BA Q/A

Roger (Greenville, SC): Let's compare 2 pitchers that just debuted. Sonny Gray vs Danny Salazar - Who has the higher upside, and who is closer to reaching it?


Matt Eddy: Indians RHP Danny Salazar might have the higher ceiling based on two plus pitches (and he might the answer to the trivia question: where does Cleveland's next impact arm come from?), but he's been performing at this level for only a year (roughly). Athletics RHP Sonny Gray, on the other hand, has a much longer track record and has never had his elbow reconstructed. For those reasons, I think most would agree that Gray is a much higher-probability play.

Lindor to Akron

Finally!

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Shortstop Francisco Lindor is coming to Akron.

Lindor, who entered the season as the No. 1 prospect in the Indians' system according to MLB.com and No. 2 according to Baseball America, has been promoted from advanced-Class A Carolina to Class AA Akron.

Lindor, 19, is hitting .306 in 83 games for the Mudcats. He is expected to debut with the Aeros on Monday night or Tuesday night against Erie at Canal Park.

"Francisco's had an outstanding season in Carolina and shown the ability to make adjustments,'' Indians assistant farm director Carter Hawkins said late Friday night. "We felt it was time for him to accept the next challenge.''

Hawkins said whether Lindor plays Monday will depend on how his travel goes from New York City, where he is participating in the All-Star Futures Game on Sunday at Citi Field.

"He definitely will be in the lineup by Tuesday,'' Hawkins said.

The Aeros wrap a three-game series against the SeaWolves on Wednesday afternoon before a trip to Harrisburg and Bowie.

The Indians made Lindor the eighth overall pick in the 2011 draft. He came from Montverde (Fla.) Academy High School. He was born in Puerto Rico.

Lindor, listed at 5-11, 175, played five games for short-season Mahoning Valley in 2011, hitting .316. In 2012, his first full season as a pro, Lindor batted .257 in 122 games for Class A Lake County.

Lindor has hit in six straight games for the Mudcats. In his last 10, he is 14-for-44 (.318). Overall at Carolina, he is 100-for-327 with 19 doubles, six triples, one homer, 27 RBI, 51 runs and 20 steals. The switch-hitter is at .237 against lefties and .327 against righties.

"Francisco continues to work as hard as anybody in our system,'' Hawkins said. "His overall maturity as a player is what excites us the most.''

Part of the maturity is humility. Lindor has impressed his bosses, and scouts, by not acting as if he is entitled to anything. In the offseason, he participated alongside numerous current Indians in Tribe Fest at Progressive Field. He wore an Indians jersey with no name or number on the back.

Lindor entered 2013 ranked as the No. 7 prospect in Keith Law's Top 100 and No. 14 in MLB.com's Top 100. [Midseason No. 5 by Baseball America]

Lindor turns 20 on Nov. 14.

Thanks for all your efforts, Civ.

'welcome.

Wish I had more info to share on our minor leaguers these days. The system is in pretty poor shape although we have a few bright lights: Lindor, Frazier, Salazar. Overall minor league won loss records are not crucial but they do signify something about the quality and/or quantity of talent and our teams are all doing pretty poorly. Columbus roster is overwhelming older non prospects; Mahoning Valley roster is overwhelmingly kids too young for the competition. The three teams in the middle ranger: Akron, Carolina and Lake County have scattered talent, but with glaring weaknesses, too. I can always come up with a list of 30 prospects like BA does annually, but most of those on my current list are longshots to do anything in the big leagues.

Did I read this correctly? Preston Guilmet and Omir Santos are the AAA All-star Game reps from the Indians org?

I wouldn't be shocked. There's really no one doing much impressive on Columbus. Salazar only pitched there for about a month. Bauer has been sloppy and inconsistant. Fedroff is a 275 little power guy.

Monday boxes:

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20130715

Highlight: Scrappers end 12 game losing streak. Lots of offense by Akron.

Last pre-Lindor game for the Aeros featured:

Holt 2 hits, 285 avg
Rodriguez who will lose his SS job, 2 hits, one a double, 287; he's a prospect too
Aguillar 2 singles, 23rd double 270 OPS: in April 682, in May 709, in June 875, in July 867. has 9 HR; 2 rbi make 75
Moncrief single and 20th double, 3 rbi, make 53; avg 309

Matt Packer up to 9-5 era 2.58. Lefty went 5 2/3 7 hits, 5 strikeouts, 2 earned runs.

Also noteworthy:

Teenagers Santander and Paulino each a hit for Lake County, 2 bi for Santander.
Teenage 1b Nellie Rodriguez single and double for Mah Valley, hitting 298
Indians say ss Juan Herrara is an excellent fielder; hehad 2 hits and 2 errrors Monday, at 290
Sulser 4 shutout innings for Scrappers.
Kyle Crockett with another shutout inning and 2 K. No reason not to promote him.
Clint Frazier a single. Perpetually rehabbing Levon Washington a triple both in Arizona.
Exciting news: Matt LaPorta also rehabbing in Arizona, drew 2 walks.
2nd rounder 2012 Mitch Brown allowed only 1 run in 3 innings. Could have been better, though, since he walked 5, but did bring his ERA down to 8.00.

With Lindor joining Ramirez and Rodriguez in Akron, I wonder what that means for Ramirez? During the spring games, I was hoping Ramirez and Lindor would be playing together in the minors. They looked great as a keystone combination. Ramirez was getting a lot of playing time at shortstop with Akron. Not sure what to make of that except to think that he's adding to his versatility as a middle infielder. Rodriguez also shared a lot of playing time at second base adding to his versatility. I guess it will be noteworthy to keep an eye on what's going on in Akron the rest of the way.

If the Indians are going to add players then someone is getting traded.

. . . and the middle infield is our deepest resource of talent . . .

Only the Aeros were in action last night; everyone else watched the All Star game.

Lindor debuted with 2 walks and 2 outs (one a gidp). Ronnie Rodriguez proving he's valuable too went 3-3. He's only 21 himself and is now hitting 293. Ramirez had the night off. Carlos Moncrief continued to smash the ball, with a double and triple, his avg now to a high of 311. VS LHP he's hitting 272 but OPS only 669. Vs RHP he's hitting 326 with OPS of 969.

For June and July Moncrief's terrific stats: 149-31-57-33 13 doubles 5 triples 6 homers. 19 walks 28K.
five of five in steals. That slash line for that is pretty decent: 383/452/658/1110

The box score:

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

Tuesday highlights, obviously all are by Aeros:

CLE AA Aguilar, Jesus 1B 4 0 1 0 .270
CLE AA Lindor, Francisco SS 2 0 0 0 .000 2 BB (2)
CLE AA Rodriguez, Ronny 2B 3 0 3 2 .294 SB (10), CS (3)
CLE AA Urshela, Giovanny 3B 4 0 1 0 .268 2B (16)
CLE AA Armstrong, Shawn 0.2 2 1 1 2 0 6.39