BA notes on the same

CLE AAA #2 Nolan Jones, 3B 4 1 1 0 0.218
CLE AAA #3 Andres Gimenez, SS 4 0 1 0 0.255
CLE AA #5 Bo Naylor, C 3 0 0 0 0.176
CLE HiA #6 George Valera, OF 3 0 0 0 0.250 BB (34),
CLE AAA #7 Gabriel Arias, SS 4 1 1 0 0.276
CLE MAJ #19 Owen Miller, SS 3 0 1 0 0.256
CLE MAJ #22 Bobby Bradley, 1B 4 0 0 0 0.200
CLE MAJ #24 Ernie Clement, SS 3 0 0 0 0.247 if I were boss he'd be exchanging places with Giminez
CLE R #26 Isaiah Greene, OF 3 0 1 0 0.256 BB (13),
CLE LoA #28 Yordys Valdes, SS 3 1 0 0 0.189 BB (14),
CLE LoA #29 Angel Martinez, SS 5 0 1 1 0.273

CLE MAJ #1 Triston McKenzie, RHP 7.0 5 3 3 0 4 5.20 L (2-6)
CLE HiA #16 Tanner Burns, RHP 3.0 2 1 1 2 6 3.63

so there are some positive developments among outfielders. We'll see.

tons of offense by the kids in Arizona; 17 runs yesterday. Checking the league leaders they're all over the place.

1B Junior Sanquintin has been red hot; his 6 homers and 20+ RBI's are near the top
OF Luis Durango leads the league in steals; walks a lot and is high in OBP and runs
OF Jorge Burgos hitting 386 is second in the league, top in OBP allso among leaders in doubles and OPS
OF Isaiah Greene lots of walks, a bit behind the other OF but very fine numbers
C M. Ramirez is older by 3 years than those guys so I'd discount his league leading average
3B Milan Tolentino among RBI leaders
IF Devers batting avg is low but walks a ton
IF Jose Pastrano very highly rated is among the few without great hitting stats

Meanwhile, Nolan Jones homered for Columbus; OF George Valera did once again for Lake County. OF Will Benson with 2 solo shots for Akron
1B J Noel once again for Lynchburg plus a double and two singles: now hitting an even 400 with 1153 OPS

OF Petey Halpin 2 hits for Lynchburg.

Outfield candidates are percolating up through the organization at last.

George Valera with his 4th hit in the last 5 games; all of them have been homers. Throw in 5 walks so his line is 250/429/1000

2 hits for Jose Tena, one a double
Mason Hickman 5 runs in 5 innings.

in Low A:
Noel singled and walked, avg at 386 OPS 1105
Jason Wolf pulled after 2 OK innings;

Akron: 2 hits, one a double for Bo Naylor, hitting 184
Benson 1-6 a double hitting 223 OPS 865
Kwan double 2 singles and a walk 341 OPS 965
Lavastida 2 doubles, single 412 1065 since recent promotion; he's more of a DH than a catcher, how about teaching him how to play 1st base?
Adam Scott 10 strikeouts in 4 2/3. also 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks

Surprise surprise in Columbus:
Logan Sr with 5 shutout innings, 6 K, 3 hits and no walks
He shared the pitching with redhot Cody Morris His line: 4 1 0 0 0 8 in his AAA debut
That follows 20 innings in his AA debut: 20 14 3 3 7 29.
Morris looks like a pitcher 6-4 205 24 year old. Only 117 IP in his pro career. 7th round 2018 from South Carolina
Is he going to be one of those quick risers like Bieber and others before him?

