Cleveland Sports Forum

Around the Farm: April 18, 2015

Tony Lastoria Editor-in-Chief

Moncrief and Allen have big nights, but Indians farmhands continue to struggle with the bats in the early going.

Around the Farm takes a quick look at some of yesterday’s performances by Cleveland prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday’s game.

Scoreboard

R H E R H E
Toledo 2 10 1 Akron 6 9 0
Columbus 5 7 1 Altoona 1 10 2
BOX BOX

R H E R H E
Potoma c 15 17 1 Lake County 3 8 0
Lynchburg 8 13 2 Bowling Green 4 11 1
BOX BOX

Highlight

Carlos Moncrief (RF, Columbus): 2-for-3, R, HR, 3 RBI, BB. The Clippers finally held their home opener after spending what felt like an eternity on the road to start the season. The Clippers bats have been very quiet to start the season, but some home cooking got Moncrief going with a very productive day getting on base three times in four plate appearances and a big three-run jack in the first inning which gave his pitchers a nice lead early that they would not relinquish.

Greg Allen (RF, Lake County): 3-for-4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB. Allen led the game off with a line drive home run over the right field fence, his first home run as a professional. When he hits one it is noteworthy as they are not a part of his game and will likely be very infrequent as he continues on through his career. What his game is all about is speed, defense and getting on base and he did all three things on Saturday night. He’s one of the few position players in the entire system off to a good start as he is hitting .323 with 1 HR, 6 RBI and .884 OPS in nine games, and has a 3:7 walk to strikeout ratio with 3 stolen bases.

The Rest

Francisco Lindor (SS, Columbus): 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI. A 1-for-4 night is nothing to get excited about with Lindor, especially when that one hit is a big fly, but he is starting to put something together reaching base in five of his last nine plate appearances.
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Tyler Holt (LF, Columbus): 1-for-3, R, BB, K, SB. Holt did his thing reaching base twice and swiping a bag. He’s off to a slow start with the batting average (.222) but his excellent 6:4 walk to strikeout ratio has him at a nice .364 on-base percentage and he has three stolen bases in the early going.
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Jesus Aguilar (1B, Columbus): 2-for-4, 2 R, HR, RBI. This is a guy that needs to get going. His slash line is awful to start the season (.189/.211/.378) but that’s the result of a horrible 4-for-28 slump to start the season. He’s broken out of his funk over the last two games going 3-for-9 with two homers.
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Shaun Marcum (SP, Columbus): W (1-0), 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR. Fresh off his outright assignment to Columbus (and accepting it), Marcum arrived just in time to pitch the home opener for the Clippers. This was a typical Marcum outing with a lot of contact but limited damage.

Ryan Webb (RP, Columbus): 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. Another scoreless outing for Webb who has now racked up 3.2 scoreless innings in his first two appearances in the Indians organization. This is a guy who is intriguing to me and is someone I could see getting an opportunity in Cleveland if Anthony Swarzak falters.

Shawn Armstrong (RP, Columbus): S (4), 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. It is a little early to get on the Armstrong Train, but this is an arm that can impact the Indians bullpen at some point this season and might be the missing link they need in the backend to make them deeper and more effective.
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Anthony Gallas (DH, Akron): 1-for-1, 2 R, 4 BB, SB. This was a rare gem from Gallas as he’s not the type who draws very many walks. I can’t think of many games he has walked twice, let alone three times, so to get four is incredible. That patience and discipline is the key to him progressing, so at least for one game it is great to see him put it all together.

Jake Lowery (1B, Akron): 2-for-4, R, RBI, BB. Lowery reached base in three of his four plate appearances and put forth the best game of his season to date in the process. I have far from given up on the bat and am hopeful that the move to first base brings out more consistency offensively this season.

Yonathan Mendoza (3B, Akron): 2-for-3, 2 BB, K. Mendoza had both a sensational Double-A and season debut reaching base in four of his five plate appearances. He is filling in on the roster and should be sent down to High-A Lynchburg or Low-A Lake County soon.

