over his last two starts Salazar has

13.1 IP

12 H

3 ER

16 K

2.03 ERA

Erik Gonzalez showing some opposite field power....

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp? ... o_34192445

Roberto Perez (C, Columbus): 3-for-4, 1 R, 2 2B, 5 RBI. Perez has been out of his mind at the plate this season, which is great to see. Everyone by now knows he came down with Bell’s palsy last season and that in some way it affected his play, but the way he has rebounded and really performed with the bat might be one of the biggest surprises this season. He is a defense-first catcher, but for the first time his bat is being productive and he is putting everything together. It remains to be seen if he can maintain this for an entire season and can be a steady performer for the next few years, or if this is just one of those magical seasons a player has over their career where a lot just happens to go right.

Danny Salazar (SP, Columbus): 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R/ER, 1 BB, 9 K. This is an impressive outing from Salazar and we are starting to see signs that the Salazar of old is back. He’s been bothered by some minor arm issues this season which have affected his command and velocity, but he is starting to look strong on the mound again. He threw 74 of his 105 pitches for strikes (70.5%) and looked in control once again on the mound limiting good contact, pounding the zone with quality strikes and was putting away hitters with two strikes. This is something to build off of and you just hope he can find that groove where he puts together a half dozen or so starts like this together so that he is an option in Cleveland again come late July.

Jose Ramirez (2B, Columbus): 2-for-5, 2 R. This was Ramirez’s second game back since his return from the disabled list, his first game in the field. It is nice to have his spark back at the top of the lineup.

Tyler Holt (CF, Columbus): 3-for-5, R, RBI. Holt has been slumping of late as he was just 5-for-32 (.156) in his last nine games coming into Monday night, so he broke out of the mini-slump in a big way.

Jesus Aguilar (1B, Columbus): 2-for-4, 2 R, BB. Aguilar was one of seven guys in the lineup who had multi-hit nights as the Clippers pounded out 10 runs on 18 hits. He is another guy who has been struggling of late and needed a night like this.

Carlos Moncrief (RF, Columbus): 2-for-5, R, 2B, RBI, K. Moncrief had another multi-hit night and is hitting .333 with a .792 OPS in his last 10 games. His night finished off a very nice month of June where he hit .309 with 5 HR, 24 RBI and .895 OPS in 26 games.

Erik Gonzalez (SS, Akron): 2-for-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K. You hate to see an injury to any player, but you have to wonder if the injury to Francisco Lindor was a blessing in disguise as it not only forced the Indians to push Gonzalez to Akron, but with the way he is playing may force the Indians to keep him there and push Lindor to Columbus when he returns.

Anthony Gallas (LF, Akron): 3-for-4. Gallas just continues to rake since being promoted to Akron as he is now up to a .368 average in 17 games played there.

Alex Lavisky (C, Akron): 2-for-4, R, RBI, CS. Lavisky just continues to hit well in a part-time backup catching role and may have found his niche as such a player in the upper levels of the system and potentially in the big leagues. He is now hitting .301 on the season.

Jordan Smith (RF, Akron): 1-for-4, R, HR, 3 RBI. Smith is officially on a hot streak. After wondering over the last few days whether he is starting to put things together, this game pretty much confirms it. While he was held to just one hit, he launched his first homer of the season and is now 11-for-23 over his last six games.

Will Roberts (SP, Akron): 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HR. If not for the big nights in Columbus from Perez and Salazar, then Roberts would have been a featured performer. He evened his season record to 8-8 with the strong outing and filled the zone up with strikes throwing 70 of his 98 pitches for strikes.

Giovanni Soto (RP, Akron): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. Soto has really struggled with consistency this season, some due to injury, but over his last three outings he has thrown 4.0 scoreless innings and allowed 1 hit, no walks and has 6 strikeouts.

Yhoxian Medina (SS, Carolina): 2-for-4. The Mudcats were shutout on the night and limited to just four hits so the offensive standouts were extremely limited. Medina had the only multi-hit night and just continues to be a solid role player in the lower levels.

