Cleveland Sports Forum

Billy Wilson to I.L.

George Valera was promoted to Lake County to replace him.

Bracho was promoted to Mahoning Valley to replace him.

And James Karinchak pitched an inning tonight, struck out the side.

He has only struck out 6 of the last 7 he has faced, so he obviously isn't quite back to normal yet.

Has allowed 2 runs his last 7 outings, 9 innings.

Doing much better since he first came back from injury and was roughed up a bit.

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TFIR, are you looking for a real young kid who has upside? Check this kid out ...
http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?si ... g/2019/ALL

forgot to note Rocchio's 3rd home run of the week, and 4th of the season on Sunday. 18 year old is finishing up the season on his hottest streak since he left Arizona.

Bo Naylor leads the Midwest League with 10 triples and ranks fifth with 64 RBIs through 102 games.

Bo Naylor thought he was on the money during his first at-bat Monday, but he only had a flyout to center field to show for it.
Cleveland's fifth-ranked prospect wanted to "do damage" the next chance he had at the plate. He did ... and then some.
Naylor launched a grand slam, added a triple and drove in a career-best six runs to lead Class A Lake County to a 13-2 win over Dayton at Classic Park.

"I did everything right but didn't get the result I wanted," he said. "And then I got up there again, stuck with my approach and it just all clicked."

The 29th overall selection in the 2018 Draft stepped in against Reds left-hander Connor Curlis with the bases juiced and one out in the second inning. After taking a ball in the dirt and looking at a called strike, Naylor unleashed on a fastball on the outside part of the plate and crushed it to the deepest part of the park in left-center field. It was the first grand slam of his career.

"I knew with the bases loaded that the pitcher was gonna have to come at me with something in the zone," Naylor said. "So I was just waiting for a pitch I can drive, and that pitch came and it all worked out. ... There was actually a little confusion on the play, so I was running as fast as I could to get the bases I needed to, but when the ump made the signal for home run, I couldn't have been happier.

"Being in this league for a little bit, I've kind of grown to understand how pitchers try to pitch to me personally. So I had that outside part of the zone in mind when I was up there, and it definitely helped with my success in that at-bat."

The 6-foot, 195-pound catcher faced another southpaw in the eighth -- Jerry D'Andrea -- with runners on the corners. Naylor turned on the first pitch and smoked the ball to straight-away center, where it skipped off the wall. The 50-grade-speed prospect found another gear as he motored into third for a clean triple. Clark Scolamiero and Jose Fermin scored on the play.

"I knew with a runner in scoring position, he was going to try to pitch me low in the zone to try to get me to ground out or roll over something, so I just sat off-speed there," Naylor said. "I drove the ball into center, and I just went for it. I was behind Fermin, and I saw he was being waved home, so I just figured I'd go for it all and I slid in without a play at third."
Cleveland's No. 28 prospect Raynel Delgado capped Lake County's scoring by plating Naylor with a ground-ball single into center.





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Naylor's effort vaulted him to fifth in the Midwest League with 64 RBIs. He also paces the circuit with 10 triples and ranks sixth with a .430 slugging percentage, while his 38 extra-base hits are tied for sixth. He is sporting a .247/.319/.430 slash line with 17 doubles, 11 homers, 10 triples and 59 runs scored over 102 games. Naylor joins Ka'ai Tom as the only Indians prospects to post double-digit totals in every extra-base hit category in a single Minor League season since Grady Sizemore accomplished the feat in 2003.

"Part of my routine now is just working on staying through the ball, making sure my body is separating well so that I generate the most power I can," the 19-year-old said. "It's all part of tee drills I work on before batting practice, and it's making a difference with my power. Whenever everything works together, the result is what happened today."

The Captains collected 14 hits as Fermin finished 3-for-5 with a dinger, three RBIs and three runs scored. Scolamiero reached base three times and scored three runs.

Yainer Diaz 3 hits, 5 RI, homerun; Rocchio single; Holland single and 2 walks for Scrappers

Fermin 3 hits helped Naylor out, his 6th homer. Royalty a good start: 6 1/3 4 2 2 1 6

Kwan 3 hits; Benson single and double [up to 194; only 4 homers for Lynchburg in nearly 200 AB]; Hillman a solid start: 7 3 1 1 2 4, up and down year; Skyler Arias 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 3 the LH Reliever on the league all star team

Jones single, avg only 253, but OPS 823; Oscar Gonzalez 0-3 avg 187, OPS only 474; Morgan wearing out as the season nears an end 5 7 5 5 1 5. Ceding his Bob Feller credentials, to ???