Mike Clevinger (SP, Akron): 4.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R/ER, 4 BB, 6 K. Clevinger labored in this one and threw 95 pitches (61 strikes) before being removed in the middle of the fifth inning. He did a nice job limited the damage as just one of the 10 baserunners he allowed ended up scoring.

Josh Martin (RP, Akron): W (2-0), 2.2 IP, 2 H 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. Martin has been a little bit of vulture in the early going this season as he picked off his second win in relief. His best stat in the early going? A 0:9 walk to strikeout ratio over 8.0 innings.

Louis Head (RP, Akron): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, BB, K. Head struggled some in this one as he loaded the bases on two hits and a walk with one out, but he really focused in after that retiring the final two hitters on a strikeout and line out. He’s run into a little early season trouble, but his numbers are a little deceiving as he has pitched better than the numbers indicate.

Joe Sever (3B-P, Lynchburg): 2-for-5, 2 R, 3 K, 0.1 IP. It was feast or famine for Sever in this one as he recorded two hits and struck out three times in five plate appearances. More interesting, the game got out of hand in the late going and he made his second relief appearance of the season.
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Brad Zimmer (CF, Lynchburg): 2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, K. Zimmer is picking up right where he left off in spring training and last season. He has now homered in three straight games and has cranked out four homers already in the young season. He has recorded a hit in every game but one this season and is 7-for-15 over his last four games.

Alex Monsalve (C, Lynchburg): 3-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI. Monsalve’s playing time has been limited early this season as he is no longer a priority prospect, but with more outings like this he could force his way into the lineup.

Nellie Rodriguez (1B, Lynchburg): 1-for-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 K. Nellie’s struggles in the early going continue as through the first 10 games he owns a .098/.159/.146 slash line with 14 strikeouts in 41 at bats.

Luis Lugo (SP, Lynchburg): L (0-1), 3.2 IP, 9 H, 8 R (6 ER), 2 BB, 4 K. The pitching for Lynchburg has not been very good the past two games as they have surrendered 28 runs. Lugo is off to a slow start as both of his outings have been inconsistent, but he has a lot of time to make a correction to the new level.

Delvy Francisco (RP, Lynchburg): 0.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R/ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR. We highlight the good and bad in ATF, and in this case this was a very bad outing for Francisco. Signed as a minor league free agent in the offseason, he is not going to last long if this season line keeps up: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 7 BB, 5 K.
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Francisco Mejia (C, Lake County): 2-for-4, 2B. Mejia cranked out his first multi-hit game of the season, hopefully the first of many to come considering his slow start offensively. In eight games he is now 4-for-25 with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.

Bobby Bradley (1B, Lake County): 0-for-2, R, BB, 2 K. The batting line is something that typically would not be mentioned in ATF, but the fact he was removed from the game is of note. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning he was subbed out for Grant Fink, so either something was bothering him physically or he did something defensively that manager Shaun Larkin did not like and he wanted to send him a message.

Dorssys Paulino (LF, Lake County): 0-for-4, 2 K. Paulino is off to a very rough start – as are a great majority of Indians minor league hitters. In nine games he is 3-for-30 at the plate with no extra base hits, no walks and 11 strikeouts.

Thomas Pannone (SP, Lake County): 4.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 2 K. A so-so outing from Pannone, which was obviously a step down from his sensational performance last time out (6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K). He’s still kind of raw on the mound, so the performances will likely be up and down all year while he develops a better feel for pitching and more consistency on the mound.

Jordan Carter (RP, Lake County): 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R/ER, 0 BB, 2 K. Carter has had a solid showing so far this season pitching in what amounts to long relief where he goes two to three innings an outing. In 7.0 innings he has allowed 4 hits, 2 runs (both earned), 2 walks and has 4 strikeouts. He’s pitching in such a role to keep him stretched out some to eventually move into the rotation if needed.

