Civ, you get to see your buddy, Yannuzzi, live now!

Scrappers were getting thin on pitching with Oviedo and Scott promoted and Royalty is out with a "undisclosed illness"
Yeff should move into the rotation.

Sunday lines:

CLE AA Krieger, Tyler LF 4 0 1 0 .262
CLE AA Mathias, Mark 2B 3 1 2 1 .221 HR (7)
CLE AAA Allen, Greg LF 4 2 2 0 .287
CLE AAA Bradley, Bobby 1B 5 1 2 1 .333 2B (1) nice AAA start
CLE AAA Chang, Yu SS 3 0 1 2 .256 BB (38)
CLE AAA Haase, Eric C 4 0 0 0 .237
CLE AAA Mercado, Oscar CF 4 0 1 0 .154 2B (1)
CLE HiA Collins, Gavin C 3 0 0 0 .220 BB (12)
CLE HiA Jones, Nolan 3B 4 0 0 0 .182
CLE LoA Benson, Will PR-DH 0 1 0 0 .160
CLE LoA Gonzalez, Oscar RF 5 0 3 0 .282 2B (18), SB (5)
CLE R Gonzalez, Marcos SS 4 2 1 0 .328 BB (8)
CLE R Rodriguez, Johnathan RF 5 1 1 2 .276 2B (7)
CLE SS Freeman, Tyler PR 0 0 0 0 .385
CLE AA McKenzie, Triston 5.1 5 3 3 2 5 2.96 L (6-3)
CLE HiA Morgan, Eli 0.2 5 6 6 1 2 3.93 L (6-5)
CLE MAJ Bieber, Shane 5.2 7 2 2 1 7 4.58 W (6-2)

Our Arizona catchers:

Naylor age 18, 1st round pick: 317/408/483 10 BB 12 K 2 homers
Y. Diaz age 19 International signing; 408/435/573 5 walks 13 K 1 homers
B. Lavastida age 19, 15th round: 337/463/413 15 walks 11 K 0 homers
Eric Rodrigues age 20, 21st round: 231/322/385 7 walks 13 K 2 homers

Who needs Francisco Mejia?

Not to mention Idrogo and Planchart in DSL. They are both 17.

And Eric Haase of course. (Who should be on major league team now instead of Perez's worthless arse)

copied here from a post [not mine] in Articles:

7: When the Indians drafted Nolan Jones in the second round of the 2016 draft, he was rated as one of the best pure prep hitters in the class. The question was about his power. As I wrote last week, teams ought to value hit tools over power tools when evaluating prospects in this era when launch angle and power have shown to be capable of being taught. Then-Indians director of amateur scouting Brad Grant was optimistic, saying after the 2016 draft he believed Jones would hit for power. Well, Jones has begun to do just that. A two-homer game last week pushed his total at Low-A Lake County to 16 and earned him a promotion to High A, where he promptly swatted a three-run homer.

He’s posted excellent walk rates to date in his minor-league career, 16 percent, in short-season ball last summer and 16 percent in Lake County. He’s improved from hitting 2.2 ground balls per fly ball in his first exposures to pro pitching in 2016 and 2017, to 1.6 this season. He’s getting the ball in the air more often, and his HR/FB ratio has spiked to 25 percent this year, an elite mark for a 20-year-old. His sweet left-handed swing is one to watch. It’s not a stretch to think he has the most offensive potential in the system.

CF Oscar Mercado

Current Team: Columbus Clippers (Class-AAA International League, Indians)

B/T: R/R HT/WT: 6-2, 175 DOB: Dec. 16, 1994

Season Stats: 382 AB, .285/.351/.408, 8 HR, 21 2B, 1 3B, 36 BB, 64 K

The trade: Cardinals trade CF Oscar Mercado to the Cleveland Indians for OF Conner Capel and OF Jhon Torres

The deal that sent Oscar Mercado to Cleveland wasn’t your typical July deadline move. All three of the players involved were prospects, and the trade was more about addressing the future depth needs of both organizations than filling a present-day concern.

That said, Mercado could factor into the Indians’ plans as soon as September. The speedy center fielder brings tools that may be useful off the bench for Cleveland in a pennant run and should help him carve out a role with the Indians in the next few years.

Mercado began his professional career in 2013 as a second-round pick of the Cardinals out of Gaither High School in Tampa. Originally a shortstop, Mercado spent his first three seasons in the infield before switching to center field midway through the 2016 season. Before making the move from shortstop to center field, Mercado was known more as a glove-first prospect. Since becoming an outfielder, his bat has progressed along with his glove.

