Cleveland Sports Forum

I literally just talked about Brennan earlier today, Civ. Said he was a 21 year old from Kansas State, and that he needed to go up a level to play with other college kids in MV.

Oh well, at least we agree.

Clippers won big, 9-1. Peoples was very good. 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. ... Johnson 1-5, R. ... Chang 2-5, 2B, 3B, R. ... Haase 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI, R

Ducks lost 6-5. ... Hentges smacked around a bit. 3.1 IP, 5H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K. ... Nelson allowed 2 earned in 2 innings too. Krauth and Broom combined for 4.2 innings of shutout ball tho. ... Jones got butterflies out of the way, 2-5, R. ... Clement 2-5, SB, RBI, R

Hillcats lost 7-5. ... OscarG 1-4, 2B, BB, R. ... Benson 2-4, HR, BB, 2 R, RBI

Lake County won 4-3. ... Mota looked good. 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. ... Naylor 0-3, BB.

Scrappers won game 2 last night, 4-0. ... Rocchio 2-3, 2B, R, RBI. ... Delgado 1-3, 3B, R. ... Valera 1-2, BB, RBI.

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Daniel Espino's final line in his pro debut.
- 1.0(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 1SO (5 Pitches 5 Strikes)
- Fastball hit 98 mph

* Video credit to @BurningRiverBB (he is a good guy to check out on Twitter if you have it, or like me, even if you don’t. He lives in Arizona, hangs out around facility, and good source of info for what is going on down there with our AZL players and injured guys working out)

https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thum ... name=small

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Nolan Jones first AA hit.

https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thum ... me=900x900

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Some nice lines from hitters in AZL yesterday, as Civ mentioned previously.

Bracho 2-5 2R 3B HR 3RBI
Noel 1-3 2R RBI BB
Brennan 3-4 2B RBI

Not sure if this was posted

CLEVELAND INDIANS
Can Brady Aiken Save Career from Being Worst MLB Draft Bust of All Time?
ZACHARY D. RYMER
JUNE 3, 2019

MILWAUKEE, WI - MAY 09:
Brady Aiken was supposed to have it made by now.

It's been five years since the Houston Astros chose Aiken, then 17, out of San Diego's Cathedral Catholic High School with the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft. The left-hander was looking at a potential $7.9 million signing bonus, and his profile pointed to a future as Houston's very own Clayton Kershaw.

In actuality, Aiken now finds himself buried deep within the Cleveland Indians organization.

To date, the southpaw's 2019 season consists of two disastrous relief appearances—44 pitches, two outs, six walks, three runs—for the Single-A Lake County Captains in April. He hasn't been seen on a mound since he was reassigned to the short-season Single-A Mahoning Valley Scrappers on April 10.


Once the reality that Aiken, now 22, didn't pitch at all in 2018 is factored in, there would seem to be a real possibility that he'll become the fourth No. 1 pick to never play in Major League Baseball.

That mark of infamy is presently shared by Steven Chilcott (1966), Brien Taylor (1991) and Mark Appel (2013). But whereas each at least made it as far as Double-A ball, Aiken has much to prove before even that is a feasible step for him.

Then again, if there was ever a guy who was due for a break, it's this guy.


Before Aiken came along, the only high school lefties to go No. 1 overall were David Clyde in 1973 and Taylor in 1991. Taylor never made the majors, and Clyde's own major league career fizzled out before he even turned 25.

But while the Astros might have viewed these stories as cautionary tales, neither Clyde nor Taylor was undone by a lack of talent. Clyde was badly mismanaged by a money-grubbing owner. Taylor's career was wrecked by a shoulder injury that he suffered in a bar fight.

Besides which, Aiken ranked as the top talent in the 2014 draft class for both MLB.com and Baseball America. The latter remarked that he had been on radars even before the 2014 spring season and that he became a "no-doubt, top-of-the-draft talent" when he started flashing a 97 mph fastball.

Aiken also featured a curveball and changeup that had above-average potential, and his 6'4", 205-pound frame was ideal for a pitcher. He got high marks for his makeup as well, which ultimately left Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and his underlings with a dearth of reasons not to pick him at No. 1.


"A lot of people say they want to be a Hall of Famer," said an Astros scout, according to Ben Reiter of Sports Illustrated, "but I believe for this kid it's a realistic goal, to be one of the best pitchers of all time."

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@MLB
With the 1st overall pick in the 2014 #MLBDraft, the @astros select LHP Brady Aiken, Cathedral Catholic HS (Calif).

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Initially, Aiken and the Astros agreed to a $6.5 million signing bonus that was less than the assigned value for the No. 1 pick. It was, however, equal to Jameson Taillon's record-setting bonus for a prep pitcher.

