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by buck84
As Cleveland Indians prepare for the draft, consider House, Chisenhall and Trey Haley: Terry Pluto
Cleveland Indians beat Boston Red Sox, 5-3
T.J. House was a 16th round pick in 2008, and is an example of how patience has paid off for th Tribe. (Chuck Crow / The Plain Dealer)
Print Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
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on June 04, 2014 at 8:55 AM, updated June 04, 2014 at 8:58 AM
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Will the Indians find another T.J. House in this year's amateur draft, which begins Thursday?
By the 16th round of the 2008 draft, there had been 500 players drafted before House. He was named the top high school baseball player in the state of Mississippi. He also was a member of the Picayune High state championship swimming team.
House actually should have been selected higher than the 16th round. But the rumor was the left-handed pitcher wanted a $1.5 million signing bonus or he was headed to Tulane on a baseball scholarship. The Indians drafted him, and signed him for $750,000.
And then they waited.
And waited.
And waited.
At the start of this season, House had a 37-49 career record in the minors. He was 7-10 with a 4.32 ERA at Class AAA Columbus in 2013.
From a distance, it seemed House was so far away from the majors.
"When you draft a high school player, you should figure it will take four to five years for him too reach the majors," said Ross Atkins, the Tribe minor league director. "It's hard to rush the process. Look at T.J. (House). He began to figure it out last season, and then really put it together this year."
House had a 2.40 ERA at Columbus this season.
He made his fourth appearance for the Tribe Wednesday, allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings. He has a 3.79 ERA, and the lefty looks like a legitimate Major League prospect as a starter.
Last June, few would have guessed House would be in the majors today. It wasn't until July that the pieces came together -- House having a 2.65 ERA in his final 11 starts in Class AAA.
Cleveland Indians Pre-Game Activities, May 20, 2014
It has taken six years, but Lonnie Chisenhall is making the 2008 draft look good.
Chuck Crow / The Plain Dealer
AT THE TOP
In that same 2008 draft, Lonnie Chisenhall was the Tribe's first-round pick. He was a 19-year-old shortstop at Pitt Junior College in Greenville, N.C. He signed for $1.1 million.
He first appeared in Cleveland in 2011, but didn't stick.
Then the Indians waited.
And waited.
And waited.
He was called up to Cleveland in 2011.
In 2012.
In 2013.
And all three years, he had stops in the minors.
Only now at the age of 25 is it coming together for Chisenhall.
"It's like he's finally enjoying baseball," said Atkins. "I give Tito (manager Terry Francona), (coach) Brad Mills and (hitting coach) Ty Van Berkleo credit for getting Lonnie to the sweet spot, to where he doesn't feel the pressure and is playing with a smile on his face."
Chisenhall sweated out one of the final cuts this spring. He opened the season as a part-time player, compared to being handed the starting third base job in 2013. Francona eased Chisenhall into action. He began to hit. Now, he plays almost every day at third or first, and is hitting an outrageous .364.
Heading into this season, Chisenhall was a career .244 hitter (.694 OPS), and batted only .225 last season.
Most players have to go back to the minors at least once after first making the majors.
On the current Tribe roster, only Cody Allen, Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis and Nick Swisher were promoted to the majors and never returned to the minors (except for injury rehabilitation). That's 4-of-25, 16 percent.
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Cord Phelps looked like a sure-thing as Tribe prospect. He's now batting .244 in Class AAA for the Orioles.
PD
GO FIGURE
Also in that 2008 draft, the Tribe drafted Stanford star Cord Phelps in the third round. His bonus was $327,000.
Phelps had immediate success, vaulting through the minors and arriving in Cleveland in 2011.
In 2011-12, he batted a combined .303 in Class AAA and played a solid second base. But every time he came to the majors, he was overwhelmed. He was awful. He kicked routine grounders, he seemed almost helpless at the plate.
Phelps was 18-of-113 (.159) for the Tribe in parts of three seasons, and made six errors in 23 starts at second base. He is now in Class AAA Norfolk, batting a humble .244 for the Orioles minor league team. At 27, it seems his confidence is shot, his big league dreams evaporating.
In the second round of 2008, the Tribe signed a high school pitcher named Trey Haley. He was given a $1.25 million bonus, more than the $1.1 million given Chisenhall in the first round. That's because the Tribe knew Chisenhall wanted to leave junior college and turn pro. Haley had college options.
And yes, they have been waiting...and waiting...and waiting for Haley.
He has battled injuries, has a 15-26 career minor league record with a 5.07 ERA. Who knows if he'll ever make it. He has yet to reach Class AAA, and is on the disabled list at Akron.
THE FIRST FRUSTRATION
In 1998, the Tribe drafted C.C. Sabathia with the 20th pick in the first round.
Consider this list of names: Corey Smith, Daniel Denham, Alan Horne, Jeremy Guthrie, Brad Snyder, Michael Aubrey, Jeremy Sowers, Trevor Crowe and Beau Mills.
Those were the Tribe's first-round picks between Sabathia and Chisenhall, nine years worth.
Among those nine names, only one is a viable big league player. That's Guthrie, but the Tribe didn't wait long enough for him.
Guthrie was a star at Stanford, drafted in 2002. He was with the Tribe briefly in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In those three seasons, he pitched a grand total of 37 innings, had one start and 6.08 ERA.
The Indians placed him on waivers before the 2007 season. He was claimed by Baltimore, which placed him in the starting rotation. That was all he needed, a real chance.
