Cleveland Sports Forum

No he's not on the roster, didn't think so. I see that Murata still is. that's a spot that can be freed up anytime they need to add an actual player.

That list is as good as any, Civ. I must admit it hurts my heart to not see Allen or Papi, but as good a guess as anybody tho.

I think the DL move just stops the FA clock from ticking.

I ought to squeeze Papi in my list at about 7.5 I'd guess. But not Naquin or Ramsay or Moncrief, our AAA/AA OF's look rather like a collective bust to me.

Here's the BA list. It looks kind of like what we saw before the guys started playing badly.

MIDSEASON TOP 10

1. Bradley Zimmer, of

The Indians’ top pick a year ago, Zimmer has made a quick transition to professional ball, earning a spot on both the Carolina League all-star team and the U.S. roster at the Futures Game. He’s split time with Clint Frazier in center field and right field at high Class A Lynchburg and has all the tools necessary to remain in center field in the long run. Zimmer has also shown off the power-speed combination scouts saw from him in college, along with a smooth lefthanded swing and patient approach at the plate.




2. Clint Frazier, of

As he’s advanced to Lynchburg as a 20-year-old this season, Frazier has cut his strikeout rate a bit while keeping his walk and home run rates steady. After primarily playing center field last season, he’s now splitting time with Zimmer between center and right.
[they like him WAY more than HB does. I think its way too early to write him off. Only 20, holding his own]

3. Tyler Naquin, of

After missing the second half of last season due to a hand injury, Naquin opened this season on the disabled list with a quad injury. He hit well after his return in late April and earned a promotion to Triple-A Columbus. Naquin’s ceiling isn’t as high as Zimmer’s or Frazier’s, but he’s closing in on the big leagues, where he can be an everyday center fielder.

[they like him WAY more than I do. He's a fine fielder who has little offense on display]

4. Justus Sheffield, lhp

The Indians’ second first-rounder last year has acquitted himself well as a 19-year-old in the Midwest League, where he was the second-youngest pitcher on Opening Day. His four-pitch mix helped him compile a 70-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 61 innings in the first half.


5. Bobby Bradley, 1b

A third-round pick last June, Bradley won the triple crown in the Rookie-level Arizona League last year. He’s continued to hit for power (ranking second in the Midwest League thus far in homers) and was the MWL’s third-youngest player on Opening Day.
[has kind of fallen apart in June and has fielding is atrocious]

6. Francisco Mejia, c

Despite a decline in several offensive statistics this season for low Class A Lake County, Mejia’s peripheral numbers remain largely unchanged and his raw tools remain as exciting as ever. He is one of three teenagers serving as his team’s everyday catcher in the Midwest League.
[I like him, too.]

7. Erik Gonzalez, ss

As he continues to follow Francisco Lindor up the ladder, Gonzalez was promoted to Columbus in late June, following Lindor’s move to the big leagues. Gonzalez made 17 errors with Akron this season, but the Indians continue to believe in his ability to play shortstop at a high level defensively.
[not much offense yet in Columbus, but he's pretty decent]

8. Adam Plutko, rhp

Even without premium velocity, Plutko has found success everywhere he’s gone thanks to his exceptional control and pitchability. He earned a promotion to Akron this season and has shown that combination is still enough to get outs even against more experienced hitters.
[could succeed as back of rotation big league starter]


9. James Ramsey, of

The Indians have used Ramsey in all three outfield positions since acquiring him from St. Louis a year ago. He’s had a tough season at the plate so far at Triple-A, but still should soon be able to help the Tribe, at least as a fourth outfielder.
[ever the optimists...]

10. Yu-Cheng Chang, ss

While Chang hasn’t matched the production of Sheffield and Bradley, he too has held his own as a 19-year old in the Midwest League. He’s played well at shortstop and produced a .138 ISO in the first half.
[would like to see someone on this list who actually is doing something positive this year]

Rising

Lefthander Ryan Merritt put himself on the radar last year by leading the Carolina League in several categories, including wins, WHIP and innings pitched. He’s built on that performance this season while advancing to Akron. Through the first three months of the season, Merritt had managed to cut his walk rate by a third from last season and was averaging 0.9 walks per nine innings. Though he still lacks a true out pitch, his success against more experienced hitters is encouraging.
[numbers have not been very good-looking to me. Few strikeouts]

Falling

Outfielder Mike Papi had an excellent college career at Virginia, winning the ACC batting title as a sophomore with a .381 average and tying for the league’s home run lead as a junior with 11. He hasn’t been able to carry that success into his first full professional season, however, and he hit .213/.368/.282 with no home runs in the first half for Lynchburg. He had surgery last September to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and is still working to recover his power.
[coming on strong]

Hurting

After missing much of last season due to a broken ankle, Dylan Baker is out again this year. He had Tommy John surgery in May, but the Indians remain excited about his stuff and potential.