Allen finished with three hits, Mejia with 2.
Paulino gets worse every season; he's hitting .100 in his 3rd try at Lake County

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.js ... x&sid=milb

Zimmer now hitting 324 after a 2 hit night; Alex Monsalve still catching in Class, 3 hits last night. More atrocious relief pitching. Joe Sever gets to finish up again.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.js ... x&sid=milb

Akron and Columbus both win, a first for the season I believe. Aguillar joined Lindor and Moncrief in the HR parade.
Shawn Armstrong with his 4th save in 4 tries. His season line: 4-2-0-0-0-7. He can join the up and down final roster spot bullpen rotation.

Our teams won one, lost one, lead in one and were not rained out in one.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20150419

Akron a shutout loser again. 7-0 behind Ryan Merritt: 6 1/3-10-6-3-0-2. Yandy Diaz error didn't help. The Cuban 3B made his second error, went 0-4 and is hitting 167. Gonzalez was out. There's no one else here who can play ball.

Lynchburg won 4-1 behind the Rodriguez Brothers: Luigi stays red hot, 3--3, lifts him to 417. He ought to move on to Akron and try to help that feeble squad. Nellie starting to warm up, 2 hits, lifts him to 133. Papi with a two game hitting streak is up to .079. Frazier with a double. Zimmer had the day off.

Lake County ahead 4-0 in the fourth when the game was suspended; the stats count, so Chang's two hits really do lift the 19-year-old up to 281. Bradley out the second time in three games; why? Taylor Muprhy, at 3B, doubled and singled.

I miss me some Bobby Bradley.

Cleveland Indians’ Bobby Bradley Developing Into a Complete First Baseman

By Brian Crawford

Apr 12, 2015

The Cleveland Indians’ minor league system has started to take some positive steps forward in recent years. This upswing is largely in part to excellent drafting and development of talented young prospects who could easily climb the ladder quickly and become regulars at the major league level.

Using the same approach in last June’s draft, the Indians did an incredible job selecting and signing promising young prospects with one of them being first baseman Bobby Bradley. Picked in the 3rd round (97th overall) out of Harrison Central High School in Mississippi, an exciting moment that crept up on Bradley as he was more focused on his college commitment to LSU before draft day.

“Being drafted by the Cleveland Indians was a great overall experience,” said Bradley. “It was great knowing I was able to continue to do what I love which is play baseball every day.”

“At the time I was more focused on going to college. I wasn’t really focused on the draft until it was happening,” he added. “Then it happened and I was drafted by the Indians and I decided to go the professional route.”

Indians fans are happy Bradley chose to sign as he was definitely ready to take on a professional season at just 18-years old. Assigned to the Indians AZL affiliate last summer, Bradley showed baseball fans exactly why he was such a coveted prospect.

Showing the kind of production you want to see from a first baseman in 2014, Bradley batted .361 with 13 doubles, four triples, and eight home runs. The Mississippi native also drove in 50 runs, while scoring another 39.

Another promising sign was Bradley’s .426 OBP and .652 slugging percentage that he maintained on his way to being named an all-star, league MVP, and winning an AZL Triple Crown.

Focused on being more than just an excellent bat, Bradley spent a lot of his off-season sharpening his defensive drills at first base. Bradley understands the importance of excellent two way play when trying to climb the minor league ladder.

Bradley’s defensive ability was already respectable at the rookie-ball level as he committed just six errors in 301 chances last season, but he feels between the two sides of the game that is where he needed the most improvement and he hopes it shows throughout the 2015 season.

“My game at first base has gotten a lot better. It was an area I worked hard at this past off-season as well as spring training,” stated Bradley. “Defense is an important part of the game and I have put in the work to be better at every aspect of it. I really focused on my footwork throughout the off-season and spring training. I’m really happy with the results so far.”

Currently playing low-A baseball with the Lake County Captains of the Midwest League, Bradley has elevated his game quickly since his draft day. Just a month shy of turning 19-years old, Bradley has already been recognized as the Indians 9th best prospect by Baseball America.

