Cleveland Sports Forum

And very worthy of note a couple days ago a sterling outing by Espino; 1 run on a solo homer and 11 strikeouts in 5 innings.

And over the weekend Cody Morris with another 4 shutout innings in Columbus. He'll be on the 40 man roster soon.

Weekend highlights and Sunday details

Sunday Brayan Rocchio, 2B, Indians: Rocchio went 3-for-6 with two doubles and a home run. Rocchio, who was promoted to Double-A Akron at the end of July, now has a six-game hit streak.

Saturday High-A Lake County RHP Daniel Espino struck out 11 of the 17 batters he faced. It was Espino’s third consecutive double-digit strikeout game. And once again, it was home runs that led to Espino’s only trouble. A Reynaldo Rivera home run was the only run he gave up .

Friday High-A Lake County OF George Valera (Indians) had his second two-home run game of August.

[I see they're now listing the top 30 from the midseason updated list]

CLE AAA #2 Nolan Jones, 3B 2 1 0 0 0.221 2 BB (50), SB (9), All those walks sort of make up for the batting average
CLE HiA #4 George Valera, OF 4 0 1 1 0.251 BB (43),
CLE AA #5 Bo Naylor, C 4 2 1 1 0.191 HR (9), BB (24),
CLE AAA #6 Gabriel Arias, SS 4 0 1 1 0.277 2B (16),
CLE AA #7 Brayan Rocchio, SS 6 1 3 4 0.263 2 2B (17), HR (12),
CLE LoA #9 Angel Martinez, SS 3 1 2 0 0.265 BB (29),
CLE LoA #14 Gabriel Rodriguez, SS 4 0 1 2 0.220
CLE MAJ #15 Owen Miller, SS 5 2 2 0 0.247
CLE AAA #16 Richard Palacios, 2B 3 2 1 0 0.292 BB (41), E (8),
CLE HiA #20 Jose Tena, IF 3 0 0 0 0.297 2 BB (19), CS (5),
CLE AA #23 Bryan Lavastida, C 4 0 1 1 0.316 BB (32), CS (8),
CLE AAA #29 Oscar Gonzalez, OF 4 0 1 0 0.313

Meanwhile non-top 30 OFs Steven Kwan and Johnathan Rodriguez have averages moving well above 300 with recent surges.

Farm system was rated as being on the cusp of moving up to the elite but the failure of lots of top guys to do much has set them back. Midseason BA ratings drop them to No. 18

Cleveland Indians
Notes:

Top 100 Prospects (4): Tyler Freeman, SS (40); Nolan Jones, 3B (70); Daniel Espino, RHP (93); George Valera, OF (98)

The Skinny: Most of Cleveland's top prospects struggled with aggressive assignments this season. The system still has immense depth, but it needs more from its top-level prospects.

[very good work by some of the low level prospects like Kwan and Curry and J. Rodriguez doesn't quite make up the work by Jones and Bracho and Naylor]

MLB's prospect team of the week:

SS: Brayan Rocchio, Akron RubberDucks (Double-A)
(Indians No. 7)
.360/.448/.840, 6 G, 9-for-25, 3 HR, 3 2B, 8 RBI, 6 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 CS

The Cleveland system is loaded with young position-player depth, but Rocchio -- already at Double-A at just 20 years old -- is doing his best not to get lost in the shuffle. The switch-hitter has hits in seven straight games and finished off last week with his best showing yet in Akron when he went 3-for-6 with a homer, two doubles and four RBIs. Rocchio is very much hit-over-power, so any pop he shows feels like a bonus. He owns a .255/.369/.527 line in 14 games since being promoted to Akron at the end of July.

only Arizona league plays on Monday's.

Luis Durango two singles, a walk, and league leading 22nd steal
Junior Sanquintin league leading 7th homer
Milan Tolentino triple and 6th homer.

This team ranks among the top in hitting among the worst in pitching in AZ. The 2021 drafted contingent is not playing here or on any team.