LeVon Washington (LF, Carolina): 0-for-4, K. Washington has cooled off considerably going just 2-for-16 over his last five games and is 0-for-9 in his last three games.

Adam Plutko (SP, Carolina): 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R/ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 HR. This is an interesting outing for Plutko. On one hand, it was a good outing considering he pitched seven innings and held the opposition to just three runs, but on the other hand he allowed 8 hits and two of them left the yard.

Grant Fink (3B, Lake County): 2-for-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, K. Fink cranked his seventh and eighth homers of the season in this one. He continues to be a solid performer and run producer, but he is still working on his plate discipline.

Nellie Rodriguez (1B, Lake County): 2-for-5, 3 R, HR, 3 RBI, K. A much needed big night at the plate for Rodriguez and he finished off a pretty good month of June by hitting .278 with 3 HR, 13 RBI and .867 OPS.

Dorssys Paulino (LF, Lake County): 2-for-5, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI, K. Paulino had a bases loaded double to bring in all of his runs. He is 7-for-17 at the plate in his last four games and had a solid month of June hitting .271 with a .766 OPS. Maybe there is hope yet for a turnaround.

Richard Stock (C, Lake County): 3-for-5, R, 2 2B, RBI, K. It is not often that Stock makes an appearance in ATF because he doesn’t play a lot, but he took advantage of his playing time in this one with a big night and now has a modest 6-game hitting streak going.

Dace Kime (SP, Lake County): 5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R/ER, 5 BB, 5 K. The 5 walks are ugly to see, but Kime once again had a solid outing pitching into the sixth inning and allowing just the two runs even though he had to work around a lot of traffic in this one.

Silento Sayles (CF, AZL Indians): 3-for-5, R, 2B, RBI, SB. Sayles broke a three game hitless streak with a big multi-hit night. It has been feast or famine for him this season as he has multi-hit games in three of his six games and has been hitless in the other games.

Nathan Winfrey (3B, AZL Indians): 2-for-3, 2 R, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, E. This was just Winfrey's fourth game as a pro, but easily his best night in the early going thanks to him reaching base in four of his five plate appearances.

Simeon Lucas (C, AZL indians): 1-for-5, R, 3B, 3 RBI, 4 K. Lucas had a bases loaded triple in the fourth innings that brought in three runs, but even with that one big swing of the bat he still had to settle with the Golden Sombrero on the night.

Francisco Lopez (SP, AZL indians): 3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 4 K. This was Lopez's second outing of the season and a step back from his excellent four-inning 1-hit shutout performance in his season debut.

Argenis Angulo (RP, AZL Indians): 2.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R/ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR. This was Angulo's pro debut and it is not a memorable one as he not blew a 7-3 lead in the seventh inning.

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

Thanks Danny, we needed that.

Of course if you could hit it would be even more useful

Monday lines by notable prospects:

CLE AA Gonzalez, Erik SS 5 2 2 2 .278 2B (1), HR (1) [capably filling in for Lindor]
CLE AA Wolters, Tony DH 3 0 1 2 .253
CLE AAA Aguilar, Jesus 1B 4 2 2 0 .276 BB (34)
CLE AAA Moncrief, Carlos RF 5 1 2 1 .263 2B (15) [completes a solid June]
CLE AAA Ramirez, Jose 2B 5 2 2 0 .318 2 2B (11) [could replace Cabrera until Lindor's ready]
CLE LoA Paulino, Dorssys LF 5 2 2 3 .238 2B (14) [finally showing some power]
CLE LoA Rodriguez, Nelson 1B 5 3 2 3 .232 HR (10) [wins Rodriguez of the Day award]
CLE R Bradley, Bobby 1B 4 1 1 0 .313 BB (3)
CLE AAA Adams, Austin 0.2 0 0 0 1 1 2.52
CLE HiA Plutko, Adam 7 8 3 3 1 2 3.92 L (1-3) [2 homers mar his night]
CLE LoA Kime, Dace 5.1 6 2 2 5 5 4.97 W (4-9) [the walks mostly came late]
CLE MAJ Crockett, Kyle 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 2.61