According to Reiter, however, things started to fall apart when an MRI revealed an "abnormality" in Aiken's elbow. It spooked the Astros into lowering their bonus offer to $3.1 million. They did raise it again later, but only to $5 million.

Aiken said no, and the Astros failed to sign him.

Even in hindsight, it's understandable that Aiken chose to gamble on a do-over in the 2015 draft rather than accept the Astros' reduced offers. He was healthy at the time, after all, and he would later indicate in the Players' Tribune that he didn't feel wanted in Houston:

"The money wasn't the only factor to consider. I wanted to play somewhere I felt comfortable, with a support system I felt would lay the groundwork for a successful and long career. Making sure I had that in place was worth the frustration of not being able to get on with my career sooner."

For their part, the Astros had to weigh the risk of signing Aiken against the appeal of getting the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft as compensation instead.


Suffice it to say that their gambit has paid off. They would use said No. 2 pick on an infielder out of Louisiana State University named Alex Bregman, who's been at the forefront of a World Series championship and two 100-win seasons since debuting in 2016.

As for Aiken, the Astros' concerns about his elbow unfortunately proved to be well-founded. After enrolling at the IMG Academy for the 2015 spring season, he felt something in his arm just 13 pitches into his first outing.

"It was just one pitch, first inning, and it just kind of clicked a little bit," Aiken told Bleacher Report's Scott Miller in 2017. "I was like, 'Oh, man, that's kind of weird.' It didn't really hurt too bad. I just kept throwing, and it progressively got worse to the point where, yeah, this doesn't feel the greatest."

That little click begat Tommy John surgery in March, which dramatically increased his risk profile ahead of the draft in June. He fell to the Indians at No. 17 overall, and this time he signed for $2.5 million.


Aiken finally suited up as a professional for the 2016 season, which he began as Baseball America's No. 71 prospect. Yet he exited the year with a 5.83 ERA in 14 appearances in the low minors. He returned to make 27 starts for Lake County in 2017, but he had a 4.77 ERA and more walks (101) than strikeouts (89).

In the wake of all this, Baseball America reduced Aiken to the No. 28 prospect just in Cleveland's system. The biggest red flag for them and, well, everyone else was that his once-mighty fastball had diminished to an offering that sat in the high-80s and low-90s.


In lieu of letting him try to pitch his way out of trouble, the Indians let Aiken use the 2018 season to regroup at their spring training complex in Arizona. Farm director James Harris told Jim Ingraham of Baseball America that it was a chance for the lefty to "sharpen his weapons."

It's evident from Aiken's two outings for Lake County that his weapons were still blunt as of April. To wit, his fastball sat in the low 80s in his first outing, according to 247Sports' Justin Lada.

Yet to Aiken's credit, he hasn't sat idly in the weeks since his demotion.



Aiken's latest attempt to breathe life into his professional career is a pilgrimage to Driveline Baseball in Kent, Washington.

Founded by Kyle Boddy, Driveline is a training facility known for unique training regiments and data analysis. Primarily, its reputation is as a place where pitchers gain fastball velocity.

To this end, the Indians can hope that Driveline does for Aiken what it did for Kansas City Royals right-hander Kyle Zimmer. As recounted by Rustin Dodd of The Athletic, Zimmer went into the facility with a ruined shoulder in 2018—six years after he'd been Kansas City's No. 5 pick in 2012—and came out throwing in the mid-90s again.

Ideally, Driveline will do more for Aiken than simply resuscitate his fastball. For the sake of getting his control, he would sure seem to need a mechanical overhaul. It wouldn't hurt for him to also pick up a new pitch and/or generally refine his pitching style.


As to whether Aiken will be reborn by his Driveline experience, that's frankly anyone's guess.

The facility certainly seems to do more good than harm, but it's not necessarily a place where miracles happen. Zimmer, for example, has had a rough time in both the minors and majors this season despite his rejuvenated velocity. And apart from Indians right-hander Trevor Bauer and Detroit Tigers lefty Matthew Boyd, Driveline's roster is short on high-profile success stories.

Ultimately, Aiken remains an exciting prospect only in theory. He still has youth and extraordinary underlying talent. He's no longer younger than his competition, however, and he may be out of drastic measures to take if his Driveline experience doesn't lead to results.

But even if Aiken can't be counted on, he's worth rooting for. Professional baseball has dealt him a bad hand. Him coming out ahead anyway would be a better story than him turning into just another draft bust.

Teams spread bonus money over multi years. As soon as the bonus payments stop and he must sign a new contract, he's most likely gone.