In 2017, Mercado had a breakout season with Class-AA Springfield. In 120 games, he hit .287 with a .341 OBP and 38 stolen bases. Mercado also impressed with his range and arm strength in center.

He moved up to Class-AAA Memphis this season and has continued to show growth with his bat while also improving on his success stealing bases (he was 38 of 57 in 2017 and is 31 of 39 so far this year).

Mercado profiles as a top-of-the-order hitter. He controls the strike zone well at the plate and has good bat-to-ball skills. He should be able to hit for average and get on base at a decent rate in the big leagues. He isn’t a power hitter, but he has flashed occasional pop and could run into a few seasons of double-digit home runs in the big leagues. His speed is his standout tool and it allows him to be disruptive on the basepaths and cover a lot of ground in center field.

The Indians’ outfield will be undergoing a “changing of the guard” this offseason, with several veterans expected to leave. Mercado should compete for a starting spot with Cleveland next spring and could be a valuable bench player for them as soon as when rosters expand in September.

Mercado profiles as a top-of-the-order hitter

he doesnt' walk enough to be a top of the order hitter. Especially on our team with Lindor holding down the leadoff spot.
Last year in AA he walked 32 times and struck out 112.
he's done better this year with 38 walks and 69 strikeouts, but that looks to me like a number 9 hitter in the American League, as a "second leadoff" man so his speed will play up when Lindor and Ramirez hit behind him at the actual top of order.

Agree on this team especially it's not top of the order stuff. Maybe back in the old days.

Freeman made MLB Pipeline prospect team of the week.

Top notch pitching by several guys in their first games at higher levels:

Luis Oviedo in Lake County 5 2 0 0 4 4 19 year old 6-4 190 RHP
Yefferson Yannuzzi for Mah Valley 5 3 1 3 4 21 year old 6-2 175 LHP
Sergio Morillo in US debut for AZ-2 5 6 1 0 1 2 18 year old 6-3 190 RHP
not his debut Ignacio Feliz 4 2 1 1 3 10 18 year old 6-1 180 RHP season total 38 IP 11 BB 46 K 2.13 ERA in Arizona

Lots of great hitting as usual in Arizona, including the long-awaited first professional Homer along with a double by Johnathan Rodriguez
Also:
2 hits for Rocchio
2 hits for G. Turner
2 hits for league-leader Y. Diaz avg at 411
9 th homer for league leader Brian Wilson and 12th steal
double and walk for Naylor
single double 3 rbi for M. Gonzalez
2 singles and a walk for Ruben Cardenas [his walks far exceed his K, but no HR for the LF]
2 singles and his 9th homer for co=league leader Miguel Jerez
2 hits for Michael Coooer

BA's take on Monday games includes a lead paragraph on one of our not terribly successful top picks:

Will Benson, OF, Indians. Benson had drawn plenty of walks and hit his 17th home run yesterday, pulling himself into second in the Midwest League in home runs. The bad news for Benson and the Indians is that he's also hitting .162.

CLE HiA Jones, Nolan 3B 4 1 1 0 .200
CLE LoA Benson, Will RF 3 1 1 1 .162 HR (17), BB (67), SB (7)
CLE MAJ Gonzalez, Erik PR-3B 1 1 0 0 .307
CLE R Gonzalez, Marcos SS 5 1 2 3 .333 2B (2), BB (9)
CLE R Naylor, Noah DH 3 1 1 0 .317 2B (3), BB (11)
CLE R Rodriguez, Johnathan RF 5 1 2 2 .281 2B (8), HR (1)
CLE SS Freeman, Tyler SS 4 1 1 0 .382 2B (18), SB (8)
[SD AAA Mejia, Francisco C 3 1 1 0 .378 2 BB (5) remember him?]
STL HiA Capel, Conner CF 4 0 1 0 .300 2B (1) or him?]
CLE LoA Oviedo, Luis 5.0 2 0 0 4 4 0.00 W (1-0)

They say he has a great arm. Covert him to a pitcher.

here's a somewhat interesting pair of stats:

in his last two games with Columbus, home run slugger Bobby Bradley has demonstrated some non-xb hitting prowess, with 4 singles.
Meanwhile in his last 37 games dating back to June 18 Will Benson has accumulated 4 singles. [also 1 double, 1 triple and 6 home runs[

BA prospects chat, here's one I would have asked:

Devin (Columbus): How close was Nolan Jones to making the top100?

Ben Badler: Not necessarily in the next-up group, but he’s in the broader discussion for it. Although among Indians prospects, I’d have George Valera up ahead of him. [based only his work in the Dominican, and his one week in Arizona]