Graduating

In addition to Anderson, Lindor and Urshela, righthander Austin Adams and catcher Roberto Perez have graduated to the big leagues. Perez served as the starter early in the season when Yan Gomes was on the disabled list.


Coming Aboard

The Indians’ first five picks in the 2015 draft

1. Brady Aiken, lhp, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla. The top-ranked player in the 2014 draft class, Aiken became the first No. 1 overall pick in more than 30 years not to sign and had Tommy John surgery this spring, but when he’s healthy, he has electric stuff with three potential plus pitches.

1s. Triston McKenzie, rhp, Royal Palm Beach (Fla.) HS. As a player who was young for the draft class with a long, lean frame and three pitches with above-average to plus potential, McKenzie gives scouts plenty to dream on.

2. Juan Hillman, lhp, Olympia HS, Orlando. Another young, projectable Florida prep pitcher, Hillman has three potentially above-average pitches at his best, but is still learning on the mound.

3. Mark Mathias, 2b, Cal Poly. After having labrum surgery in December, Mathias hit well after his return. He profiles well at second if he can handle it defensively. [not doing much yet, but its awfully early]

4. Tyler Krieger, ss/2b, Clemson. Also limited this spring following labrum surgery last year, Krieger has an excellent feel for hitting from both sides of the plate. His arm strength has not returned to its earlier strength. [out on DL to debut as pro]


2018 PROJECTED LINEUP

C: Yan Gomes
1B: Bobby Bradley
2B: Jason Kipnis
3B: Giovanny Urshela
SS: Francisco Lindor
LF: Michael Brantley
CF: Bradley Zimmer
RF: Clint Frazier
DH: Carlos Santana
[a lineup without Swisher, Bourn, etc. looks better just for their absence]


No. 1: Corey Kluber
No. 2: Trevor Bauer
No. 3: Carlos Carrasco
No. 4: Danny Salazar
No. 5: Cody Anderson
[familiar list]

What a top 10: Chang, Mejia, Ramsay, Naquin, Bradley all hitting below 250. At least Bradley has power; Chang and Mejia are 19 in full season. Ramsay would probably have trouble making my Top 20.

on reflection that BA top 10 is about as lazy a job of updating the list as I could imagine. They just moved everyone up a spot or two; the only player who dropped was Papi and it's looking like he's back on his course, wherever that course leads. Even the "most improved" to Ryan Merritt is kind of bizarre since he made his improvement last summer and has been particularly impressive for Akron. Most improved ought to be one of the Rodriguezes or Allen or Clevinger. Of course Ingraham listed AA reliever Josh Martin as the biggest step up and he's a real nobody.

Overall the farm system remains pretty bad.

Zimmer with his first AA walk in his 2nd ab. Morimando with 3 no hit innings.

Frazier clubs his 9th homer; Papi his 25th double.

Bradley single and hbp in 2 attempts; Greg Allen 2 k.

Absence of talent continues to plague Scrappers. Tom and Mathias both draw walks. Nice work so far by Casey Shane 6-4 200 19 year old RH has allowed 1 earned run in 4 2/3 and has 7K

One of my favorites, Silento Sayles, is making some modest offensive waves for Mahoning Valley, even hit his pro homer recently. Some comments in today's Youngstown newspaper coverage of a rare Scrapper win, includes:

Since being called up from the Arizona League in late June, Sayles has provided a lift for an otherwise inconsistent Scrappers offense. Sayles has appeared in 15 games, and is batting .271 with 11 RBIs and four stolen bases. On Tuesday, the 20-year-old belted his first home run of his professional career.

Sayles’ ability to serve as an offensive spark plug has been a part of his game throughout his baseball career. In his senior year of high school in 2013, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound right-handed hitter earned all-state honors with a .541 average. And with his legs, Sayles garnered national attention. During his senior season, Sayles set a national high school single-season record with 103 stolen bases. He averaged more than three steals per game, and was caught stealing just once.