I have missed every BA chat this year but found one in progress today; here's a question I would have posed it I had time:

Thoughts on Cleveland starter Cody Morris? His numbers though limited across AA and AAA this year are very impressive. He's a potential rule 5 guy this offseason as well.

Kyle Glaser: Morris looks good. Fastball really plays. Curveball is a good pitch he can land or get chases with. Changeup flashes above-average. The way he's pitched and looked at Triple-A, I'll be very surprised if the Indians don't protect him. If they don't, I would jump on him very quickly in the Rule 5 draft.

I got one in;

Do you think Daniel Espino will move to the back of the bullpen or make it to the majors in the rotation?


Kyle Glaser: That's kind of the million dollar question. Espino has a chance to start but the fastball command and changeup have to improve a decent amount for him to get there. It's honestly 50/50 in the eyes of a lot of evaluators. The right thing is to just keep him as a starter for as long as he can, see if the fastball command and changeup quality improve, and go from there.

It looks like I was the only person aware of the chat, or he just bad for my absence all year:

lliot (Youngstown OH): Cleveland has a dozen kids who could deserve protection for Rule 5. What are your thoughts on: Aaron Bracho who was underperformed? Jose Tena who has perhaps overperformed? Jhonkennsy Noel who is in Low A hitting up a storm?


Kyle Glaser: They won't need to protect Bracho. He's not showing the body, tools or performance for evaluators to think highly of him. He's not a threat to be taken and if he somehow is, he's likely to be returned. Tena is a better player than Bracho, but again, taking A-ball infielders isn't something teams really do in the Rule 5 draft (at least not with any success, anyway). Noel is a corner power hitter in A-ball. Even corner power hitters in AA/AAA don't get taken (see: Max Muncy and Franmil Reyes). Honestly the Indians probably won't need to protect any of them. If they do have to protect one, it's probably Tena.

It looks like I was the only person aware of the chat, or he just bad for my absence all year:

lliot (Youngstown OH): Cleveland has a dozen kids who could deserve protection for Rule 5. What are your thoughts on: Aaron Bracho who was underperformed? Jose Tena who has perhaps overperformed? Jhonkennsy Noel who is in Low A hitting up a storm?


Kyle Glaser: They won't need to protect Bracho. He's not showing the body, tools or performance for evaluators to think highly of him. He's not a threat to be taken and if he somehow is, he's likely to be returned. Tena is a better player than Bracho, but again, taking A-ball infielders isn't something teams really do in the Rule 5 draft (at least not with any success, anyway). Noel is a corner power hitter in A-ball. Even corner power hitters in AA/AAA don't get taken (see: Max Muncy and Franmil Reyes). Honestly the Indians probably won't need to protect any of them. If they do have to protect one, it's probably Tena.

Elliot (Youngstown OH): Question about a couple Guardians OF of the future: Nolan Jones still walks and hits some doubles and homers but his average remains around 220. What's he doing wrong this year that he can or cannot correct? George Valera's 250 average looks a lot better with a ton of home runs in the last month along with plenty of walks. Is he ready to crack the top 100?


Kyle Glaser: Jones is having a really tough time with upper-level breaking balls and changeups and is hitting the ball on the ground far too often (mostly because he's making very weak contact against those breaking balls and changeups). He's going to need some time to make some adjustments to be more competitive against secondary stuff. As for Valera, he's in the Top 100. https://www.baseballamerica.com/ranking ... prospects/

I most have seen this but forget he snuck in

No. 98
George Valera
Indians OF
Notes:

Tools: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 50 | Fielding: 50 | Arm: 50
Skinny: Valera has a combination of bat-to-ball skills and power that put him among elite company for his age group. He hits the ball very hard, and when he gets it in the air it tends to go a long way. He has the look of a classic mashing corner outfielder.

Single and double for Valera yesterday.

https://www.milb.com/gameday/captains-v ... ame=644325

He's an exciting prospect. Rocchio is a step ahead but Valera fills an immense major league need. Rocchio will have to contend with Giminez and Rosario and Arias for shortstop.

civ - pretty depressing to read about the crash and burn of Bracho though.