He was 15-12 (4.04 ERA) for Kansas City last season. For his career, Guthrie is 72-94 with a 4.23 ERA. Not great, but good enough to be in a big league rotation most years. The Indians gave up on him too soon.
SECOND THOUGHTS
In 2009, the Tribe picked an outfielder from Arizona State named Jason Kipnis.
"When you draft a high school player, you should figure it will take four to five years for him to reach the majors."
Who knew that four years later, he would become the first player drafted, signed and developed by the Tribe farm system to make an All-Star team since Sabathia was picked in 1998?
"That's a tribute to Jason because he worked so hard to convert from the outfield to second base," said Atkins. "We knew he was a good athlete. We believed playing second would get him to the majors faster. But he still had to put in the work."
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Drafted as an outfielder, Trevor Crowe was not able to learn to play the infield. He has struggled to stay in the Majors.
Chuck Crow / The Plain Dealer
The Indians tried that approach with outfielder Trevor Crowe, their first-round pick in 2005. But Crowe wasn't able to learn the infield. He is batting .244 for Class AAA Toledo this season.
As for the second-rounders after Kipnis...oh my!
In 2010, it was Levon Washington. The outfielder is batting .308 at Class A Carolina, but has never played more than 79 games in a season. He is almost constantly battling some type of injury.
In 2011, it was Dillon Howard, a high school pitcher who signed for $1.85 million. He pitched poorly, and was suspended for 50 games for failing a drug test during the 2013 season.
Howard has since been cut.
In 2012, it was Mitchell Brown, another high school pitcher. He is 0-6 with a 4.86 ERA at Class A Lake County.
In 2013, it was Dace Kime. He was a college pitcher from Louisville, who is 0-8 with a 6.10 ERA at Class A Lake County.
Atkins invoked the "P-word" when it came to Kime and Brown.
"You have to be patient," he said. "Corey Kluber didn't put it together until last year (when Kluber was 27). You'd always like to see guys drafted that high have more success right away, but you also don't want to write them off too soon."
Brown is 20, Kime is 22 years old.
When House was 20, he was 6-12 with a 5.19 ERA at Class A Kinston.
WHEN THEY DO COME FAST
Cody Allen Postgame: June 3, 2014
Indians closer Cody Allen meets with reporters following Tuesday night's game against the Boston Red Sox. Allen picked up his fifth save of the season.
Cody Allen was the 698th player picked in the 2011 draft. The Tribe gave the right-hander a $125,000 bonus -- high for the 23rd round.
But they thought his best was indeed yet to come, as he had elbow reconstruction surgery in 2009.
Eighteen months after signing, Allen was in Cleveland. It took only 98 minor league innings. He now seems to have grabbed the Tribe's closer job.
"Relievers can come fast," said Atkins. "They need only two good pitches. They don't have to go through the lineup more than once. They don't need to build up arm strength to throw 200 innings a season -- like a starter does."
The Indians recently promoted lefty Kyle Crockett, a fourth round pick by the Tribe in the 2013 draft. Like Allen, he was a college pitcher and a reliever. Crockett is back at Class AAA, but the lefty impressed Francona last month. He will return when they need bullpen help.
WILL THEY BE PHENOMS?
In a recent story, I wrote about how 68 percent of players picked in the first round between 1990-2010 appeared in the majors at some point.
The second round was 49 percent.
By the third round, it's down to 32 percent.
From the 2011 draft, the second round and third round picks (Dillon Howard and Jake Sisco) are no longer in the organization. But with the No. 8 pick in the first round, the Indians may have found gold with Francisco Lindor.
The 20-year-old is batting .279 with four homers and 32 RBI at Class AA Akron. There is a sense that Lindor could skip over Class AAA directly to the majors in the near future.
"Even with a player as gifted as Francisco, you need to be patient," said Atkins. "He just needs more reps...more at bats...more plays in the field...more experience. He is already perhaps the youngest player in the Eastern League. He has all the skills, he really does..."
But he's young, and this is only his third pro season.
New name, new treats at Canal Park 15 players assigned to Rubberducks will be familiar to fans in Akron
Tyler Naquin has reason to smile -- the Tribe loves his progress as he's hitting .307 as Class AA Akron.
Chuck Crow / The Plain Dealer
Lindor's teammate is Tyler Naquin, the 15th player taken in the 2012 draft. He was a right fielder at Texas A&M. He is batting .307 (.780 OPS) for the Rubber Ducks with two homers and 21 RBI. He's also stolen 12 bases.
"Tyler has moved to center field as a pro," said Atkins. "He's made some changes to his (batting) stance and hand placement. He's learning to steal bases. He's is one of our real bright spots because of his growth as a player, which really started at the end of last season."
It's easy to project Naquin as the eventual replacement for Michael Bourn in center field. He doesn't have much power, but the rest of his game is Major League quality.
Of course, Naquin is 23.
The 2013 first rounder is Clint Frazier, who is only 19. The outfielder is batting .253 (.699 OPS) with two homers. In his last 10 games, it's .293 as Frazier seems to be adjusting to Class A Lake County. He was the fifth pick in the draft, and is projected as a power hitter.
Some scouts will tell you that the odds are Naquin will reach the majors before Frazier. He's four years older. But Frazier could be the better player over the years because of his projected power.
But that's the key word...projected.
Just like the other P-word...potential.
And yet another P-word...patience.
And that's what the baseball draft is usually all about.
Call a player's name and hope to see him four years later in the majors.