Looking at Bracho writeups in BA Prospect Handbook, they had him as our No. 12 last year and 19 this year after he missed all of 2018.
"He is a switch hitter with a mature approach and a smooth compact swing from both sides of the plats. He has good bat speed helping him produce a surprising amount of power of his size that could develop into average pop. … He is an above average runner and has good hands... likely profiles better at second base. He is throwing betetr since getting healthy"

Indians Prospective @indiansPro

Some AZL Updates....

AZL Indians (Blue) 9 AZL Dodgers (Lasorda) 5

Feliz 5.0(IP) 1H 1R 0ER 2BB 1SO
Mock 3.0(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 1BB 2SO
Noel 2-3 2R 2B HR 3RBI
Brennan 3-5 2R RBI
Bracho 2-4 RBI BB

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AZL Mariners 9 AZL Indians (Red) 6

Diaz 1-3 R HR 2RBI BB
Brown 2-3 R 2B RBI
Flores 2-4 2B RBI
Naranjo 2-4 2R
Misiaszek 2.1(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 0BB 3SO

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AZL Indians (Red) 18yr old INF Aaron Bracho over his last seven games.

11-26 8R 1(2B) 2(3B) 4HR 9RBI 6BB 1SB .423 AVG .531 OBP

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One of the younger players n the AZL #Indians 17yr old 1B prospect Jhonkensy Noel has continued to impress. Noel currently w/ a 7 game hitting streak & his Average up to .305 on the season.

During streak: 11-25 6R 4(2B) 1HR 9RBI 3BB 2SB .440 AVG .469 OBP

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AZL Indians 19yr old 6'2 175lbs Daritzon Feliz has been outstanding over his last three starts.

- 15.0(IP) 11H 3R 2ER 3BB 12SO 1.20 ERA

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AZL Indians (Blue) OF Will Brennan w/ three straight 3 hit games including in tonight's win over the AZL Dodgers. Brennan extended his hitting streak to 9 straight games.

During streak: 16-35 9R 4(2B) 1(3B) 8RBI 5BB 3SB .457 AVG .537 OBP

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Three AZL #Indians players are now in the top 10 in the league in OPS.

1) Yainer Diaz 1.198
4) Julian Escobedo 1.153
10) Aaron Bracho 1.063

Two more players not far off.

17) Will Brennan .956
21) Jhonkensy Noel .929

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Daniel Espino pro debut - Threw 1 inning, my gun did not get a FB below 97, T99 on neighboring gun. Strong, very thick legs/lower half. Body sculpted overall. Big leg lift. Long AA. Tight spin, shape on both breakers (threw each only once) F60. SP arsenal, need longer look.

https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thum ... me=900x900

Indians 17 Clippers 5

Tom 2-4 2(2B) 2RBI
Chang 2-5 R RBI
Barnes 1-5 R 2RBI
Mathias 2-4 R 2B

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RubberDucks 10 Baysox 7

Brooks 2-5 2R 2B HR 3RBI
Marabell 3-5 R 2B 2RBI
Longo 2-5 2R 2B RBI
Jones 1-3 3R 2B BB


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Captains 3 Bees 2 (10 Innings)

Schneemann 4-4 R 3B RBI
Fermin 1-3 RBI BB
Ponticelli 6.0(IP) 4H 2R 2ER 6BB 4SO
Marman 2.0(IP) 2H 0R 0ER 1BB 5SO

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Renegades 5 Scrappers 3

Jenkins 5.0(IP) 5H 2R 2ER 1BB 2SO
Valera 1-3 R HR 2RBI BB
Delgado 1-4 R 2B RBI
Lavastida 1-4 R 2B

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Akron RubberDucks transactions

LHP Tanner Tully promoted to Columbus
LHP Yapson Gomez promoted from Lynchburg
RHP Dalbert Siri assigned from Columbus

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Mahoning Valley Scrappers 18yr OF George Valera with his 5th HR of the year tonight a two run shot vs Hudson Valley. Valera is now tied for NYPL lead in HR (5) & RBI (20).
https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thum ... me=900x900

Didn’t have much time this morning so I stole Indians Prospective’s fine work. And he had so much info just on AZL players that I split the posts into 3. So be sure to scroll up for some good stuff from him.

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DSL Indians/Brewers 4 DSL Red Sox (2) 3

Gomez 2-4 2R 3SB
Diaz 1-3
Sanquintin 0-3 BB
Gervacio 3.2(IP) 4H 2R 2ER 4BB 1SO

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2019 Dominican Summer League All-Star game to be played at the #Indians brand new Dominican Academy on Sunday.