Full box scores:

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.js ... d=20140630

Notable work by some other players:

in Columbus, top fielding catcher Roberto Perez continues a breakthrough year at the plate: 2 doubles, single, 5 rbi; 325 avg, 982 ops.

in Akron, good night for local kids: CSU's Anthony Gallas, 3 hits, 368; Alex Lavisky 2 hits, 301. Remember the kid we got for Peralta? Giovanni Soto LHP with 2 perfect innings, fans 3, not making significant progress. RF Jordan Smith finally hit his first HR for the Ducks.

Keep an eye on CF Silento Sayles in Arizona, 3 hits, one a double, avg is now 333, stole his second base, but nice to see he can do more than just run.

Only 18 years old, Indians top catching prospect possesses elite arm

Tony Lastoria FOX Sports Ohio

JUL 01, 2014 3:41p ET

Very few players come along in the minor leagues that are viewed as special in one particular skill. Lots of players are above average or considered "plus" with a certain skill, but few have what is considered an elite bat or elite arm.

The Indians happen to have a couple of players in their system with elite skills or intangibles, but one player who has really come onto the scene and really stands out is catcher Francisco Mejia.

Mejia, 18, is a highly regarded catching prospect in the organization that is currently playing at short season Single-A Mahoning Valley. He spent the first few months of the season in Arizona out in extended spring training refining his game and working on his routines and is getting his first real experience in affiliate ball playing in front of fans, having expectations and enduring the day to day grind of the game with travel and such.

"I feel great to be here with all of my teammates," Mejia said through team trainer and translator Juan Acevedo. "It is exciting to move up step by step and I am going to try and do my job here the best I can."

Even though Mejia is playing against college level players and players who are mostly three to five years older than him, he is holding his own in the early going at Mahoning Valley. In 16 games, he is hitting a solid .259 with no homers, 10 RBI and .659 OPS, and also has a solid 8-12 walk to strikeout ratio to boot.

Mejia has some good raw power for his size and the expectation is as he matures and finds comfort at the level he is playing at that it will show more consistently. He is a switch hitter with a lot of upside with the bat because of that power and his approach to use the entire field.

"He has good pop at the plate and is a little like Jose Ramirez as a little bit of a wild swinger at the plate," Mahoning Valley manager Ted Kubiak said of Mejia. "But he is real different this year. He has learned a little bit this year and has become more aggressive."

But while the bat is impressive, it is his catch-and-throw skills that are truly impressive and are comparable to some of the best throwing catchers of all time. From his unbelievable lightning quick release to his laser-like precision with his throws and cannon-like arm strength, there is a lot to like about him as a catcher.

"Frankie is very interesting behind the plate," Kubiak said. "He throws better than anybody I have ever seen or will ever see. Any place, be it the minors or big leagues. When you talk about a gun, he has an absolute cannon and he likes to throw and he is pretty damn good at it."

The 72-year old Kubiak has been around the game for over 50 years, played 10 years in the big leagues and was on a World Series championship team, so that is high praise coming from him. Mejia takes the praise in stride and is just continuing to work to get better with his throwing.

"My ability has been ascending because I have been working hard on my necessities," Mejia said. "As soon as I came to the organization I have been listening to all of the coaches and trying to improve myself. I feel great. With the way I have been doing things I feel comfortable now."

What is scary is Mejia has only touched the surface with how good he can be as a catcher. He was signed as a shortstop two years ago this July for $350,000 out of the Dominican Republic, and the Indians knew right away how special a player he was. Latin American Scouting Director Roman Pena saw him one time for a tryout at the Indians academy in the Dominican Republic and wasted no time bringing him on board.

"I was a shortstop and as soon as I went to the academy for a tryout I only had one as Roman Pena automatically signed me and sent me to Cleveland for the major-league team to look at me and then I was sent to Arizona," Mejia said. "I have been working hard and have made it here now."

