Cleveland Sports Forum

Karinchak had a 3 strikeout inning. We' should see as a ST Invitee in February

Akron fighting for the playoff lives tonight. Zach Plesac on the rubber.

Baseball American announces minor league all star teams. To start with, an all-league-all-star team and since none of our players were all that spectacular none of ours make the first team. Nolan Jones should make all star for his league and possibly for all Low A teams. Tyler Freeman deserves all star if not league MVP in the NYPL. None of our pitchers were all that great. If they include Rookie level in these lists we have lots of kids who hit the ball very well.

One ex-Indians player is a first team all star:

SP Justus Sheffield | Yankees
Triple-A Scranton W-B (International)

The 2014 first-round pick keeps getting better every year and now is on the brink of the majors. Sheffield climbed from Double-A to Triple-A this season and dominated the highest levels of the minors, allowing one earned run or fewer in 14 of his 20 starts. Above all else, he proved incredibly difficult to square up. Sheffield allowed just four home runs all season, and his .195 opponent average ranked eighth in the minors overall.

AAA All-Stars: Obviously none of ours, Not even Mejia
AA All-Stars: Obviously none of ours, since McKenzie pitched only half a season and Bieber buzzed through in a month
High A All-Stars: Obviously none of ours; who did you expect, Mitch Longo?
Low A All Stars: Nope Jones loses out to a kid with a 910 OPS and perhaps fewer errors, too
Short Season A All Stars: We did great here: Tyler Freeman is All Star shortstop and LUIS OVIEDO is classification Pitcher of the Year: Looks like he'll be our Top 5 prospects this winter
Rookie Level All Stars: we're cheated on this list, although it is kind of hard to argue against a 2B with an OPS of 999, a SS at 1005, or a 3B of 1107 all of whom are teenagers.
None of our guys on the Dominican League All Star team either.

League all star teams are not posted where I looked but are probably out there

Ran across this:

Luis Oviedo, RHP Cleveland | Age: 19 | 5-2, 57 IP, 2.05 ERA, 2.76 FIP, 0.98 WHIP, 29.9% K%, 7.6% Bb%, .189 BAA

Possibly one of my favorite breakouts of the short season portion of 2018. Armed with a four pitch mix that features a mid-90s sinking fastball, two breaking balls, and a changeup he’s shown feel for. At 6’4 180 lbs, he has the build to be an innings eater in the future. It’s a matter of improving his breaking stuff, and staying healthy. Oviedo’s season ended after sustaining a back injury following his second Midwest League start.

Yes, it looks Oviedo leaps up to the upper reaches of our prospect list. Among pitchers McKenzie is no. 1. Oviedo will join Hankins and Torres this year's draft picks and Hentges as the top prospects.

Minorleagueball is looking for informed opinions on the tribe (which leaves me out).

https://www.minorleagueball.com/2018/9/ ... ns-edition

MINOR LEAGUE BALL COMMUNITY DISCUSSIONS
You’re the GM! Cleveland Indians edition
1
How long can you stay in first place?
By John Sickels@MinorLeagueBall Sep 17, 2018, 11:30am EDT
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Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Continuing our Minor League Ball Community discussion series on the clubs of the American League Central, let’s roll into Cleveland with some talk about the Indians.

****You woke up today as GM of the Indians, 83-66 in first place in the AL Central, 15 games ahead of the second-place Twins.

****That’s a good place to be and part of your success is built on young stars Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. You’re on top now, but how do you stay that way?

****Which of the other Central teams is the greatest threat to you in 2019? 2021?

****Is your farm system robust enough to sustain success in the near future?

MORE FROM MINOR LEAGUE BALL

BA begins the post season wrapups:
We tabbed the best performers in each of the 30 organizations. See the best position player, best pitcher and one prospect to keep an eye on next season

BEST PLAYER

Third baseman Nolan Jones hit his way to high Class A Lynchburg in 2018 after finishing last season in the short-season New York-Penn League.
The 2016 second-round pick out of high school in Philadelphia the year at low Class A Lake County and hit .279/.393/464 with 16 home runs and 49 RBIs in 90 games. That earned the 20-year-old lefthanded hitter a promotion to the Carolina League, where he continued to hit. In 30 games he hit .298 (31-for-104) with three homers. Defensively at third base, Jones has a strong arm and has worked with infield instructor Travis Fryman to make great strides with his glove work. [which I guess means all the errors are not a major concern]

