Adam Plutko (Photo: Brittany Chay)
The IBI Hot List: Plutko is pitching his way to a promotion
By Tony Lastoria
May 13, 2014
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It is the beginning of the week, which means it is time to recap all of the hot and cold performances in the Indians minor league system over the past week. The Hot List usually posts every Monday (or Tuesday) and showcases the Top 15 performances from the previous seven days as well as the Bottom 5 performances over the past seven days, and includes insight, information and more on each player listed. Today’s listing includes 20 players and over 2500 words.
This listing is a quick rundown through the hottest and some of the coldest players in the Indians system over the past seven days. In no way does it rank or list players based on value; it is simply a snapshot of the best and worst performances from the past week without any discrimination regarding whether a player is a prospect or not. In a way it is sort of like Around the Farm as it includes brief comments about each player, but the performances for the week are ranked.
The Hot 15
1. Adam Plutko (RHP, Lake County): 1 GS, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 13 K, .115 BAA. Plutko is having an excellent pro debut as he is dominating at Lake County and showing his advanced pitch ability. The numbers are insane as he has a 2.6 BB/9, 12.5 K/9 and a 1.81 FIP. He has also yet to allow a home run. He’s controlling everything he can control and making his pitches taking advantage of some inexperienced bats in the Midwest League and needs to be better challenged so a move to High-A Carolina is expected before month’s end. How his performance translates once he gets to High-A is going to determine just how “real” a lot of people in the industry view him as a prospect.
2. Matt Carson (OF, Columbus): 7 G, .478/.556/.913/1.469, 10 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K, 2 SB. Carson is raking in May hitting .394/.447/.697/1.144 in 11 games for the month. His recent surge should give the Indians confidence in adding him to the Major League roster if an injury situation crops up in Cleveland. Of note, he still has some crazy home and away splits as he is hitting .361 with a 1.075 OPS in 19 home games and is hitting .225 with a .529 OPS in 13 away games.
3. Anthony Gallas (OF, Carolina): 8 G, .469/.553/.750/1.303, 7 R, 6 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 6 BB, 5 K, 1 SB. Gallas has really turned it on in May as after solid showing in April (.286 AVG, .845 OPS) he is hitting .438 with a 1.125 OPS in 12 games this month. His approach has also shown some improvement as he has a solid 6-10 walk to strikeout ratio, which is a significant improvement over the 3-19 ratio he had in April. He belongs at Double-A Akron, but unfortunately the roster is cramped with higher rated prospects so he will just have to wait for a spot to open up and in the meantime continue to perform in Carolina.
4. Paul Hendrix (SS, Lake County): 7 G, .367/.441/.800/1.241, 7 R, 4 2B, 3 HR, 4 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K, 0 SB. There has not been a more surprising performance this month – or this season really – than the showing Hendrix has had of late. He is showing some surprising pop, a nice approach and some bat to ball that have all been above expectations. He is basically playing above his scouting report, so it will be interesting to see if he can keep this up over the long haul. This is a nice surprise and if he maintains this performance then he may enter the mix as a legit utility infield prospect.
5. Joe Wendle (2B, Akron): 7 G, .393/.400/.857/1.257, 6 R, 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 SB. Wendle needed this week as he had been struggling immensely up until this point. Even with the hot week he is still only hitting .235 with a .735 OPS. The most intriguing thing is his extra base hit rate as 15 of his 31 hits have gone for extra bases and he projects out to about 55 or so extra base hits this season which is pretty good. He is hitting the ball hard, which is the most important thing because if he continues to do so more hits will begin to fall.
6. Trevor Bauer (RHP, Columbus): 1 GS, 1-0, 1.17 ERA, 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER, 0 HR, 2 BB, 9 K, .111 BAA. Bauer is not a man, he is a machine. Even though he was disappointed to not get the call to Cleveland when the Indians replaced Carlos Carrasco with Josh Tomlin, he has since made two starts and totaled 14.2 innings and allowed 1 run on 9 hits, 4 walks and racked up 12 strikeouts. It is amazing that a pitcher who is throwing the ball the way he is cannot get to the big leagues, which is a testament to how strong the Indians starting pitching is right now.
