Cleveland Sports Forum

Yu Chang, SS turned utility IF, has been rated one of our top prospects for several years. Something of a power hitter, not a basestealer. Added to the 0 man roster last winter; hurt his hand in the early weeks and hit nothing; been back for a couple weeks and has been hitting well . 8-25 with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 9 RBI,

Had slipped a bit to No. 11 in this year's BA rankings but mostly because of the addition of newcomers Rocchio, Valera, Oviedo and Hankins.

Track Record: Chang was a prominent prep player in Taiwan and was one of the top amateur free agents to sign out of Asia in 2013. His profile has risen in the last few seasons as his power has developed and he has reportedly received heavy interest in trade talks.

Scouting Report: Chang has solid all-around offensive tools, and while he didn't hit 24 home runs again in 2018 like he did the year before, he still had solid production as a 22-year-old in Triple-A. After getting pull-happy in 2017, he got back to using the whole field more effectively. He is a patient hitter, but his willingness to work deep in counts has led to strikeout rates in excess of 25 percent the last two years. Though Chang may not pass the eye test at shortstop, he can make all the plays at the position and is an average defender with average or better speed and arm strength. The Indians this year began to work to increase his versatility, giving him time at both second and third base, and in the Arizona Fall League he exclusively played those positions.

The Future: Francisco Lindor is entrenched at shortstop in Cleveland and the Indians' next wave of exciting, athletic shortstops is likely to reach the big leagues by the time he reaches free agency. So, while Chang is a capable shortstop, he's unlikely to ever regularly play it in Cleveland. The Indians will have a spring training competition for at least their utility infielder job and possibly one everyday infield role and Chang will be in the mix.

Plesac with yet another pick off!!

Unbelievable.

Really, this is uncanny for a right hander. Guys like Carlton or Pettitte may have had better moves but lefties. I know it's early but I don't think I've ever seen a righty with a better move.

Charlie Hough? I don't think so.

I only go back to mid 70's or so. But I've never seen one.

Been lost in dreamland. Must be a joke the Tribe lost 13-0 two days in a row to an awful O's team.

Fake news?

hard to believe! But they've scored a run already today and the game is barely more than half over.

Hillbilly wrote:Really, this is uncanny for a right hander. Guys like Carlton or Pettitte may have had better moves but lefties. I know it's early but I don't think I've ever seen a righty with a better move.

Charlie Hough? I don't think so.

I only go back to mid 70's or so. But I've never seen one.

Like I said, his uncle Dan said he already has the best move in MLB. And that was after his first start.

And Dan Plesac isn't one to blow smoke - he's a straight shooter. He talked about Zach's mental toughness and his pick off move. First and foremost when he first came up.

Bieber is so amazing for his 2nd year in the league! Thanks to him it wasn't a total lost weekend.

Hey we scored 2 of the 28 runs [7%] and we win 1/3 of the games.

Looks like Bieber was originally called up May 31 2018 and bounced back and forth between Columbus and Cleveland until July 24th, so lets call that a year. That is 18 - 8, 4.07 ERA, 251 K 46 W.

Not too bad!

Not too bad! Bieber is your classic Indians pitcher draft pick: a college guy without overwhelming fastball but great control. Other such have come up and debuted with modest success and then faded away, like David Huff and Jeremy Sowers. I expect Bieber to work out much better.

Maybe I'm forgetting someone, but he's probably the winningest Tribe draft choice pitcher in many years; since Nagy? Must be someone else there I'm overlooking. But his career path looks really promising.

We've experimented with high school arms, too, with pretty mixed success: Aiken still seems to be with us but doesn't play; McKenzie highly effective but hardly durable; Hankins just getting started; Torres out with TJ already after one brief summer; and this year's pick Espino another guy like Hankins with great stuff who hasn't pitched professionally yet.

Tribe wins 9-5.

Bauers and Naquin both 4-5 tonight

Bauers with some beautiful inside out swings.

Seems to me he is caught between being the all fields hitter he was in the minors and the new age slugger type.

Wish he'd just be himself and continue to hit to all fields. Zig when others are zagging - there's a need for it these days.

civ ollilavad wrote:Maybe I'm forgetting someone, but he's probably the winningest Tribe draft choice pitcher in many years; since Nagy? Must be someone else there I'm overlooking.

Sabathia ... although Nagy won more games than CC as an Indian.

Interesting Nagy worked as a pitching coach for the Indians organization for 2 years around ‘10-‘11. He got to work with Kluber. Must have taught him how well you can do without an overpowering fastball using movement and control. Kluber seemed to have perfected Nagy’s style. (Post surgery for Nagy any way)

How could I forget Sabathia!?

Don’t beat yourself up. C.C. was so tiny and easy to miss.