Johnson single and triple, 314, 884; Tom 3K 292, 903

Naranjo double ,4 bi; CF Jean Montero 4 hits, 2 sb; Cairo walk; GabrielRod a single

Hot Prospect List for the past week:

17. Brayan Rocchio, SS, Indians
Team: Short-season Mahoning Valley (New York-Penn)
Age: 18
Why He's Here: .364/.391/.682 (8-for-22), 4 R, 1 1B, 2 HR, 5 RBIs, 0 BB, 4 SO, 3-for-4 SB

The Scoop: Rocchio drew bullish scouting reports from scouts last year and again this spring, though he got off to a slow start once the New York-Penn League started. That's behind him now, with Rocchio hitting .313/.382/.475 this month, showing a short stroke with excellent bat-to-ball skills from both sides of the plate and all-around baseball savvy well beyond his years. (BB)

Bo is top of today's BA prospect report

Bo Naylor, C, Indians. Naylor drove in six runs for low Class A Lake County. The cleanup hitter had a triple and a grand slam in the second inning. His six-RBIs were a career-best and Naylor has hit safely in four of his last six games.

CLE AA Clement, Ernie SS 4 0 0 0 0.265
CLE AA Gonzalez, Oscar LF 3 0 0 0 0.187
CLE AA Jones, Nolan 3B 4 0 1 0 0.263
CLE AAA Bradley, Bobby DH 4 0 0 0 0.257
CLE AAA Haase, Eric C 3 0 0 0 0.227
CLE AAA Johnson, Daniel RF 3 0 2 0 0.319 3B (5)
CLE HiA Benson, Will LF 3 1 2 1 0.196 2B (8)
CLE HiA Freeman, Tyler SS 4 0 0 0 0.321
CLE LoA Delgado, Raynel DH 5 1 2 1 0.261 SB (1)
CLE LoA Holmes, Quentin CF 4 1 1 1 0.173 HR (6)
CLE LoA Naylor, Bo C 5 2 2 6 0.248 3B (10), HR (11)
CLE LoA Valera, George LF 4 0 0 0 0
CLE R Cairo, Christian 3B 3 1 0 0 0.178 BB (25), CS (3)
CLE R Naranjo, Joseph DH 5 1 1 4 0.266 2B (5)
CLE SS Rocchio, Brayan SS 4 2 1 0 0.259
CLE AAA Karinchak, James 1 0 0 0 0 3 5.51

Karinchak's totals

10 innings in Akron; 24 of the 30 outs by strikeout, only 2 walks
3 innings of rehab in Arizona: 8 of 9 outs by strikeout, 2 walks in those 3 innings
16 1/3 innings in Columbus; 40 of the 49 outs by strikeout, 16 walks although 0 walks in his last outings, 4 1/3 innings with 9 of the 13 outs by strikeout

I don’t know if this will show up, but I was just watching a short video of Bradley Zimmer’s at bat from last night.

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

If that video doesn’t play here is a link to the tweet where video is.

https://mobile.twitter.com/indiansPro/s ... 6257183744

What I want to point out ... remember how in the past I’ve said that Zimmer, being as tall as he is and the way he crouches so much in his batting stance, that it takes him too long to uncoil his swing and he has trouble catching up to the fastball? I’ve said in the past that Indians brass need to lock him in a room with Ken Griffey JR tape, and make him stand straight up and just take a nice quick smooth swing at the ball.

We’ll check out his new batting stance above. He’s standing straight up in the box!

It’s not an easy thing to do, changing everything up at his age and development. Kudos to him for doing it.

By the way, I also watched video of James Karinchak’s last outing, he struck out 3. The first guy he blew away with a high fastball, as we might expect, but the next two batters struck out looking at a nice slow curveball.

our Arizona team not burdened with Valdes and Cairo has made the playoffs and won the opener yesterday. That was a one game quarterfinal so on to the semis today.