7. Torsten Boss (2B, Carolina): 6 G, .444/.565/.833/1.399, 4 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 1 K, 0 SB. April’s struggles have brought May success to Boss. After hitting .071 with a .229 OPS in 11 April games with the Indians, he has come on strong in May hitting .429 with a 1.443 OPS. He finally looks to be settling in with the organization which is allowing his natural talents to show. The Indians liked his bat when they acquired him and he is finally showing what all the fuss is about with his stick as he’s showing some pop and a nice approach.
8. Ryan Merritt (LHP, Carolina): 2 GS, 1-0, 1.98 ERA, 13.2 IP, 13 H, 5 R (3 ER), 0 HR, 0 BB, 11 K, .241 BAA. There may not be a more consistent pitcher in the lower levels of the system this season than Merritt. In seven starts he is now 5-0 with 1.43 ERA, and in 44.0 innings has allowed 32 hits, 1 homer, 7 walks and has 34 strikeouts. The High-A level is an important step in the development process for Indians prospects so the Indians are not going to cheat him out of his time there, but if this keeps up they are going to have to strongly consider a rare quick promotion to Double-A Akron.
9. Bryan LaHair (1B, Akron): 7 G, .400/.500/.680/1.180, 4 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K, 0 SB. LaHair is not a prospect but for the sake of consistency he is included in the Hot List simply because he is playing in the minor leagues. He is doing what a player with Major League experience should be doing at Double-A as he is hitting .333 with 1 HR, 10 RBI and .943 OPS in 14 games. The Indians kicked him back to Akron simply to get him at bats and playing time in the field he was not getting at Triple-A Columbus, and unless Jesus Aguilar is promoted to Cleveland or David Cooper is released then LaHair should remain in Akron.
10. Roberto Perez (C, Columbus): 6 G, .353/.500/.588/1.088, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K, 0 SB. Robert’s Revival Tour continues as he smashed another homer over the past week and is now up to five on the season which is one below his career high. After a red hot April (.409 AVG, 1.246 OPS) he has started to cool down in May hitting just .241 with a .767 OPS in 9 games. He has been playing a ton so it would not surprise to see his playing time cut a little in order not to wear him down so early in the season.
11. Josh Martin (RHP, Carolina): 3 G, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R (0 ER), 0 HR, 3 BB, 6 K, .048 BAA. Martin has quietly put together an impressive season. In 10 appearances he is 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA, and in 18.0 innings has allowed just 5 hits, 4 walks and has 20 strikeouts. Those are dominating numbers and will get you noticed. The Indians have a pretty stuffed bullpen at Double-A Akron and Martin is still just a mid-level relief prospect, so there is no urgency to get him up to Akron, but if he is performing like this by the All Star break next month then he could find himself on a trip to Akron.
12. Jeremy Lucas (C, Carolina): 8 G, .300/.450/.500/.950, 11 R, 0 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 8 BB, 3 K, 0 SB. Lucas has always been considered more of an offensive player since the day he was drafted by the Indians and so far this season he is living up to that label. In 32 games he is hitting .275 with 4 HR, 24 RBI and .834 OPS with a very impressive 19-18 walk to strikeout ratio. The defense is his biggest area of concern, though with his bat and performance he could find himself spending a lot more time at first base. The bat alone is enough to make him intriguing as a solid mid-level prospect for the Indians.
13. Jerrud Sabourin (1B, Carolina): 8 G, .400/.421/.514/.935, 6 R, 4 2B, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 4 K, 0 SB. There is little doubt that Sabourin is not all too happy about being back at High-A Carolina after playing there last season and then opening at Double-A Akron this season; however, he is a true professional and has not let it creep into his play. In 13 games at Carolina he is hitting a blistering .404 with a .996 OPS. As soon as Bryan LaHair gets out of Akron then Sabourin should be back where he belongs in Double-A.
14. Robbie Aviles (RHP, Lake County): 2 GS, 0-0, 2.08 ERA, 13.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 HR, 5 BB, 8 K, .209 BAA. The numbers may be starting to tail off a little as he has piled up five walks in his last two starts after allowing zero walks in his first five starts; however, his performance in each of these two outings was still very good as he pitching deep into the game and allowed no more than two runs. You could argue that even though the hit and walk totals are up his last two outings that they are his two best outings of the season because of the length he is giving and how his stuff is staying strong late in the game. This is an encouraging development.
