe Martinez settled down from there for the Clippers, scattering three hits over six shutout innings following the first. The former Giants and Pirates big leaguer picked up his third victory of the postseason.

“We just tried to really keep the ball down, throw a lot of sinkers,” Martinez said. “Obviously, they’re a very good hitting team over there. We used their strengths against them a little bit. We kept the ball on the ground, got a lot of outs that way.” In seven innings of work, Martinez struck out three, walked three and induced 13 groundouts compared with two flyouts.

Columbus got back into the game thanks to Carlin’s three-run homer in the second, followed by a three-run outburst in the third. Jared Goedert had an RBI double and Beau Mills added an RBI single.

Mills later added a solo home run in the eighth inning to cap his resurgent year at the plate. The 2007 first-round pick hit a combined .289/.347/.513 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs between the Clippers and Double-A Akron.

Mills hit a combined .289/.347/.513 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs between the Clippers and Double-A Akron.

Good, not great.

As a 24-year old AAA rookie, Mills' stats were:

119-13-32-18. XB: 6-0-7 bb/so: 10/22 326/496/822

By comparison, our current underperforming 1st baseman when he debuted in AAA at age 24 was:

338-68-107-60

23-2-17

42/56

388/530/917

Columbus was AAA champion 2 years in a row. Like to see that translate into the Major League level where 500 is our latest goal.

The Clippers finished the season, and won the playoffs with a lineup consisting of:

C Paul Phillips and Luke Carlin, both in their 30s'
1b Beau Mills and Nick Johnson, in his 30s
2b After Kipnis, Phelps and Valbuena were recalled, they signed Argenis Reyes, he's 28
ss Juan Diaz promoted from Akron played in the playoffs. Good defense, some offense.
3b Jared Goedert, some power, not much defense, about 26 by now
of Jared Head, we know how big a splash he made in Cleveland
cf Tim Fedroff, a youngster who hit well up in the 330s for Akron this season, then promoted, he lacks great speed, significant power, or great defensive skills. Maybe another Trevor Crowe. Might be worth adding to the 40 man roster.
of Travis Buck, could return to Cleveland as a backup
of Chad Huffman, RH not quite as good as Buck
of Thomas Neal we got him from SF for OCabrera must have been hurt, didn't play much; another sub at most

p McAllister
p Talbot
p Joe Gonzalez maybe a AAAA pitcher
p Scott Barnes injured but before that a lot of K's in a breakout season, it was leg not arm so should be back
p Paolo Espino on the Akron/Columbus shuttle
p Corey Kluber, awful year
most of the bullpen was in Cleveland by the time the playoffs rolled around except Chen Lee who had fine debut in AA follwed by fine debut in AAA, many Ks, should make the Tribe
relief: Matt Langwell, Tyler Sturdevant; have silently ascended through the farm system
relief: Kelvin delaCruz LHP, was a high rated starter who had surgery; not sure if he's been dropped to a relief role, or was used there just to limit his innings.

Around the Farm: Parallel League 9/21
12:01 AM TONY NO COMMENTS

Bo Greenwell
Around the Farm (ATF) takes a quick look at some of the daily performances by Indians prospects. This is a special Instructional League version of ATF that recaps each of the 12 games the Indians minor leaguers will play this fall as well as games played in the advanced Instructional League (Arizona Parallel League). The positions listed below are where the player was playing in the game.

Here is the first game report from Arizona Parallel League (AZPL) action. Note that the recaps from the games will generally be about 48 hours apart due to when the information becomes available.

Note, for those who do not know the Parallel League is considered an advanced Instructional League. The Indians and Reds share a team and it is primarily to get some older players more playing opportunities against like competition.

