Cleveland Sports Forum

Then there's


5



No. 5 Bo Naylor

AZL Indians C/3B

Notes:
Age: 18. B-T: L-R. Ht: 6-0. Wt: 195.
Drafted: HS—Mississauga, Ont., (1).



Naylor was the second member of his family to be picked in the draft’s first round, with brother Josh having been selected three years earlier by the Marlins.

Lefthanded power runs in the family, but the younger Naylor is more athletic with a chance of playing multiple positions. A natural hitter who has a combination of both hit and power, he gets good leverage in his swing and has excellent balance at the plate. He doesn’t expand the zone, hits to all fields and runs better than expected for his stout frame.

Behind the plate, Naylor’s arm is at least solid-average with some scouts grading it higher, helping him throw out 12 of 42 runners this summer. He receives the ball well but his feet and hands don’t always work well together. Naylor has the skills to be at least a solid-average catcher.

2018 Stats
.274/.381/.402
117 AB, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 21 BB, 28 SO

and although the pitchers didn't put up such gaudy numbers, there's

No. 11

Carlos Vargas AZL Indians RHP

Notes:
Age: 18. B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-3. Wt: 180. Signed: Dominican Republic, 2016.

One of the more notable high-risk/high-reward players on this list, Vargas made his pro debut in Arizona after sitting out 2017 with an elbow strain. The right-hander with a lightning fast arm regularly touched into the high 90s this summer with periodic reports of triple digit velos. Equally impressive was Vargas' hard slider with depth at 92-93 mph. Like the rest of his repertoire the slider is inconsistent, but when he commands the pitch it's been a plus and sometimes a plus-plus offering.

Vargas doesn't yet have a lot of feel for the changeup and his infrequently used curveball is a below-average pitch now. He's athletic and has a projectable frame, so it's not hard to envision Vargas as a big league starter or closer if he can improve his release point and get the delivery more repeatable.

2018 Stats
1-2, 3.93 ERA
34.1 IP, 33 H, 24 BB, 41 SO

and

No. 13

Tahnaj Thomas AZL Indians RHP

Notes:
Age: 19. B-T: R-R. Ht: 6-4. Wt: 190. Signed: Bahamas, 2016.



Thomas was an infielder with scant pitching experience when the Indians signed him for $200,000 in 2016, so the extremely athletic righthander is still understandably very raw on the mound. But Thomas' inexperience didn't keep Arizona League observers from being wowed by the potential and aptitude for his craft, even though his season got off to a late start due to visa issues that kept him back in the Bahamas for the first month of the season.

Thomas touched 94 this year with his heavy fastball, and there should be more velocity in the tank as he matures. The arm works well and he has good feel to spin his breaking ball, with his max effort delivery keeping hitters off-balance. Thomas needs to better repeat his mechanics to improve the command, but there's a lot to like about the kid.

"You see the big arm, you see the breaking ball, and then you see the length in the body plus the youthfulness and the fresh arm because he hasn't thrown that much in his whole life," Indians manager Larry Day said. "There's certainly plenty to be excited about."

2018 Stats
0-0, 4.58 ERA
19.2 IP, 13 H, 10 BB, 27 SO

And that's not all, these 2 might have been No,. 1 and No. 2 themselves


Cleveland’s Lenny Torres came up just short of qualifying for the list when his last scheduled regular season start was scratched so that he could instead pitch in the playoffs; scouts covering the league concurred that the 17-year-old righthander was the league’s best pitching prospect. George Valera, another premier Indians prospect who likely would have ranked among the league’s top prospects, missed most of the season due to a broken hamate.

a little more on Valera from the chat:

Valera, one of the gems of the Indians 2017 international class, got into only six AZL games before a hamate injury prematurely ended his pro debut season. As I mentioned in the league overview, some observers believe he would have ranked as the top prospect. He's a natural hitter with a good chance to stay in center field. For more background on George, check out the article I wrote on him in extended spring training --- https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... o-his-own/

and one more guy who caught out eye this summer

I'm curious in particular about ... high school player who missed the list, Raynel Delgado.... It seems to me that Delgado at least would have made the 20 in a more typical year—actually I still thought he'd make it this year. Am I wrong? What did observers think of these two?

Bill Mitchell: , thanks for a great question that I'll expound on at length here. I believe that the league was deeper in quality prospects this year mostly because of the increase in the number of teams. The quality wasn't as high as in 2017, when we had names like Gore, Adell, Ramos and Hiura at the top of the list, and certainly not as rich as the benchmark 2012 season (Addison Russell, Albert Almora, Joey Gallo, Jorge Soler, Matt Olson, Nomar Mazara, etc.). But, yes, it was deep this year. As for Indians infielder Raynel Delgado, he was in the discussion, more of a sound baseball player with some feel to hit and ability to move around the infield.

So a very deep list of prospects, Hard to Make the List, and our guys are all over it. Which means that the 2024 Indians should be rich in top prospects.

[And when you look at the league stats, you find all sorts of other Indians including league HR champ LF Miguel Jerez and his runner up OF Billy Wilson; catcher Yainer Diez the league's No. 2 hitter by average, and more]

Throw in Evan Hankins, our 2nd pick of the draft; Richie Palacios a college kid IF who moved up as far as Lake County, Nick Sandlin reliever who wound up all way up to AKron, Adam Scott reliever who reached Lake County; SS Marcos Gonzalez and SS Aaron Bracho and this winter's top 30 will be full of new names many of whom have been high and far in the future ceilings.

I was looking forward to a draft that concentrated on pitching since the farm system has been getting thinner in that department over the past few years. Now we're jam packed with well regarded teenager pitchers. My one overriding question about all the guys BA has rated highly lately is how do you pronounce the first name of Tahnaj Thomas?

AFL report:
Jared Robinson absorbed the brunt of the damage in Glendale's loss to Mesa, allowing four runs on four hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings. He struck out two batters in his first AFL appearance of 2018. Right-fielder Connor Marabell went 1-for-4, and catcher Li-Jen Chu hit a pinch-hit double in the eighth.

anyone found instructional league info? I can get rosters for lots of teams but not Indians

Marabell 0=4 today. Chang 1-4. Siri 1 inning, only mark a win. Their Glendale team now stands 0-6

Hard to understand why everyone isn't congregating here studying all the very highly regarded bottom of the farm system prospects we've accumulated in the past year or two. The future is soon. Or later.

If they make it to AA, I start paying attention ....even if it's only name recognition.

However, I'm grateful to you guys that dig and post all the info you find about Tribe organization players.

When I find kids of talent at the start of their careers I become a special fan when [i.e. IF] they do get up to AA or beyond. Of course the overwhelming share of the guys I start excited about wither on the vine,