15. Toru Murata (RHP, Akron): 2 G, 1-0, 1.13 ERA, 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R/ER, 0 HR, 2 BB, 3 K, .207 BAA. This last spot could have easily gone to Jordan Milbrath who had another solid outing where he went six innings and allowed three unearned runs. But I wanted to give some love to Murata who continues to excel in his utility pitcher role as a guy who fills a starter or reliever role as needed on a moment’s notice at Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. While he may not have any value to the Indians in a Major League role, he is extremely valuable to them in the upper levels of the system to help protect some of their more valuable arms and provide innings when needed.
The Cold 5
1. Cody Anderson (RHP, Akron): 2 GS, 0-1, 13.50 ERA, 8.2 IP, 15 H, 13 R/ER, 2 HR, 4 BB, 7 K, .385 BAA. Anderson has really struggled this season and it may be time to start getting a little worried about him. It is no longer “too early” as he has made eight starts, roughly a third of the starts he will make this season, and is now 2-3 with a 5.36 ERA. He is giving innings and looks strong in that regard, but he has not been very effective at all as the league is hitting .308 against him and his promising 8.2 K/9 bump last season at High-A Carolina has nosedived to a Josh Tomlin-like 4.7 BB/9 this season at Double-A Akron. There is still a long way to go this season and ample time to get things going, but the lack of strikeouts might be the biggest issue for him. He’s also showing why it was extremely premature by many in the prospect community to think he was an option for the Indians at some point this season. Remember, this is a guy who is still new to pitching and is still being molded into a pitcher, so he’s going to have some bumps in the road and need a lot of patience.
2. Cody Ferrell (OF, Lake County): 6 G, .120/.154/.120/.274, 1 R, 0 2B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 SB. Remember that hot first two weeks of the season when Ferrell was hitting over .300 and had three homers? I do, though it seems like it was a year ago and not just a few weeks ago, that’s how bad he has struggled at the plate since that quick start. Since April 24th, a span of 15 games, he is hitting .115 with no extra base hits and a .308 OPS. That batting average and OPS are the worst in the Midwest League during that time period.
3. Cole Sulser (RHP, Carolina): 2 GS, 0-1, 7.56 ERA, 8.1 IP, 13 H, 14 R (7 ER), 0 HR, 5 BB, 6 K, .351 BAA. Sulser had an outing to forget on Monday night when he allowed 8 runs (6 earned) over just 2.2 innings of work. He has really struggled over his last three outings as he has an 8.68 ERA and in 9.1 innings has allowed 16 hits, 6 walks and has 7 strikeouts. As an older player with a lower prospect pedigree and standing he can’t afford to struggle much longer. If the struggles continue a step down to Low-A Lake County is not out of the question – and would be the move needed to get Adam Plutko or Robbie Aviles up to Carolina.
4. Jacob Lee (RHP, Carolina): 3 G, 0-0, 9.45 ERA, 6.2 IP, 12 H, 7 R/ER, 2 HR, 2 BB, 4 K, .375 BAA. Lee has actually pitched well this year. His one disastrous outing last Thursday when he allowed six runs in 2.2 innings has ruined his pitching line for the next month as it is going to take a string of very good outings to get his overall numbers down. If you take out that one poor outing his numbers look like this: 9 G, 18.0 IP, 16 H, 4 R/ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 12 K. That’s an impressive line and more indicative of how he has really pitched this season.
5. Claudio Bautista (INF, Lake County): 6 G, .167/.167/.167/.333, 2 R, 0 2B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 8 K, 1 SB. Bautista has been a major disappointment to date at Low-A Lake County. In 32 games he is hitting just .195 with 1 HR, 11 RBI and .529 OPS, and has 4 stolen bases and a 7-29 walk to strikeout ratio. In terms of batting average and OPS he ranks as one of the ten worst performers in each category this season in the Midwest League. The evaporation of his power and solid approach are most concerning and you wonder if he’s just another middle infielder in the mold of Robel Garcia, Leonardo Castillo, and so on who just get to Low-A and can’t perform. Hopefully that is not the case.
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.