Some Saturday game notes from the Plain Dealer

Yu Chang went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBI and Daniel Johnson had two hits and an RBI as Class AAA Columbus lost to Omaha on Saturday, 13-10. Scott Moss allowed four runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings. . .Bo Naylor hit a grand slam, Steven Kwan drove in two runs and Jose Fermin went 3-for-4 as Class AA Akron beat Altoona, 12-3. It Naylor’s seventh homer. Peyton Battenfield, acquired from Tampa Bay for Jordan Luplow and J.D. Johnson, struck out six and allowed one run over six innings. . .Hunter Gaddis struck out seven and allowed two runs over six innings, but Class A Lake County lost to Lansing, 5-2. Joe Naranjo went 2-for-4 with an RBI. . .Gabriel Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with two RBI as Class A Lynchburg lost to Salem, 5-3. . .The Indians Arizona Complex team beat the Reds, 8-6. Jose Devers had three hits and Steven Perez struck out three and allowed one run over four innings.

BA notes for Friday games include:

On Friday, . . . Double-A Akron OF Will Benson (Indians) hit his 13th and 14th home runs of the season . . . . . . Home runs kept Lake County RHP Daniel Espino (Indians) from having a better outing, but he did show flashes of dominance. Espino gave up a pair of home runs to Jordan Diaz that accounted for four of the five runs he allowed. He also struck out 10 of the 23 batters he faced in five innings of work .

and the full lineup of Sunday performances by preseason Top 30; remember that the AVG listed is cumulative for all levels of play
8 of the following are listed as shortstops; although they played yesterday all over the infield

CLE AAA #2 Nolan Jones, 3B 4 0 0 0 0.227
CLE MAJ #3 Andres Gimenez, SS 3 0 0 1 0.255 E (10),
CLE AA #5 Bo Naylor, C 5 1 2 1 0.182 2B (10),
CLE HiA #6 George Valera, OF 4 1 1 2 0.248 HR (12), BB (37),
CLE AAA #7 Gabriel Arias, SS 2 0 0 0 0.275 BB (32),
CLE AA #8 Brayan Rocchio, SS 6 0 0 0 0.254
CLE LoA #12 Gabriel RodriguezSS 4 1 1 1 0.227
CLE MAJ #19 Owen Miller, SS 4 2 1 1 0.252 HR (9),
CLE MAJ #24 Ernie Clement, SS 4 0 2 1 0.268 2B (13), CS (1), E (5),
CLE LoA #28 Yordys Valdes, SS 4 1 1 0 0.192 2B (5), SB (13),
CLE LoA #29 Angel Martinez, SS 4 1 0 0 0.265 BB (28),
CLE AAA #30 Yu Chang, 3B 4 0 1 0 0.226

CLE AAA #14 Logan Allen, LHP 5.0 3 0 0 0 6 8.46 W (3-8) That is Logan Sr.
CLE MAJ #15 Emmanuel ClaseRHP 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 1.75 Sv (16)
CLE LoA #25 Josh Wolf, RHP 2.0 2 1 1 0 3 5.88

Tyler Freeman underwent season-ending left shoulder surgery on Monday.

It was already announced that was done for the season due to labrum concerns, but he ended up needing surgery. Freeman previously had surgery on the same labrum, so this is a troubling development. One of the Indians' top prospects, the 22-year-old hit .323/.372/.470 with two homers and four steals over 41 games with Double-A Akron. Here's hoping he'll be ready to go for the 2022 campaign.

Number one prospect is up for grabs
McKenzie graduated
Jones has not been overly impressive
Freeman with surgery
Espino could take over

Valera’s last 5 hits now have all been homeruns

Any good news on outfielders is welcome in this organization.

Make that 7 homers for Valera since August 2 No triples no doubles no singles

Homer today also by Tena 3rd game in a row Rocchio Naylor

Cleveland Indians: Get to know 1B/3B prospect Jhonkensy Noel
by Steve DiMatteo29 minutes ago Follow @steve_dimatteo

Jhonkensy Noel is an exciting 20-year-old prospect putting up huge numbers in Low-A ball, and could be in a Cleveland Indians / Cleveland Guardians uniform sooner than later.