BEST PITCHER

Righthander Triston McKenzie got off to a late start in 2018 because of an injury. But once he returned to the mound, the 21-year-old confirmed his status as the Indians’ top pitching prospect. He might be the system's top prospect overall following the midseason trade of catcher Francisco Mejia to the Padres.
A forearm strain delayed McKenzie’s 2018 debut at Double-A Akron until June 7. He came out strong in that game, pitching five scoreless innings on one hit, and he pitched at or near that level in each successive start. Through 16 starts he went 7-4, 2.68 while striking out 87 in 90.2 innings while allowing just 63 hits.


KEEP AN EYE ON

Shortstop Tyler Freeman has had no trouble transitioning his hit tool to pro ball. At short-season Mahoning Valley this season, the 2017 supplemental second-rounder out of high school in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., has been one of the New York-Penn League's top performers. In 72 games, the 19-year-old Freeman hit .352/.405/.511 with two home runs and 14 stolen bases. He led the NYPL in average, hits (95) and doubles (29).
"Tyler had made a smooth transition from high school to pro ball,” Indians farm director James Harris said. "He has a mature approach to the game and has adapted to pro pitching very quickly. He gives competitive at-bats and is a leader defensively. There is a lot to like about this young man.”

Would have expected Oviedo in that "keep an eye on" category but there's no complaining about Freeman's terrific year against mostly older pitchers. haven't seen if he won league MVP although it would be likely.

Looking at the NYPL website, I find an award that they used to give to the "player expected to go furthest in professional baseball"
Some winners include:
Don Zimmer
Gary Geiger [one of ours]
Steve Blass
Cito Gaston
ROBIN YOUNT
Dave Bergman
Larry Sorensen
Dale Berra
Wally Backman
Tim Jorgensen
Wilson Betemit
Curtis Granderson
and lots of guys who never got close

But they stopped the award 15 years ago

Indians outfielder/first baseman Miguel Jerez has been named Arizona League MVP and headlines the Rookie-level circuit's group of end-of-season All-Stars.

Jerez leads the AZL with 14 homers, 101 total bases, a .577 slugging percentage and .303 isolated slugging percentage over 48 games with Indians 1, one of two Cleveland affiliates in the circuit. He also ranked second with a .937 OPS and third with a 154 wRC+ over 200 plate appearances. The Dominican Republic native was one of only two AZL sluggers to reach double-digits in home runs. This came after the right-handed slugger produced just one long ball over 30 games in the same circuit last season. He also moved from being a full-time catcher in 2017 to splitting his time between first base and left field this year.

in the same circuit last season. He also moved from being a full-time catcher in 2017 to splitting his time between first base and left field this year.

Also on the AZL All-Stars:

c Yainer Diaz age 19 355/387/503
of Ruben Cardenas age 20 300/397/446 finished at Mah Valley 385/556/538 No homers at either level, but a lot of doubles and walks. HR in the playoffs
ss Brayan Rocchio [tied] age 17 321/391/434

Jerez: age 20
Cardenas: age 20 finished with a week or two with the Scrappers, hit 333 there
Diaz age 19
Rocchio age 17

BA's underway with their league top 20s. Pacific Coast starts the routine today. I suppose the IL will be tomorrow but there's no posted schedule.
Our guys are unlikely to fill many places in the higher levels.

Mejia will certainly make the list for his work with the Clippers, but he's of course not ours.
Bradley and Chang had their moments.

McKenzie's half season should get pretty good attention in the Easter League. The only other possible contender I think would be Willi Castro and his stats were not all that great and he's no longer ours anymore anyway. Not likely that a reliever will make the list, but Martinez was pretty good in the Akron pen.

Karinchak likewise was a top quality reliver for Lynchburg but doubt that will qualify him. Perhaps the best positon prospect again was traded away, Connor Capel. Sam Hentges has a good shot to rate in the top 20. He's been getting good press most of the season.

Bieber missed a chance to be highly rated prospect by sweeping so quickly through the minors. But I think he and the team are much happier this way.