"prospect Jhonkensy Noel", holy Sicnarf Loopstock, is that a name or what?

Thanks for the detailed AZL report Look like another good crop of hitters. [One of last year's big bats, Jerez who outpaced the league by a huge distance in home runs, has already flopped at the next level. You never know who'll grow and who will fall away. Dorsyss Paulino soared up on our prospect list after a wonderful first season and never came close to matching that performance.]

Daniel Schneemann 4-4 R 3B RBI In his last 37 at bats, 19 hits, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 2 walks. a single strike out. 33rd round 2B from BYU in 2018. Hard to believe he's actually a prospect but he's looking good right now.

meanwhile Ka ai Tom is looking more and more evidently for real. 5th round pick. 25 years old. No homers yet in his brief time in Columbus but his average is stratospheric 478/500/652 Can't see a good reason NOT to give him a look in September [they haven't limited the roster expansion after 9/1 rule this year already, have they?]

Clippers lost 7-4 Sunday. ... Johnson 3-5, 3B, SB, R, RBI. ... Haase 0-4.

Akron lost 4-2. ... Broom pitched a shutout inning with 2 K. ... Jones 0-4.

Lynchburg won game one of double header, 6-1. ... Freeman 2-4, 2 R. ... OscarG 2-4, 2B, 2 R. ... Benson 0-3, BB.

Lynchburg lost game two 3-2. ... Hillman smacked around again. 3.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. ... Freeman 2-3, 2B, R, RBI. ... Benson 0-3.

Lake County won 5-2. ... Royalty had trouble but looks like he limited damage. 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 K. ... Cardenas 2-4, BB, 2 R.

Scrappers lost 5-2. ... Turner was good. 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. ... Rocchio 1-4, 3B. ... Delgado 2-4, 2 doubles, 2 R. ... Valera 2-4, 2B, RBI.

AZL Red lost 8-4. ... Diaz just keeps going, 3-4, BB, R. Hitting .462 now. Crazy. ... Idrogo 2-5, SB.

AZL Blue was off, and while DSL are always off on Sunday I see where they did play their all star game today.

Tyler Freeman is certainly establishing himself as one heck of a hitter. Since his promotion to High A Lynchburg he's hitting 372/427/477. Set NYPL record for doubles last year and he has 9 two-baggers in his 86 at bats in the Carolina League. Over the past week he hit .400/.423/.560 1 strikeout.

All 3 of the Latin American kids on the Scrappers are showing line drive or long ball power, all with XB his every 10 or 11 AB.

Valera 280/395/490 6 doubles 5 homers also 19 BB Age 18
Delgado 266/331/422 7 doubles 2 triples 2 homers 11 walks Age 19
Rocchio 238/293/381 6 doubles 3 triples 1 homer only 7 walks. Age 18

And this in a league larger of college kids in their low 20s. For example, Valera is tied for the league lead in the homers. the other two are age 22 and 23.
Rocchio is tied for second in the triples; the leader is 20.
Valera is 5th in slugging average; ahead of him they are aged in order: 23, 19, 22 and 21.
And he's 4th in OPS trailing 3 of the same.
I'd be surprised if Valera is not rated the No. 1 prospect among position players in the NYPL.

4 hits for the day don't get Freeman on the BA list of featured performers, but that's OK, he does just fine without the formal plaudits.

Their listings for some reason never pick up both games of a doubleheader

CLE AA Clement, Ernie DH 3 0 0 0 .289
CLE AA Jones, Nolan 3B 4 0 0 0 .188
CLE AAA Chang, Yu SS 5 1 1 0 .260
CLE AAA Haase, Eric C 4 0 0 0 .252
CLE AAA Johnson, Daniel CF 5 1 3 1 .310 3B (4), SB (5)
CLE HiA Benson, Will RF 3 0 0 0 .173
CLE HiA Freeman, Tyler DH 3 1 2 1 .382 2B (10)
CLE HiA Gonzalez, Oscar LF 4 2 2 0 .327 2B (20)
CLE MAJ Bradley, Bobby 1B 3 0 0 0 .195 BB (4)
CLE MAJ Mercado, Oscar LF 0 0 0 0 .275
CLE R Bracho, Aaron DH 4 1 1 1 .267 2B (4), BB (14), SB (4)
CLE SS Delgado, Raynel 3B 4 2 2 0 277 2 2B (7)
CLE SS Rocchio, Brayan SS 4 0 1 0 .243 3B (3)
CLE SS Rodriguez, Johnathan RF 4 0 1 1 .195 2B (5)
CLE SS Valera, George CF 4 0 2 1 .287 2B (6)