Picking up three hits in his first 11 Midwest League at-bats, Bradley has continued to show the production he did in rookie-ball already hitting a home run and driving in two runs in his first full season weekend.

“I’m planning on doing the same things mechanically from last year to this year,” explained Bradley. “I’m hoping to find the same approach I had in the AZL. I’m hoping to find the same timing at the plate and hopefully it will transition to playing in the Midwest League.”

While his numbers implies that Bradley focuses a lot on his power he actually doesn’t at this stage of his minor league development. The young first baseman sees himself as more of a gap hitter that has the potential to turn into a big power guy later in his minor league career.

“I feel I have pretty good power right now. But I’m sticking more to hitting line drives up the middle of the field,” explained Bradley. “I feel my power will come later in my development. Right now I’m more focused on being a gap hitter.”

Be sure to follow Bobby Bradley as he continues to be an excellent first base option in the Cleveland Indians system for years to come.

he committed just six errors in 301 chances last season

So, is that actually a good tally for kid debuting at first base in the Arizona League?
I looked up similar big, power hitting, kind of clumsy looking 1st baseman in our system:

Nellie Rodriguez in his debut in Arizona made 5 errors in 242 chances; Jesus Aguilar in his debut season stateside made 10 errors in 472 chances at two levels.

Which means Bradley's debut was about the same as those two who are not necessarily role models we hope he matches.

Since their debuts:
Rodriguez 8 in 972 chances [1/120], 11 in 1112 [1/100], and remarkably 4 this spring already in 93 [1/23]
Aguillar 14 in 1087 [1/78], 4 in 1035 [1/260], back up to 14 in 1151 [1/80], back down to 4 in 669 [1/167]

Amazing repeat performance for Dylan Baker in 2015 as in 2014: Once again he pitches no hit ball on opening day. Once again he's on the DL before he can start a second game.

Captains completed yesterday's suspended game, winning 4-3. Loss the next game 4-1. Change hitting 250. Allen 270. Bradley out of the lineup.

Hillcats feature in their lineup: Frazier at 286, Hendrix [3b] 303, Zimmer 324, LuigiRodriguez 414
Ducks feature in their lineup: Gonzalez hitting 305, Wolters 214. Offense is led by 29 year old player coach Ollie Linton, batting something like 385. Bryson Myles, another DL fixture, is out again.
Top hitters for Columbus: Holt 250, Ramsey 229, Lindor 206, Moncrief 200. Would any of these guys be better than the miserable hitters in Tribe lineup?

joe, I just love Zimmer, you???

Some hitters are beginning to hit.

CLE AA Gonzalez, Erik SS 4 0 4 1 .262
CLE AAA Aguilar, Jesus 1B 4 1 2 1 .220 2B (2)
CLE AAA Lindor, Francisco SS 5 1 1 0 .211
CLE HiA Frazier, Clint CF 4 1 1 1 .283 2B (4)
CLE HiA Papi, Mike LF 4 0 1 0 .095 2B (2)
CLE HiA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 4 0 3 1 .184 2B (3)
CLE HiA Zimmer, Bradley RF 3 2 1 0 .325 SB (6)

Know any team that could use some help in the bullpen?
CLE AAA Adams, Austin 1 0 0 0 0 3 0.00

Everybody wins! Offenses come alive!

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20150421

5 run 7th for Clippers; 4 on Ramsey's grand slam, his 2nd homer. Lindor singled. Bruce Chen 6 innings 1 run no walks k: maybe a suitable replacement for House. Moncrief 0-4 3K; Armstrong might have done the same as Allen had the night before but he was pulled after allowing 3 runs in 1/3 inning; Austin Adams walked 2 but got the final 2 outs.

6-4 235 pound singles hitter Jordan Smith with a rare homer, and triple and single lead RDucks to 12-4 win. [the big RF has now equaled 1/2 of his 2014 long ball total]. Actual prospect Erik Gonzalez also homered and singled and is up to 271; Tony Wolters had 2 doubles among 3 hits and reached 243.