With any young player there always exists the likely possibility that they don't pan out. Players get injured, their bodies change, and sometimes they just hit a wall in their development. Any of those things could happen to Mejia at some point in the next few years which would prevent him from reaching the major leagues, but in the meantime, he is working to improve and become a more consistent hitter, as well as being the best catcher he can be.

"I love hitting," Mejia said. "I feel I can hit but I want to be more consistent behind the plate and improve as much as I can there. My main goal is to try to become a leader behind the plate. I want to improve my game calling and everything else behind the plate. This year I want to focus on my conditioning and trying to improve on my abilities."

As they used to say in the days of the "Wild West," "have gun -- will travel." Well, with the gun attached to Mejia's right side, he has a chance to travel far and maybe one day be the next great defensive catcher in the big leagues.

New draftee Bobby Bradley with 3 hits tonight, including a double.

He extended his hitting streak to 5 straight games. During the streak 8-22 5R 2(2B) 1HR 5RBI 3BB .364 AVG

International signing starts today.

(hopin for Nelson Gomez)

BA notes from yesterday:

CLE AA Gonzalez, Erik SS 5 2 2 1 .304 2B (2)
CLE AA Wolters, Tony C 4 1 2 1 .257
CLE AAA Aguilar, Jesus DH 2 1 1 2 .278 2B (14), BB (35)
CLE R Bradley, Bobby 1B 6 1 3 1 .364 2B (2)
CLE SS Zimmer, Bradley CF 4 1 3 0 .368 2B (2), SB (1)
CLE SS Mejia, Francisco C 4 0 2 2 .274 [Tony has joined my bandwagon]
CLE MAJ Crockett, Kyle 1 1 0 0 1 0 2.38 W (2-0)
CLE R Haley, Trey 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 6.75 [then he got hurt again]
CLE SS Brady, Sean 5 4 2 2 4 2 3.38

Kubiak said. "He throws better than anybody I have ever seen or will ever see. Any place, be it the minors or big leagues. When you talk about a gun, he has an absolute cannon and he likes to throw and he is pretty damn good at it."

The 72-year old Kubiak has been around the game for over 50 years, played 10 years in the big leagues and was on a World Series championship team, so that is high praise coming from him

I don't think Kubiak tends to overpraise, so this is pretty good stuff. BA said very positive things about Mejia's defensive skills last fall and winter in league rankings and team prospect lists.

Kid might actually be our No. 2 prospect after Lindor.

The way this international signing works, the amount your allowed to offer is based on your previous years record. Cleveland is allowed to offer just a tick under 2 mill, which would not be enough to get one of the standout guys.

I would offer more and pay the extra tax for the right guy. Right handed power hitter at corner position. Like Gomez.

Rumor is Yanks are going to offer him 2.6 mill.

If you can open this link without being a BA subscriber, here's a list of their top 30 international players which is updated with signings.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/internat ... ts-signed/

Blue Jays and Astros each with a couple signed so far. None of their Top 10.
And this is a link to the names signed by each team:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/internat ... s-tracker/

Nothing yet for Cleveland.

Here's what BA projected for us before the signing period began:

Cleveland Indians
3ds_indians81

With a $1.98 million bonus pool, the Indians have [in context I have to think the word "not" was meant to be included here] been connected to any of the most prominent players on the international market, which like a lot of teams in their bonus pool range means they’re probably going to spread their money around to several mid-range bonuses and below rather than spend half their pool on one player. It’s not obvious where they’re going to spend—Dominican shortstop Juan Ventura might be a possibility—so they’re a tough team to peg. The Indians spent nearly $2 million of their 2013-14 pool money on players who weren’t July 2 signings, so they may look to be similarly opportunistic this year.

Greg Hibbard (Photo: Ken Carr)

Coach's Corner '14: Pitching coach Greg Hibbard

By Tony Lastoria

July 2, 2014

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This is a regular in-season and off-season premium piece on the site where Jim Piascik and I sit down with a coach in the Indians minor league system and really break down and discuss several players on the roster and talk about some of the philosophies surrounding the development of players.