The Cleveland Indians have some pretty big questions at first base right now, but there might be an answer waiting in the minor-league system in the form of 20-year-old Jhonkensy Noel.

And he might be in a Guardians uniform sooner than later.

Noel, who only just turned 20 on July 15, has set the Low-A East on fire this season to the tune of a .393/.426/.693 line with 11 home runs, 40 RBIs, and a whopping 190 wRC+ in 150 at-bats. Most importantly for Noel’s future success, he has lowered his strikeout rate to 16.7%, the lowest of his career to this point. Right now, he has almost as many extra-base hits (11) as strikeouts (24).

Every scouting report acknowledges that Noel knows how to mash it. Watch any of his home runs from this season and you’ll certainly come to the same conclusion:


The only thing that will ever keep him back from the Majors is, much like Bobby Bradley, the strikeouts. If his improvement in that area is any indication, things are looking quite good for the young infielder.


But again, it’s that power of his that no doubt has Cleveland salivating. Listed as a first/third baseman, it’s likely that Noel, who the Indians signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2017 as an international free agent, will ultimately project as a first baseman as he continues to grow into his frame. He’s listed at 6’1″, 180 pounds, but other reports have him already at 6’3″, 250 pounds.

Noel has massive pull power and exit velocities on par with some of the biggest sluggers in the Majors. The swing-and-miss weakness will probably always be there to some extent even with his improvements, but his pitch recognition is likely to keep getting better, too. Cleveland will absolutely take any of those weaknesses if Noel is hitting 30-40 home runs a year into the Progressive Field bleachers on a regular basis.

Just listen to that pop:


All that being said, Noel is still so young, even as he plays above his typical age range in the minors. Not to mention he’s battled injuries this year and was coming back from a lost 2020 season. We’ve seen players react to that in a variety of ways, but it hasn’t stopped Noel and his development; he should absolutely be in Double-A Akron at some point early next season, though the Indians will be careful to let him get as many reps in the minors as possible.

In the meantime, Cleveland is trying to piece something together at the position. In a perfect world, Bobby Bradley wouldn’t strike out so much and would fit in perfectly as the prototypical power-hitting first baseman. But he’s prone to some pretty freezing cold streaks, evidenced by a .177/.313/.342 line with just three home runs in 79 at-bats, dating back to July 1.


He’s still getting on base at a decent clip, but he also struck out 41 times in those 79 at-bats, all of which is a far cry from his solid June, in which he hit .254/.321/.634 and eight home runs. Currently, Bradley is on the IL with a strained left knee.

Other options at first have included Josh Naylor, Yu Chang, and Owen Miller, none of whom inspire a ton of confidence at the position in the long-term. Naylor is of course injured, so it’s unfair to write him off at first, but his future seems destined for the Cleveland outfield. Chang and Miller are both trying to find their way on this team, but a utility role seems the most likely path down the road.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Indians do with Noel this winter, as he will become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft. It seems unlikely that a team would scoop up Noel even with his outstanding numbers, as he’s never played above Low-A ball and the team that acquires him would have to keep him on the roster the entire season.

But other teams are certainly keeping tabs on a guy who is tearing up Low-A pitching at this rate, so anything’s possible, and the Indians may want to add Noel to the 40-man roster this offseason with the intention of seeing just how far he rockets up the system in 2022. He probably won’t end up in a Guardians uniform next season but, like I said, anything’s possible.

The only thing that will ever keep him back from the Majors is, much like Bobby Bradley, the strikeouts

That's a potentially pretty big thing. But I also like that he's not just hitting homers, plenty of doubles and singles, to boot.
I am disappointed that Noel has not been given a chunk of time in Lake County. It's not like he's been hidden from prying eyes in Low A.

While I was away a few days Valera finally stopped hitting homeruns exclusively. A couple singles and as usual a batch of walks, too.

Yesterday a nice day at bat by Rocchio with a pair of doubles and a homer in Akron.
Benson and Naylor also homered in that game.