Parallel League Game #1: September 21 vs. Glendale
Bo Greenwell (1B): 1-for-3, 2B. Interesting. Greenwell was a first baseman in high school and converted to the outfield upon signing, but it looks like they are experimenting with him some at first base this fall.
Kyle Bellows (DH): 0-for-1, BB. There is no question that Bellows can pick it. The only question is can he swing it. Hopefully his time out in Arizona this month helps give him something to build upon for next season.
Tyler Cannon (C): 0-for-1, RBI. More intrigue. We already know that Cannon can play almost anywhere in the infield and some outfield, but it looks like the Indians are experimenting with him behind the plate much like they did with Greg Folgia two years ago.
Carlos Moncrief (RF): 0-for-2, 2 K, CS. Moncrief has one of the most powerful bats in the Indians system but has always had problems with the strikeouts. He is not off to a good start in game one in rectifying that problem, but thankfully it is only one game.
Hector Rondon (SP): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. With Carlos Carrasco going down, the silver lining could be the return of Rondon next year as a rotation or pen option in Cleveland at some point. He is back up to the mid-90s with the fastball and pitching well.
J.D. Reichenbach (RP): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. Talk about efficiency. Reichenbach gave up two hits and faced four batters but only threw seven pitches. He doesn’t throw hard as he gets it up to the high 80s, but was pretty effective this year.
Dale Dickerson (RP): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 1 K. The submariner had a nice season at Low-A Lake County this year (2.45 ERA, .243 BAA). He just turned 25 years old and is old for Single-A, so he needs to have a good showing in the AZPL this fall.

Dale Dickerson (RP): The submariner had a nice season at Low-A Lake County this year (2.45 ERA, .243 BAA). He just turned 25 years old and is old for Single-A, so he needs to have a good showing in the AZPL this fall.


He's only about 3 years too old for his current league. I guess Tony is saying he needs to have a good showing to be rehired for 2012.

BA delayed their NYPL Top 20 list to Monday but good news! 2 Scrappers will be cited. I'd be almost sure that Tony Wolters is one. Tony had a good season at bat, stole a lot of bases, made a ton of errors, and at this level kids who were high draft choices are given the benefit of the doubt. The other most likely will be catcher Jake Lowrey who led the league in walks (BA and Moneyball fans like kids who walk) and doubles, also added some homers. Not sure about his catching skills.

Another possibility is Bryson Myles who steals more often than Wolters, hits pretty well and is an OK OF, but the predraft analysis suggesting he'd be a good Class A player but didn't project well. Pitchers Will Roberts, 5th round, relievesr Cody Allen and Enosil Tejeda and back from the DL Danny Jiminez all had pretty good seasons, too.

Elliot (Youngstown OH): BA Schedule says its the NYPL today. I have to wait all weekend to find out if any Mahoning Valley Scrappers are prospects! The anxiety will ruin my weekend,

Conor Glassey: Sorry, Elliot! We switched it up on you. But, Aaron Fitt (who did the NY-P list this year) told me you can count on seeing two Scrappers on the list on Monday. Have a good weekend!

Too bad it is impossible to line up columns here. In case you can't read these the highlights are:

Myles 394/401/795 20/27 steals 10-3-1 xb hits
Wolters 385/363/748 19/23 steals 10-3-1 xb hits
Lowery 377/415/790 54 walks in 69 games 23-1-6 xb hits. AVG only 245 but Billy Beane doesn't care about batting averages.


Player POS G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG OPS E
Bryson Myles OF 50 192 36 58 10 3 1 15 77 24 32 20 7 .394 .401 .302 .795 4
Tony Wolters SS 69 267 50 78 10 3 1 20 97 30 49 19 4 .385 .363 .292 .748 21
Jake Lowery C 69 253 43 62 23 1 6 43 105 54 56 3 2 .377 .415 .245 .792 7

Relievers Allen and Tejeda had great strikeout numbers; Starters Roberts and Jiminez were well below one K per IP.

Allen 34 ip 21 h 9 walks 42 K 2.91
Tejeda 34 ip 21 h 15 walks 57!! K 2.14
Jiminez 72ip 66 h 24 bb 50 k 2.39
Roberts 41ip 37 h 7 bb 29 k 3.27

Lowery was a draft pick that was highly questioned by a lot of Indians fans.

Tony;'s report from Arizona:

Instructional League Game #2: September 22 vs. Reds

•LeVon Washington (CF): 1-for-4, BB, K, 2 SB. This is the Washington we want to see. Getting on base in two out of five plate appearances and swiping two bags.
•Jorge Martinez (3B): 0-for-1. Urshella is getting a lot of the playing time at third base early in camp, but Martinez should play there more regularly by the end.
•Jesus Aguilar (1B): 1-for-3, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB, K. No homer in this game for Aguilar, but a nice job filling a stat sheet.
•Jake Lowery (C): 1-for-1, 2B, 2 RBI, BB. It is only two games, but in Instructs so far Lowery is 2-for-3 with 2 walks, 2 doubles, and 2 RBI.
•Tony Wolters (2B): 0-for-2. Wolters continues his work at second base. He and Lindor look very much like the keystone combo to open the season at Low-A Lake County.
•Eric Haase (DH): 0-for-4, K. Haase was a late signing and like some others is getting his first true taste of pro ball.
•Luigi Rodriguez (RF): 1-for-2. Rodriguez played almost exclusively in center field this year and played some left field but almost no right field.
•Bryson Myles (RF): 1-for-2, K. Myles hit .302/.394/.401 with 20 stolen bases in 50 games at Mahoning Valley this year.
•Clayton Cook (SP): 3.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 2 K. Cook is like a machine. He just keeps piling up innings and pitching well, and is one of the Indians top pitching prospects. Who are you kidding?
•Trey Haley (RP): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. Haley had a good season, something a lot of people missed since he pitched in the pen for almost all of it. A good start to Instructs for him.
•Mike Rayl (RP): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K. Rayl continues to pitch well with a good Instructs debut throwing two scoreless innings and first pitch strikes to 5 of 6 hitters.
•Giovanni Soto (RP): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K. An efficient two innings for Soto as he threw 26 pitches and allowed one baserunner throwing first pitch strikes to 5 of 7 batters.
•Leonardo Castillo (DH): 1-for-3, R, BB.
•Ronny Rodriguez (SS): 0-for-2.
•Francisco Lindor (SS): 1-for-2, K.
•Tyler Holt (LF): 1-for-4, RBI, 2 K.
•Giovanny Urshela (3B): 1-for-3, R, 2B.
•Alex Lavisky (C): 0-for-2.
•Robel Garcia (2B): 0-for-1, BB.
Parallel League Game #2: September 22 vs. Peoria

•Bo Greenwell (1B): 1-for-3, 2B. Greenwell was back at first base for the second straight day, and is where he is likely going to play for the remainder of the AZPL season.
•Kyle Bellows (DH): 1-for-3. Bellows was at DH again but was in for most of the game this time and got a hit.
•Carlos Moncrief (RF): 0-for-2, 2 K. Not a good start to the AZPL season for Moncrief as that is 4 Ks in 4 ABs.
•Tyler Cannon (C): 0-for-1, K. Cannon played two innings. The Indians are trying him out at catcher to see if it can be added to his skill set.
•Hector Ambriz (RP): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. Nice to see Ambriz back on the mound about a year out from his Tommy John surgery. He threw 12 pitches and was up to 94 MPH.
•Alexander Perez (RP): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1K. Perez was pretty good in his first live game action of the season. He threw 16 pitches and first pitch strikes to all 4 batters he faced. He was only in the upper 80s but the velocity is still coming.
•Francisco Jimenez (RP): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 0 K. Jimenez is putting the capper on a very good season. With his versatility to start or relieve from the left side he has a lot of value to the organization

So no surprise, Wolters ranked high and Jake Lowery low but both made the NYPL Top 20 announced at BA today. Aaron Fitt liked Jordan Smith, too, although he is, so far, a corner man who doesn't hit homers:

Ed (Maple Grove, MN): How close was Jordan Smith from the Indians making the list?

Aaron Fitt: I've been high on Smith since last summer, when he made my Northwoods League top prospects list. He really has a nice feel for hitting and a very pretty lefthanded swing, and he could develop some power in time, but right now he hasn't really shown any. He's a corner guy who needs to learn to drive the ball better. The Indians gave him some work at third base, and he has plenty of work to do there as you'd expect from someone who has spend most of his career at an outfield corner. But he has some arm strength, and he showed enough instincts and hands at the hot corner to at least have a chance to stick there for a while. Smith's bat did land him in the mix for this top 20 list -- probably in the 25-35 range.

Commnets on a couple relievers who recorded plenty of strikeouts:

Elliot (Youngstown OH): Aaron, When I was told that 2 Scrappers made the 20 I was sure Wolters was one and assumed Lowery the other although I know there are doubts about his defense. But I looked at the stats and saw some very good K/IP numbers from a couple relievers, Cody Allen who continued to do the same when promoted to Lake County and Kinston for the playoffs, and even more so by Enosil Tejeda. Relievers at this level rarely have prospect status, but did either of these arms get any consideration?

Aaron Fitt: Tejeda sounds interesting -- it's a low-90s fastball and a hard, swing-and-miss slider. He has a very aggressive style, and he hides the ball well, making his stuff play up. He put himself on the map this summer. Allen didn't get as much attention in the NY-P, but his curveball could be a carrying pitch. His fastball is just fringe-average.