3rd straight find start by Cody Anderson: 6-5-2-1-1-6 1.47 ERA
Trey Haley flounders along, ERA at 6.75 after a 1 inning, 2 run evening.

For Lynchburg:
Adam Plutko also with fine start no. 3. 5-5-1-1-0-3 1.53 ERA. He and Anderson could each move up relatively soon.
Frazier 2 singles, 2 strikeouts. Nellie Rodriguez 2 walks. Eric Haase [C] singled, tripled, plated 3. Papi 3 game hitting streak. Luigi Rodriguez single and walk. But Zimmer hitless, fanned twice.

Finally, 5 runs for the Captains might be their season high. Greg Allen singled, walked, stole two [total is 5]; only starter hitting above 211.
Dace Kime like the other starters noted above is returning to the level he was at last year and pitched well, but not overpowering: 6-7-2-2-1-4 2.60

I got most of these on BA's list:

CLE AA Gonzalez, Erik SS 6 2 2 2 .271 HR (1), SB (3)
CLE AA Wolters, Tony C 5 1 3 2 .243 2 2B (2), BB (3), CS (1)
CLE AAA Lindor, Francisco SS 4 1 1 0 .214 2B (1)
CLE AAA Ramsey, James CF 2 1 1 4 .214 HR (2), 2 BB (2)
CLE HiA Frazier, Clint DH 4 1 2 1 .300
CLE HiA Papi, Mike LF 4 0 1 0 .109 SB (1)
CLE LoA Paulino, Dorssys LF 4 0 1 2 .122 BB (1)
[I forgot to mention that catcher Francisco Mejia went 0 for 5 and is hitting 121; BA neglected the bad news too]
CLE AA Anderson, Cody 6 5 2 1 1 6 1.47 W (1-1)
CLE AAA Adams, Austin 0.2 0 0 0 2 0 0 Sv (1)
CLE AAA Armstrong, Shawn 0.1 4 3 3 0 1 6.23
CLE HiA Plutko, Adam 5 5 1 1 0 3 1.53
CLE LoA Kime, Dace 6 7 2 2 1 4 2.60

Kyle Crockett is probably bored, wasting his time in Columbus when he's done nothing to warrant a demotion. Not getting a lot of work for the Clippers. Came on today and allowed 5 runs in an inning, which is not that many fewer runs than he's previously allowed in his professional career. [3 runs in 49 minor league innings before today; 6 in 32 major league innings]

Nick Maronde with a good start, the lefty's line: 5-7-1-1-1-9
Lindor 0-5 drops back below 200.
Ramsey and Aguillar each with a pair of walks and a single.

Zach Walters in his season debut lashes a triple and only strikes out twice in 4 ab.

@IndiansAccounts:
Current @LCCaptains RHP @jpfeyer20 still has yet to allow a run over his pro career.
(2014-15) - 20G 7SV 22IP 9H 0R 0ER 3BB 33SO #Indians

All of the Wednesday games:

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20150422

Shutout wins for Akron, 2-0, and Lynchburg, 9-0; big loss for Lake County, 16-3.

Only hit surrendered by the Ducks came in the 9th inning. Starter Shawn Morminado went 6 no-hit innings, walked 3 [that's his one constant problem], fanned 5. ERA is 1.15.

Mitch Brown with a good boune-back start for Hillcats. 6 shutout innings, 2 hits, 3 walks, 4K.
Frazier 2 hits, 2 rbi, batting 309. Zimmer hitless, 1 walk, 3 K. Luigi Rodriguez a single, 4 walks, a steal; OPS 1169. NellieRod single and walk. Mike Papi single and 2 walks [avg still only 122, but it's coming up; one hit in each of his last 5 games]

Amid all the offense surrendered, J.P. Feyereisen extends his career shutout string to 22 innings. Paulino had 2 hits, Chang 1 but made 2 errors.