In this week’s edition of “Coach’s Corner” I had a chance to sit down with short season Single-A Mahoning Valley pitching coach Greg Hibbard for a few moments and talk about some of his pitchers. We talked about the focus for talented righty Kieran Lovegrove, the advanced maturity of lefty Sean Brady, the promise of lefty reliever Anderson Polanco, the change in repertoire for righty Juan Santana, and lots more.

Hibbard has returned to Mahoning Valley for his third stint as pitching coach having previously served in the role in 2003 and again from 2011-2012. This season is his 12th as a pitching coach in the Indians farm system and has been a pitching coach at almost every level of the organization. He has been a pitching coach at High-A Kinston (2004, 2008-2009), Double-A Akron (2005, 2007, 2010, 2013) and Triple-A Buffalo (2006). He began his coaching career as the pitching coach of the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northwest League (1999-2001).

Hibbard has also pitched professionally for 12 seasons, six of those at the Major League level. He won 10 or more games for four consecutive seasons from 1990-1993 and won a career high 15 games with the Chicago Cubs in 1993. In 165 appearances (158 starts) at the Major League level he went 57-50 with a 4.05 ERA.

As always, these pieces are always in a Q&A format in order to provide the raw uncut comments from the manager or coach.

Q: Right-handed pitcher Kieran Lovegrove comes to Mahoning Valley with a lot of fanfare as a former top round draft pick and someone who has some impressive stuff, but has also struggled to find consistency on the mound. You have had him all season first in spring training then extended spring training and now here. How is he doing?

Greg Hibbard (GH): I feel like he is in a really good place physically, mentally and emotionally. He has gotten on a pretty good routine daily that he has really been sticking with and has started to transfer into the game. Hopefully if he has any setbacks he is going to be able to overcome those with more ease because he is aware of what his mechanics should be and what the root problems are that may go on in his delivery. He has been up to 96 MPH. He is in a really good spot right now.

Q: Have you noticed anything different with Lovegrove and what do you want to see from him during his time at Mahoning Valley?

GH: His last three outings leaving extended, that was the best I have seen him throw a baseball. Hopefully we are going to see better fastball command with more consistent feel of his secondary pitches. Coming from that standpoint that is the major difference we should be seeing.

Q: Left-handed pitcher Sean Brady is another high round pick who really impressed at rookie level Arizona last season in his pro debut. What do you like about him?

GH: I always say this when I do his reports or talk about his games is his mound presence is beyond his years. He is only 19 years old but when you watch him walk around the field and the way he carries himself daily it is like he has been around for 10 years. That is probably his greatest strength right now is that he is very mature for his age. He is starting to understand how to attack hitters with his stuff, why he should be pitching inside and why you double up on a changeup. So he is starting to learn about that part of the game and being more knowledgeable in games and being able to utilize his stuff better instead of just making pitches.

Q: Has Brady taken a step forward with anything or improved in a certain area this year?

GH: His changeup has definitely improved. That is probably the one pitch he really wanted to improve on. I feel that it has probably not been his second best pitch, but it is getting closer. His curveball is actually his best out pitch, but he is showing a lot of confidence when he throws his changeup as well.

Q: Left-handed reliever Anderson Polanco is not a household name, but he is someone the organization likes and has some upside. He looked really good in spring training. How has he looked over the last few months?

GH: He has been throwing the ball well. He had a little setback a month or so back as his elbow flared up on him and he missed a few outings. He has been 90-92 MPH with his fastball, has an above average feel for his changeup and will show you a good wipeout breaking ball from time to time. He will come out of the pen and we are limiting his innings a little bit just as far as in a game and keeping him under 50 pitches as we are a little worried about the tenderness in his elbow. But he is definitely a guy to watch.

Q: Right-hander Juan Santana is a guy the organization appears committed to developing as a starter. The numbers haven’t been there yet for him, but every time I talk to someone in the organization about him they say they like his potential. What do you like about him and what is he working on?