Tuesday:

Lake County:
Valera was 0-4 but threw out 2 baserunners; his arm is reputed to be his best attribute; along with his quick bat.
fermin with a single and his 2nd triple; stole his 25th and caught for the 9th
Delgado finishing up strong, single double and walk; now at 286 after a sluggish start with the Captains.
McCarthy [not to be confused with McCarty] 4 4 2 2 1 5 Draper 5 3 1 1 0 6

Lynchburg:
Kwan 2b 26, 3b 7. He started strong and is ending strong; quiet in the middle of the season
Freeman single

Akron:
Kyle Dowdy a solid 7 innings: 1 run on 5 hits o walks 4K. Gonzalez a single and double tops 200.

Columbus:
Scott Moss, part of the Bauer package,, 4 shutout innings then fades but still a good line: 4 2/3 4 2 2 2 9
A lot more impressive than higher ranked Logan Allen so far
Cam Hill 1/3 3 3 3 1 1

Mah Valley:
Johnnathan Rodriguez stays very hot with a double and homer that makes 12 extra base hits in 79 August at bats after 11 in his first 128 at bats
5th rounder Hunter Gaddis with another 3 innings of no hit ball; for the season: 30 innings 23 hits 6 walks 44 strikeouts; another Civale/Plesac/Bieber type?

Arizona:
Tena single and homer; Noel homer; Jordan Jones 4 3 1 1 1 6 for the season 31 innings 22 hits 7 walks 41 K. Another one? He is 16th round draft choice facing younger hitters, so his prospects are less than Gaddis'

BA's take on the same games:

CLE AA Clement, Ernie SS 4 0 1 0 0.265
CLE AA Gonzalez, Oscar DH 3 0 2 0 0.205 2B (5)
CLE AAA Bradley, Bobby 1B 3 0 1 0 0.258
CLE AAA Haase, Eric C 3 0 0 0 0.225
CLE AAA Johnson, Daniel RF 3 0 1 0 0.319 BB (32)
CLE HiA Benson, Will LF 4 0 0 0 0.192
CLE HiA Freeman, Tyler SS 4 1 1 1 0.319
CLE LoA Delgado, Raynel 2B 3 1 2 0 0.286 2B (4), BB (1)
CLE LoA Valera, George RF 4 0 0 0 0 0
CLE MAJ Chang, Yu SS 0 0 0 0 0.286
CLE MAJ Mercado, Oscar CF 5 0 0 0 0.274
CLE SS Bracho, Aaron 2B 4 0 0 0 0 0
CLE SS Rodriguez, Johnathan RF 4 1 2 1 0.248 2B (14), HR (5)
CLE AAA Moss, Scott 4.2 4 2 2 2 9 2.45 L (2-1)
CLE SS Gaddis, Hunter 3 0 0 0 0 5 2.84

Arizona Fall League rosters announced. 5 little Indians included, which I think suggests that there may be some additional names. They are:

c Gavin Collins: he has been a catcher a third baseman and a first baseman; he has had lots of time off with injuries; he's 24 and has not got beyond Lynchburg. He was a 13th round pick. He's not been very highly regarded although he had probably his best season this summer.

2b Ernie Clement. Tito liked him in ST for his attitude. Mostly a singles hitter. played at AA at age 23, managing an unimpressive 651 OPS.

3b Nolan Jones. Our No. 1 prospect; turned 21 during the season; finished up at Akron with an OPS of 823. Has been speculation since he was drafted that he could move off 3B but haven't seen anything about that from the Indians.

no OF listed, which is strange; usually every team contributes some of everything to the AZL roster; since the rosters are generally guys like the above who've reached AA or High A. Latin guys usually go south for the winter otherwise we could see Oscar Gonzalez. Steven Kwan could be a fit after a pretty successful season with Lynchburg

LHP Kirk McCarty. missed half the season with injury; that's a perfect example of a AZL assignee, someone who needs to make up for time away. Has thrown 52 innings this year; had something of a breakthrough the second half of 2018. A classic short lefty with a good strikeout pitch

RHP Brock Hartson: 26 year old has a year and 3/4 away to make up for, Missed all of '18 and has not quite 40 innings this year.

usually we see some relievers assigned here, too, but not yet.

20 year old lefty, Matt Turner, with another strong outing last night. He’s only given up 1 ER in each of his last 2 starts. 1.18 WHIP and 2.71 ERA on the year, total. His ERA in Lake County is actually lower than MV. 2.56 to 2.90.

Lavastida with 2 more hits. Batting 338 at MV now.

I wonder if either Yianer Diaz or Lavastida is much of a defensive presence behind the plate. They certainly both can hit