Heading into his final game, Sayles had 94 swipes, which at the time was the national mark. He stole seven bases in the game. “What’s funny is that I had no idea about any records or even how many stolen bases I had,” Sayles said. “I had scouts asking me the numbers, and I didn’t know what to tell them. It wasn’t until my final game when everyone made such a deal of it that I realized what I had accomplished.

”Less than a month after graduating from Port Gibson High School, the Vicksburg, Miss., native was hosting a backyard cookout when his dad informed him that he was a 14th-round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians. “Unreal, it was just a dream come true, and I remember just standing there thinking, ‘This is really happening,’” Sayles said. Sayles spent two summers in Arizona before moving up to Mahoning Valley this summer. He has four steals to his credit since joining the Scrappers. He says he’s not the fastest player on the team, but that doesn’t deter him from attempting to cause havoc on the base paths.

“I’d say that steals are fifty percent speed and fifty percent knowing the game,” Sayles said. “You have to study the pitcher, you have to know everything that’s going on around you. Baseball is as much a mental game as a physical game.”In that regard, Scrappers manager Travis Fryman believes Sayles’ potential to move up the ladder is bright.

“Silento works at his game as hard as anyone, and his thirst for knowledge is off the charts,” Fryman said. “He is a true student of the game. He’s always asking questions, he’s always seeking ways to improve his game.”As for that one caught stealing in high school which cost him a perfect season on the base paths?“

I wasn’t mentally in the game, which proves the importance of being alert at all times,” Sayles said. “I wish I had that moment back.” -

July 17 games:

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20150716

Nearly everyone other than Naquin with a pair of hits in Columbus win. Murata 7 shutout innings.

Zimmer doubles in Akron win. Morimando 6 2/3--4--1--1--2--6 3.34

Frazier 2 singles and homer and steal. Papi 2B. New Hillcat Paulino single and walk. Feyereisen loses the game: 1 1/3--3--2--2--1--2

3 hits by Francisco Mejia; single and triple for Chang; single and double for Bradley; ditto for Santander plus a walk.

Casey Shane 5 2/3--3--2--1--2--7. Despite the game feature on Sayles, he went hitless in 3 tries.

Jose Medina, OF, with a 4 hit day in Arizona, includes a double and a triple.

The dolans have sown what they have seeded. I used to be a minor league fanatic and travelled to games in Trenton New Britain(when I lived in New YorK) Erie Pa and other places, I couldnt name any of our minor leaguers now. Oh for the days of Russel Branyan and CC Big Rear Sabathia.

defensively is either good enough?

Nellie Rodriguez 10 errors in 82 games, Range Factor: 8.73
Bobby Bradley 12 errors in 58 games, Range Factor: 9.14

By comparison, Aguilar made 14 errors in 128 games when at Akron a couple years ago; this season 0 in 65 games.
Maybe the younger guys will get better with experience, too.

BA insists Ryan Merritt is a prospect. He makes their Hot Sheet. I'm hard=-pressed to expect anything more of this soft-tossing lefty than what we've experienced from Jason Jacome, Jeremy Stowers, Aaron Laffey, etc, etc. But from Ryan's perspective that would mean time in the majors and that will mean some good money and stories to tell his grandchildren.

15. Ryan Merritt, lhp, Indians3ds_indians83

Team: Double-A Akron (Eastern)
Age: 23
Why He’s Here: 1-0, 0.00, 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 SO, 1 BB

The Scoop: When a pitcher strikes out a below-average 5.3 batters per nine innings, as Merritt has at Akron this season, and still has nearly a 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, he can rightly be classified as a control specialist. Merritt put his best foot forward this week, tossing a seven-inning no-hitter at home against Reading, facing only one batter over the minimum—courtesy of one walk. His walk rate of 1.0 per nine ranks among the Eastern League’s finest.

Elliot (Youngstown OH): I was struck by the number of the Indians Top 10 prospects in the midseason report who are hitting below 250 [6 of them!]. Does BA have any love for the 2 Rodriguezes [OF Luigi and 1B Nellie] who are putting up much fancier number at Lynchburg?

Matt Eddy: Lynchburg 1B Nellie Rodriguez really stands out for his power in a tough hitting environment, and he's about as exciting as a RH hitting first-base prospect at the lower levels can be. That's not really a slight as much as it is that he's going to have to prove his bat is real at each level. Who knows? Maybe he's up to the task when previous Indians farmhands Matt LaPorta and Jesus Aguilar were not.

Zimmer with an RBI single and a homer for the Ducks tonight.

I'm sure it's because I wore my Ducks hat while running errands today.