GH: He is kind of a four pitch mix guy. He has to change speeds and locate his fastball. He added a slider. We have not really taken the curveball away, but I have noticed that he has fallen in love with the slider a little bit as he is seeing he is getting swing and miss with it. He has pulled away from the curveball because every time he throws it he thinks he gives up a hit, so we are just trying to transition him into more of a four pitch mix. Knowing when to use his curveball versus his slider and when to use his changeup versus his curveball. It is just understanding the knowledge of using his stuff better.

Q: Right-handed Anthony Vizcaya is still very raw on the mound and his performance has lacked, but he has some interesting stuff and upside. What kind of strides has he made on the mound this year?

GH: The velocity has really picked up for him. Early in spring camp he was 88-90 MPH but now he is 93-94 MPH so his velocity is coming around. He is starting to use his lower half a little better. He has kind of tightened up his breaking ball a little bit so hopefully he will have a little more swing and miss with that pitch and is definitely something he can put in the strike zone. He keeps the ball down and hopefully can get a lot of quick outs.

Q: It is still very early in Mahoning Valley’s season and I know your 30-day policy with kind of just sitting back and observing the new guys from the draft before you make any decisions on a development plan or changes to their mechanics and such. Knowing that I won’t ask you specifically about any one pitcher and will ask you later in the season about them; however, how do you go about handling them right now?

GH: It is just in the daily conversations. I like to hear them talk. They have a good story. They have been through the draft and you get to hear where they have come from as a kid. Over the next 30 days it is just logging in information so when someone asks me about someone like a Jordan Carter hopefully I will give them a pretty good answer.

Follow Tony and the Indians Baseball Insider on Twitter @TonyIBI. Also, his new book the 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider which profiles the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is available for sale.

Ryan Merritt is 8-2 with a 1.58 ERA, 69 strikeouts and 17 walks in 91 1/3 innings this season. (Ken Inness/MiLB.com)

Carolina notes: Merritt maintains control

Mudcats lefty enjoying breakout season with focus on pitch location

By Jeff Seidel / Special to MiLB.com

Carolina's Ryan Merritt has improved greatly this season, but the left-hander hasn't made any major mechanical changes. Instead, Merritt said he's simply learning more about the process of pitching.

Merritt has an 8-2 record with a 1.58 ERA that's tops in the Carolina League through 14 starts. He pitched well in his first two full Minor League seasons but had a combined record of 9-13. It's been a different story this season.

The 22-year-old accepted the fact that he needs to rely on pitch location and command since his fastball usually tops out in the high 80s. He also features a changeup and curve, but his command and pitch location this season have made him a more effective pitcher.

Merritt started so well this season that he was the league's starting pitcher in the California League-Carolina League All-Star Game two weeks ago, where he cruised through a scoreless first inning.

"I've learned that I'm not a power guy," Merritt said. "I'm not going to go out there and try to strike everyone out. I just found that I'm a ground-ball pitcher, and I want them to hit the pitches I want them to and in the least amount of pitches."

Merritt's stuck with that philosophy and said he aims at throwing first-pitch strikes and having batters hit one of the first three pitches.

Carolina pitching coach Steve Karsay said that style will give a pitcher success at any level.

"He's grown so much as a pitcher in many different aspects," Karsay said. "Calmness, presence, [the] demeanor to compete in tight situations. You can't teach it. He's stuck with the process."

Merritt, picked by the Indians in the 16th round of the 2011 Draft, said he's simply building on what he's learned as a pitcher. He's been sticking with a game plan he's comfortable with throughout the season and getting better at what he's doing.

"I'm just building on it," Merritt said. "I wouldn't say I'm doing the exact same thing as past years, but I've definitely learned."

His consistency is something that everyone with the Mudcats has noticed. Some of the players just call it "Ryan being Ryan," and he's effective in that mode.

Merritt has given Carolina quality starts in 10 of his 14 outings and gone at least seven innings seven times. He's also struck out 69 batters with just 17 walks, and opposing batters are hitting .198 against him.

"He's got to be able to locate, he's got to be able to keep the ball down in the zone and he's got to be able to change speeds," Karsay said. "He can do all of that."